should I be worried`

Hi folks,
I need some advice. I am not used to having more than one dog at a time and this weekend my boyfriend and I got another GSD. Abby is approx 9 months old and my boyfriend had her when she was a lot younger but gave her away because she was very very timid and he didnt have the time to work with her. The person he gave her to has three other dogs and told him it was getting to expensive to feed them so he asked if we would take Abby back. I agered since we had Jazmin and she is such a character i though it would help abby loosen up. Well the minute Abby got there my boyfriend said he could not believe how abby took to me she was very affectionate and came right up to me. Well Of course jazmion became jealous and started jumping on abby....in a very friendly way there was no aggretion at all. It was more of a "hey where's my loving" well Abby is about three times the size of poor jazmin but that didnt stop jazmin from letting her know this is my back yard but i will share it with you. they played for hours. At one point I gave them both a new toy. Well Abby had hers next to her area in the yard, jaz came over and tried to grab it and Abby took it and moved it. Well when Jazmin went for it again Abby growled something horrible and attacked Jazmin. She even drew blood. Not much but a little. Well jazmin would not go near her for a good while. After a few hours they seemed to be friendly again. I am not a dog expert but a few friends have told me that Abby was just letting her know not to touch her stuff and that she was being territorial. My conern is if Abby can reallly hurt jazmin. I am sure when Jazmin get a little bigger she will put up more of a fight but even then I wouldnt want either one to get hurt. My friends have told me that one of them needs to establish dominance (alpha dog) and that it is only natural, they say that they wont kill each other because one of them will back down. Should I be worried or is it just t normal dog stuff?

 

Well any and all dogs can amd will be territorial. It should be the dog you had before the pup that would seem teritorial. I wouldn't say you should get rid of one or another, but don't let them act like that whether it is guarding food, toys etc... Try to recognise the action before it happens and stop it with a loud firm "NO!" This should startle the dog and stop it immediately. And if the (attacker) dog is trained, I would put it on as down-stay for about 3-5 minutes away from the other dog. Also socialize the agressive dog with sharing toys by showing the aggressive dog that it is okay to allow the other dog to play with the toy he/she was guarding. I have a dog that used to be really protective over his food towards humans (he still is to other dogs) what I did to break this is just to put my hand in and around his food and play with it, take a handfull away and give it back etc... and then let him know he was good by letting me do this. It didn't take long, but if you can think of something kind of like this to break the guarding of the toy, this method works really fast... Does the dog do this when you grab or touch his toys or his food?? Let us know if you have any progress. Good luck

Ashley

 

They are both puppies one is 17 weeks and the other is 9 months. No, she doesnt do it with food actually she would let the other pup eat first and then she would eat and she showed no sign of agression whatsoever before this. My boyfriend did get her into a submissive position afterward and he had her lay down for a while. We even took them both for a long walk later that night and they were both fine.

 

It sounds like they are just working things out. Unless they are hurting each other, the advice you normally hear is to just let them work things out. They will decide who is dominant and who is not. If they are both being appropriate (meaning they are responding to each others' cues) then there is no reason to intervene and you can actually make things worse by trying to make them "get along."

Do make sure you are spending time playing with both dogs together and also each one alone. Make some time each day to do something special with each dog. Training should also occur alone when they are learning new things. Then you can practice things they already know with the other dog in the room (makes a good distraction) or with both of them together.

Dogs are very much oriented toward possession to determine who something "belongs" to. If one dog has something the other wants and is actively playing with it, a lot of times you will see the other dog lying nearby and staring at it. If the dog with the toy walks away from it, or sometimes if she even turns her head, the other dog interprets that as "it's no longer her toy" and will swoop in and grab it.

Nala is a hoarder. If I give both dogs something special - like a Nylabone or something like that - Nala will try to get them both and then sit on one and chew on the other. Silly dog. For that reason, I separate them if they are getting something special. Bonnie will usually just let her take her toy but if it's something she REALLY wants I have no doubt they would fight.

So don't mind little growls and snaps if the other dog respects that and backs off. That is a dog's way of saying "That's mine. Go away." And if the other dog leaves, then it's his way of saying, "Okay. I understand."

Dogs rarely fight to hurt each other, even when it looks and sounds terrible. It scares the heck out of me, though. Fortunately, my dogs have only done it twice and that was within the first few months we had Bonnie. I did break those up.

I tried to adopt a dog once that kept attacking Nala for no apparent reason. The major problem was, he didn't do it appropriately. Not only was there no reason for him jumping her to begin with, but also she would submiss instantly but he would NOT back down. When one dog submisses, the other should respect that and everything is settled. They may go at it again later, but they should settle down once they understand the new pecking order.

Do NOT alpha roll or anything like that. That's never helpful. If they are getting out of hand and know "stay" you can always put them in down-stays in different places to let them get back under control. Asking a dog to down near another dog that they aren't totally comfortable with hardly ever works, though. Put them in opposite sides of the room or different rooms if this is the case.

Also, do not tolerate guarding food or toys from humans. If you have that problem, start a new thread. I always feed separately and avoid the whole food issue between the dogs. Guarding toys can be dangerous if the other dog doesn't respect the first dog and they will fight to get the toy. But if one says "Mine!" and the other says "Okay" then there is no problem.

If there are big resource problems, get the book "Mine!: A practical guide to resource guarding in dogs," by Jean Donaldson. Amazon.com has it.

 

No, don't get worried....get educated! You cannot treat, no matter how much you want to, the two dogs equally. Dogs are pack animals and by nature will form a pack wherein one of the humans (hopefully) is Alpha and the rest fall in line behind. One WILL be last, but the most important thing to do is figure out which one of the dogs is higher in status, and support that.

Neither should be allowed to sleep in the bed. The "alpha" should be fed first, should go through the door first, should be allowed the ball first, etc. They will look to you to see which you will support and if they find no leadership there, you will be creating unrest amid the ranks. They will look to themselves for leadership and dogs don't make very good long term choices. They think only in the minute.

The next thing to do is get them spayed/neutered, if not already. Unaltered animals can reek havoc because it's the only thing on their minds. Are they both altered already?

Do some research on the internet using "pack behavior" and/or "dog hiearchy" as key words. With a little education on your part, you'll have well adjusted animals that can be a part of the family and not a burden to you.

WinPins

 

WinPins is right. Here is another book to look into (which is also very short): "Feeling Outnumbered? How to Manage and Enjoy Your Multi-Dog Household" by Karen B. London and Patricia B. McConnell, also available at amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...3/002-4342618-3343261?_encoding=UTF8&v=glance

 

Thanks for all the great advice. They are not fixed yet. Jazmin the younger one (4 months) seems to be the one in charge but I think it was because she was there first. So i think she was trying to see what she could get away with with Abby (9 months). Neither one sleeps in the house so none of them sleeps in the bed. I do agree that we need to spend time with each one individually. That was obvious when Abby got there this weekend and I would play with either one the other one would come over looking for some attention too.

 

Some of this does go away when they get used to sharing you. Nala was very jealous and would come barging in between me and Bonnie when we first got Bonnie. She still does a little bit, but she's not nearly as pushy with it now. It just went away with time. When she does it, I just keep petting Bonnie but also pet Nala. Usually this satisfies her.

 

Thanks for all the great advice. They are not fixed yet. Jazmin the younger one (4 months) seems to be the one in charge but I think it was because she was there first....


Ok, this could be become a huge problem and you may be seeing just the beginnings of it now. In the pack, ONLY the alpha female gets to mate. You had a dog, though just a puppy, very confident in her position and though the younger one is younger than she, she poses a potential threat to her status as "mating female". They are both old enough to be spayed.....one has probably already been through one heat?

May I ask why they aren't spayed as yet?

WinPins

 

yep, at 8 months, she needs to get fixed asap. you are opening a huge can of worms the longer you wait, aggressive issues and dominance issue, coming into heat, if she already hasnt, youw ill have either her escaping to find a mate or vice versa

 

Definitely get the older one spayed NOW. If she comes into heat, you will have to wait a while before you can do it. If you can't afford to get both done at once, then get the younger one done within the next couple of months. I almost think it would be easier to do them both together, though, and keep them apart until they heal. Your vet can probably work out a payment plan with you if necessary.

 

Well both dogs belong to my boyfriend and he says he does not want to get them fixed yet....Not sure why but he doesnt (please save the comments for him not me his choice not mine).

The younger one was a gift from me and the older one he got on his own. So I cant make the decsion on when he gets them fixed. I told him he should but he hasnt yet.

 

Can you explore his reasons? Does he want to breed them? Maybe you can help by telling him about the behavior and health problems an un-spayed dog can have. If he wants to breed them (or thinks he does), come back here and ask us for a list of the things he must be prepared with before breeding, such as waiting until the dog is at least 2 years old, only breeding her a couple times ever, all the money you have to put into proper testing before breeding and for vet care during and after pregnancy and for the pups, lining up good homes for the pups before breeding the mother, being willing to take any pups back ever for whatever reason, stud fees, etc. And of course, this is assuming your dog is of a quality to be bred (champion lines, etc) and has passed all the health testing (hips, etc).