Brick went after Zeke pretty good tonight
I always give Brick's first, then Zeke's. Brick got his, and when I went to give Zeke his, Brick started barking at him angrily and pushing Zeke away from me. I've seen this before so I wasn't too concerned. But then Brick knocked Zeke down, somehow got Zeke onto his back, and basically had Zeke pinned down; angrily barking at him the whole time. All of Brick's teeth were showing the whole time. I began squirting Brick with a squirt gun until he lifted his head up away from Zeke, at which time I yanked Brick off of Zeke. I threw Brick in an empty room. Zeke didn't seem any worse for the wear. I'm so angry at Brick. I get that he gets jealous over food and treats , but I've never seen him go after Zeke like that. Other than separating them when food, toys, or treats are involved, what else can I do to stop that behavior from Brick? |
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| Back when China and Violet were young, we went through this a few times. Very scary when it happens. I started feeding them in seperate rooms. I never left the area until all the food was consumed and the bowls picked up. I stayed and watched them, didn't do something else while they ate. I fully oberved them. When I give them treats, I say out loud whose treat this is, example " Violet's, now China's, now Asia's" At first with the treats I always gave Violet, who is older, the first treat. I than thought about it and thought I may be feeding into this food problem we have, so each time I give treats, even now, I change whose first, second, third. They all know they will get a treat and they all stand and wait. I usually give them two treats at a "treating", so they get one treat and then wait with the other dogs for the second treat. Whichever dog got the first treat get the second treat in the same order, that way they understand when it's going to be their turn. The last "dust up" I had with any of the dogs was about 4 yrs ago and it started right in front of me between Violet and Asia. Violet went after Asia for whatever reason and Asia took her down in no time. It started and ended under 30 seconds. I did not put my hands between them I just lowered my voice and told them to stop now. I'm sure others will have some good advise for you. This stuff does happen, and Brick is still adjusting to having another dog around....things will work out, but I agree in the heat of battle it's scary. |
| A member of my Airedale board posted this link about multi-dog houses: http://www.boxer-rescue-la.com/training ... e_Dogs.htm I thought it was pretty informative, but I'm also not an expert like many on this board. |
| I don't believe in the Alpha Dog theory at all. |
| Hmmm, that is an interesting article. I see some valid points and others that don't seem to go with what I am observing right now in my household. As you know I am new to all of this as Bert is only my fourth dog and my very first time with a multi-dog household. Harry is definitely alpha but there are certain behaviors I will NOT tolerate as I consider myself to be alpha to these dogs. One of these behaviors is resource guarding. We did not have an issue with food and that may be thanks to all of my interaction with Heart and the other Sheepdogs at our local venues. I have always made Harry wait with the rest of the group to get a treat. And it is never the same as to who gets it first. The only incident was with my husband who "drops" food for Harry when making his lunch in the morning and Bert made the mistake of trying to get it. We dealt with that and I am not sure what my husband is doing now but we have not had another altercation since then. But Harry definitely wanted to resource guard both me and my mother when he felt Bert was going in for attention in Harry's space. I put a stop to that. I go out of my way with the affection to give to them fairly equally. But sometimes I let Bert have it first. Also I try to hug them at the same time frequently. The main thing Mark, is that I watch Harry to make sure that he doesn't push the rules. He will let out a little growl sometimes to give Bert the word. When I don't think it is appropriate in the situation I call him out on it with an "Now what is that about?" That seems to be enough for Harry as he respects my role in the house. What you want to do, as with any bad behavior, is try to anticipate so you can correct it before it escalates or even happens. Dawn has been a big help to me because she has had a multi-dog household most of her life. Good luck. Feel free to call me sometime if you want to discuss it. |
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