Advice for an agressive corgi?

Hello everyone. I just joined as a result of what has been happening in my home over the past week. We had two Cardigan's already and adopted two six month old pups sent the the local SPCA in March. We integrated them slowly and everything seemed to be going well (with our 13 year old asserting himself as alpha and no challenges being made by the pups).

However, the big pup (already 36 pounds) has decided to "respond" after four months when our 13 year old tries to give him a warning growl over getting too close. This has created two very ugly fights in which the pup attacks and grabs or oldest boy by the back of the neck. We have had to pry him off both times (two people). We have gone back to quartering the dogs (original two/new two) in different parts of the house.

Any suggestions on how we can prevent this when they are all together?

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Permalink Reply by Sylvia & Timmy on July 12, 2008 at 11:01am

Dan,
So sorry to hear about your recent problems. The first priority should be to keep the two groups seperated for now for the safety of all the dogs, but especially your oldest.

One of the problems with us (humans) is we aren't tuned into the small signs/signals that dogs give us everyday about their conditions, stresses, etc. Could be that one of the newer pups has picked up on your oldests' illness and weakness. I would suggest you contact an animal behaviorist. Perhaps there is one your local rescue (where you got the two pups from) can recommend. This person should be able to see all the things that we can and do miss and perhaps put you on the right track to settle the issues between the two dogs. Possibility exists that it might not be able to be resolved and you might have to keep them seperated, to prevent further injury to your oldest.

On the other side of the equation, you might also take a look at your own interactions with all the dogs and make sure that you're still "top dog" and not letting them determine who is. I don't know if you've heard of NILIF, but in a multiple dog household, it's essential.

Thank you for taking in the two pups from rescue. I'm sure they're much happier in your home getting the love they deserve. I hope that a behaviorist will be able to give you positive suggestions and a plan of action.

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Permalink Reply by Dan in N.Y. on July 12, 2008 at 1:53pm

Thank you for your adice. We were afraid that Boss' illness and slowly deteriorating health may well be the root cause. Merlin did not dare to challenge him for nearly four months, but something seemed to "click" recently and he seems to have decided that he isn't going to back off any longer. We will be contacting a behaviorist on Monday and we have the pups located away from our originals for now. I'll also be looking into NILIF as well.

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Permalink Reply by Sam on July 12, 2008 at 12:30pm

As one adds dogs to a home the entire mechanics of the "pack" change. I do believe instinctively the pups are aware of the more frail older boy in your home. While we find this behavior awful in the dog world it is not that unusual. If the two pups are littermates I would suspect they are quite mentally connected and more responsive to each other then humans. This is one of the reasons many recommend not having littermates.
I think you would do best keeping them apart. A 13 yr. old is no match for a strapping pup. You may also do well working with the pups separately to form more of a bond to you. This may help in the redirections in the days to come.

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Permalink Reply by Dan in N.Y. on July 12, 2008 at 1:56pm

Thank you for your advice. The pups have been separated. They are, by the way, littermates and I will look into the behavior of the pups and their responses to us. I did not know that keeping littermates together was frowned upon.