Help! Interdog Agression!
I need some help dealing with some agression going on between by two dogs. I have a male Pembroke Corgi that is 3 and 1/2 years. A year and half ago I brought home a black lab/sheppard mix puppy. At first the lab was really shy. After a month or so the Corgi started to get snippy with the puppy if the lab went near his food. After that incident I promptly began feeding them separately in their own crates. Both of them sleep and eat in their crates which is in my bedroom. That worked fine until I started to give them bones in their crates. Even though I was giving the same bone to each dog the Corgi would bark at the lab between crates. I read a ton of articles that said I needed to reinforce that dog that is showing signs of alpha dog so I made sure to take the corgi out first and feed him first. All of that has died done now and they have been getting along great for several months. The lab is now 1.5 years and is 70 lbs. Within the last week the Lab has started to show signs of aggression with the Corgi. Last night the corgi needed out so I let him out. On his way back in he had to pass the Labs crate and the Lab went crazy. Thank god she was contained because it would have been a fight. The Corgi proceeded to get in his crate and bark back at her and was showing teeth. This happened for about 5 minutes then they went to sleep. This morning I feed them in their crate when I woke up. The Lab finishes her food in under 5 mintues and then looked over at the Corgi and started snarling again at him. The Corgi snarled back and I raised my voice and said "hey" and they stopped. I am not sure how to resolve this issue. I am afraid to leave them alone together so one is outside and one is inside while I am at work. Is there a way I can get them to get along
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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Are they both boys? Neutered? Do they fight outside of the cages? Only at mealtimes? More info please? Can you post a video?
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Permalink Reply by Valerie on
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The Corgi is a male. Lab is female. Both are fixed. They have fought twice before outside in the backyard when I was bringing them inside. I havent yet got a good video.
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Permalink Reply by Cathie on
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I'm sorry you are having to deal with this tension. I have two thoughts that may or may not help. I am not a dog trainer or behaviorist, this is just my intuitive response to your description of the problem.
1. Reinforcing the dog that is "showing signs of alpha" may not be helping in this case. My suggestion would be to stop doing that for a while. Just treat them equally. It seems to me they are in some kind of competition, and what they may really be competing for is your attention.
2. You say they are home, but separated from each other, while you are at work. You say you feed them in their crates, and they sleep in their crates. I may be totally off base here, but I think they may be bored. Do they get enough exercise? How much quality time do you spend with them? Both breeds are known to require plenty of exercise, long walks, games of fetch, etc. Tire them out every day and they will have less energy for squabbling.
Hope this helps.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff & Cheryl Weber on
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Well, first of all they will never be equals. You may want them to be but it just won't be so with dogs. So you have to first establish yourself as alpha over them both then decide who's going to be next and then who's going to be last and demonstrate that to them. Once that is clearly established they will be more secure regardless of what their position is. Things will never be quite until you do this. I would suggest you make the corgi alpha over the other.
Which ever way you go, you must be clear in your signals and be consistent as with any other dealings with your dogs.
I would also question keeping them crated to what seems to be such a high percentage of time.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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I suggested in your duplicate post that you need a trainer to give you advice on this. The reason I suggest that is that you have both dogs showing aggressive signs. THis adds to the difficulty in the situation and a pro. may be able to tell what is wrong after a visit. This can turn out to be potentially dangerous and/or heartbreaking for all.
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You might find this article helpful. http://www.thebalancedcanine.com/how-handle-interdog-aggression/
It highlights the difficulty of deciding which dog to reinforce, figuring out the reasons or triggers for the aggression, and the importance of establishing yourself as the leader and being consistent in your treatment of the dogs.
One tip from the article is not to crate the dogs in the same room. Another tip is, as Bev Levy suggested, you may need the help of a behaviorist to determine which dog you are going to reinforce.
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