Daniel James Kelly, 25, is serving a term of three years and 11 months for violence against a woman, a stranger and a dog.
"The file notes on his behaviour and presentation are mixed," Parole Board panel convener Judge Geoffrey Ellis said at a hearing last month.
"He can be polite and get on well with others, but he can also be aggressive when not getting his own way."
Kelly had been involved in two incidents while at the Otago Corrections Facility, one of which resulted in a formal misconduct process, and the board heard staff were working "very hard" to keep him out of the high-security unit.
In November 2020, Kelly strangled a woman and dragged her through the house by her hair, punching and kicking her, and slamming a door on her arm as she tried to escape.
On another occasion he kicked her in the crotch so hard she was unable to pass water for two days.
Other violent outbursts occurred after he had returned home from a Stopping Violence course and also outside a police station.
In October 2021, a woman saw him kick his pit bull mastiff.
When she confronted Kelly, he called her an "old bitch" and said he would find out where she lived, then spat at her.
The inmate had completed the drug treatment programme while incarcerated, "and it is to his credit that he did so despite challenges", Judge Ellis said.
He started a medium-intensity course of therapy in October.
"Until his programmes are completed risk remains undue," Judge Ellis said.
Kelly had previously forwarded two possible parole addresses, both of which were found to be unsuitable.
The Parole Board urged him to work on his release proposal ahead of his next hearing in May.
His sentence expires in September 2025.
