Displaced aggression
Sophie, now 2 1/2 is a very dominant girl, given the chance. She ruthlessly bosses around her littermate, Sherman and would do so with Archie, who will not put up with any nonsense from her in any way. For the most part, I am willing to let the dogs work out their own pecking order but am wondering if this is a bigger issue or a bigger one in the making. If we need to correct Sophie in any way--however gently, she will immediately do what is asked--and then go after Sherman, snarling at him, making him (who was an innocent bystander) back away and cower. Example: Sophie is on the couch and we wish her to get down, so we say, Sophie, down, with a hand motion in the direction we wish her to go. She complies immediately, and then makes a bee line for Sherman who is simply standing about 8 feet away--and snarls at him, nipping in his general direction: he leaps out of her way. If we tell her to drop something she picked up on a walk, same thing. Pretty much any thing that she is told no about, she goes after Sherman. This does not make for a peaceful house for one thing. For another, Sherman, who is much larger than Sophie, is less confident: he is reluctant to walk past Sophie or Archie if they are laying in the general direction he wants to go, and so he barks as if to announce: I want to come through, can I please come through, won't you please move out of the way, will someone please rescue me (from my own insecurity and silliness). Very, very occasionally, Sherman will stand up for himself with Sophie and refuse to back down, but this is rare. Case in point: our son recently was discharged from the military and all 3 dogs have made it their mission to take care of him, ie never leave his side unless they are being fed or walked by someone else. My son reports that Sherman will defend his right to be next to my son and not give up his place for Sophie--this is a big first. Again, this is all vocal, with some growling, lunging, but no contact. None of the aggression results in any real fight and no dog has ever been injured that I have been able to find. Is this a real problem, other than the annoyance for us? Is this contributing to making Sherman less confident? Should I worry that Sophie will direct her aggression towards a human somewhere down the line? Are there any hints? All 3 dogs have had basic obedience classes and are generally fairly well behaved. None has ever been aggressive towards people of any size or age, with the exception of Sophie very early on challenging me for the right to be next to my husband (I refused to allow this and she has not challenged me in any way since). There is some resource guarding: Archie will guard his toys to a small extent, but only from the other dogs. Sophie, and to a lesser extent, Sherman would resource guard their food, but this is lessening with a variety of strategies, including Nothing In Life Is Free (the mantra we must employ to live with Sophie). Note: no one really tries to get anyone else's food. There were no physical outbursts: just loud barking, although no one came near anybody else's food. There is no problem with any human taking any food or toy away from any dog and never has been an issue in that regard. Note: all 3 dogs are walked together about 4-5 times a day. No issues: they walk well together. Archie, who is 9, plays with Sherman but rarely plays with Sophie. Sophie is jealous of any attention payed to Sherman by human or other dog. She is also agressive towards Sherman if he plays with Archie if she is not the center of the play. If she had her way, she would rule the world, but accepts with good grace the fact that she doesn't and that the only queen bee (or B) in our house is me. |
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| I would say this is a problem worthy of consulting a competent and reliable professional. we have had some issues and the important thing is to work witht he right person. |
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