Sibling Rivalry?
I need your advice. We adopted Ein in July when he was 4 months old. He was neutered around the time that he was 6-7 months old and has been through 2 training classes. We adopted Ed in November when he was 1 year old. He had been neutered shortly before we adopted him. We haven't enrolled him in any training classes yet, but we are teaching him what we learned while teaching Ein.
Here's the problem, they fight a lot. I assume it is just because they are figuring out who is top dog, so I let them fight for a short while, but if it starts to get bad, then I break up the fight (I yell, squirt them, use a squeaker etc-I never physically break up the fight)
This has been going on since day 2, I don't know what to do. They are starting to drive me crazy. I don't want to have my dogs separated in the house. I would love for them to get along peaceable.
When we are able to (the weather has been cold lately) they get two walks a day, plus we let them outside to play. They eat out of kongs usually plus we give them peanut butter kongs. We are unable to take Ed to dog parks as he just herds the other dogs and the other owners don't like it and end up leaving. Ein does quite well at the dog park, but I would hate to have one tired puppy and one not tired puppy that wants to play.
Am I just not exercising them enough? We give each dog some separate quality time. They eat separately. Ed will chase Ein off of the couch, sometimes steal his treats and push him away from toys that he (Ed) is playing with. I had read that these were all signs of him being the dominant dog. Has Ein just not accepted his position? Am I doing something wrong? Please help.
Here's the problem, they fight a lot. I assume it is just because they are figuring out who is top dog, so I let them fight for a short while, but if it starts to get bad, then I break up the fight (I yell, squirt them, use a squeaker etc-I never physically break up the fight)
This has been going on since day 2, I don't know what to do. They are starting to drive me crazy. I don't want to have my dogs separated in the house. I would love for them to get along peaceable.
When we are able to (the weather has been cold lately) they get two walks a day, plus we let them outside to play. They eat out of kongs usually plus we give them peanut butter kongs. We are unable to take Ed to dog parks as he just herds the other dogs and the other owners don't like it and end up leaving. Ein does quite well at the dog park, but I would hate to have one tired puppy and one not tired puppy that wants to play.
Am I just not exercising them enough? We give each dog some separate quality time. They eat separately. Ed will chase Ein off of the couch, sometimes steal his treats and push him away from toys that he (Ed) is playing with. I had read that these were all signs of him being the dominant dog. Has Ein just not accepted his position? Am I doing something wrong? Please help.
Comment
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Comment by Sam Tsang on December 28, 2008 at 10:42am
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Hi Tina, what Cindi said is true, exercise can do wonders, for our rescue interns, when Silvia and I bring them home, Silvia would drop me off a park close to home, about 1 mile away, I would start walking the new intern at the park, drain his energy, then silvia will proceed to go home and retrieve our 2 from home, we meet at the park - a neutral place, let them walk together for about 1 or 2 hours, this kind of activity bonds them as a pack, then we proceed to walk them all home.
Once we're home, we take the new one on leash, to every single room, to teach him what is acceptable and what isn't - correct on the spot. Always feed them separately, corgis are very food possessive and it's better to avoid an accident by feeding in different parts of the house.
To break up a fight, in stead of yelling, you can try getting a mini airhorn from walmart, it's around 7 bucks, it'll save your voice :) The water bottle will also help distract them.
For us, it takes about 2-3 weeks of constant work and monitoring to blend the new comer to our pack, so give it time, just like human, it takes time for the corgis to warm up and figure out each other too :)
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Comment by Cindi on December 28, 2008 at 9:33am
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First, how did you introduce them to each other? It's better to introduce them off-territory in a neutral area. If not, the best is to take the lead role in controlling the situation. It can be difficult to deal with. Moira is one Dominant with a capital D dog. She'll rule the house and run the rest ragged if she's allowed. We make a point of controlling her behavior. We insist she mind (and doing obedience classes will help, especially because she'll be required to get along with the other dogs in the class). We have learned to observe her behavior so we can nip in the bud any strong-arming on her part. As for exercise, remember walking is essential. Put each on a short leash and walk them on either side of you. When it's cool out you can get a longer walk in, which is great. The idea is to get them to see that they are required to cooperate. Walking is designed to bring mind-energy and physical energy down. Play keeps mind-energy up. So walking calms them more than play, even though they need both regularly. Good luck and you're welcome to write me off-forum.
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