Whats going on now?
We are at a loss and are hoping you can help us. Since December we have had an agression problem with Max.Sometime during the day Molly will be playing with a toy or waiting for a treat just about anything, minding her own business and Max will jump on her and start a fight. We break it right up and send Max to his crate or out side. When we let them back togeather Molly wrinkles her nose and growls for the rest of the day. She won't start anything. she just doesn't want him around her to do it again. She usually lets him be 2nd in command after us so we're not sure whats going on. Any one have any ideas how to correct this?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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Are you sure Molly isn't starting it in some way? Look for little hints....
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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How old are they? Usually when the younger one hits about a year it will start challenging the older dog. This is when it is most important that you are clearly in charge. When our second corgi, Buffy, reached that age we had a couple very dramatic scuffles at bedtime. I determined that my husband was making a huge fuss over her at bedtime and she started to think she owned the bedroom and tried to take Sparty's bed. Izzy at that age decided she owned the back yard. In both cases we changed our behavior and it corrected the problem. In your case, if Max is going after Molly, I would watch closely for an intense stare that may precede the attack. That is the time to put a stop to it. Sparty does that sometimes to our son's dog and I just leashed him and corrected him before he did anything.After a couple times he started to respond to a firm no. You really have to observe and determine who is the cause in order to correct it. Obedience classes may help a lot.
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Permalink Reply by Renee on
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I did think it was Molly for awhile. We watched for a couple days because Max has been trying to be an alpha for about 6 mo.( peeing where she pees etc,) Molly defers to Max. When they get their treats Molly will wait until Max comes out of the kitchen into the dining room. We've even given Molly hers in the dining room, she won't touch it untill he comes out. Thank you both and we'll try again.
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Molly is doing that because Max wants her too. I would work with Max a little to take him down a notch. Not in a mean way but in a way that helps him see you are in charge. Sparty can get that way sometimes especially when my husband is with them because he does not work with the dogs much. It would help if you had an instructor that has seen your dogs give you advice. You do not want this to escalate.
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Permalink Reply by Rachel & Goldie on
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I have the same problem. Except the boy is the old one who has problems! Goldie is new and everything so Rocky doesn't like that. he got jealous. so i tried to make them friends.And its sort of working! Here is what I did. I found something they both like.( they LOVE to go for a run...... once you think of it Rocky and Goldie have ALOT in common!) Anyway....I took them for a run..... Goldie started playing and chasing rocky. He didn't act aggressively though! It was great to see them bond! But don't think that that makes them friends!!!! Rocky loves to to play and run....But inside its another story......Rocky tries nipping he grows like a roar! Goldie starts crying.... And then I'm out to teach Rocky a lesson! Some times in the pen i hear her yelping so i go outside tell him "NO!" in the harshest voice (if he hurt the pup i would smack him...but not hard!) So try to find something they both like! Maybe it will work.
Also Max may be jealous. He thinks you like Molly more so he may try to get her out of the picture. Try spending some time with max. Then with Molly. And then both of them together
Good luck!
Rachel & Goldie
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Permalink Reply by Joanna Kimball on
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I think the reason it's escalating is that you're not letting them finish it. If both dogs are showing appropriate bite inhibition - if there's no marks on either of them - let them figure it out.
Dogs very definitely do see things in terms of hierarchies, but those are not simple and they're not obvious to most humans. Overmarking, for example, tends to be more about who is CONCERNED with rank, not who is higher in rank. (And with males, it's usually just "Hey, we're peeing over here! Yay, pee!")
And who the pack leader is - who makes the decisions about where the group goes and how they react to things - is not necessarily the one who is the resource leader (the one who gets the food first) or the warning leader (who signals the group that danger is coming) or the play leader (who hogs the toys). It's not that the idea of structure is invalid; it's just that trying to figure out who's "alpha" is not terribly useful when it comes to the average owner trying to train their dog, because we've almost always got it wrong.
If Max is the one being obnoxious, Molly has to have the chance to whip his behind and the behavior will stop. If Molly is the one actually starting it, Max has a right to punish her. Let the behavior play out until its end, even if you hear scary noises, as long as nobody's actually doing damage.
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