I have 3 dogs. Since I got the youngest, the other two attack each other and I need to pull. What do you think of my situation and what do you recommend?

Question

Hi Cindy,

I called and was told that you may be able to help.

I have 3 dogs, Sadie a 10 year old rottie, Sophie a 4 year old lab mix and Emma a 1 year old yellow lab.

I have had Sadie since she was 6 weeks old. She has been a very friendly dog.  But was unsure of strangers.

I rescued Sophie from the pound when she was 2.  She is a very shy dog who cowers easily.

I rescued Emma from the pound when she was 6 months old.  She is a dominate overly friendly dog who had no training or attention until I got her.

Since I got Emma, Sadie sometimes attacks Sophie and I need to pull her off as she grabs Sophie by the neck and won't let go.  Sophie tries to bite her back.  I now keep Sadie in different rooms and a separated yard.  This weekend, someone left the door open and Sophie came in to see me.  Sadie immediately attacked her. 

Since this aggressive behavior began, I have taken Sadie to the vet.  She does have arthritis and we put her on rhymidol, so she is feeling better.   Everything else checked out fine.   My vet and 2 behavioralists have told me to put Sadie down as aggressive behavior in an older dog usually indicates dementia. I am thinking that I should try and see if I can fix this before putting her down.

Before I buy muzzles, and training DVDs, what do you think?

Also, I purchased a shock collar for Emma as the trainer I used for her said because of her dominant personality she needs one.  I have discovered though that I need some help using it as a training aid.  I saw you had a DVD for training.  Will it help me with training her to not jump on people when she meets them?  That is my biggest problem with her.  The trainer wanted $700 to help me train her which I just don't have.  So, suggestions as to which training aids I could use would be greatly appreciated.

As background, I have had big dogs my entire life and have always been able to train them so I don't expect to have problems training Emma.  My problem now is I have M. S. so my strength is less than it used to be and that is why the shock collar was recommended.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Linda

Accepted Answer

The problems you are seeing are the result of the way you live with your dogs. When dogs act like this they lack leadership from their owners. In other words their owners don’t understand how important pack drive is in how they raise their dogs.

Owners of dogs like yours underestimate the genetic power of "PACK DRIVE" Pack structure is not something new and it is not optional, and if you don’t provide the structure and leadership a dog NEEDS then he or she will behave as canines have for thousands of years and will structure your family and household their own way. Your dog is not behaving badly out of spite or stubbornness; your dog is simply being a dog, a dog that needs some guidance and rules. Adding a 3rd dog to a family can be much more challenging than having 2, and requires a much higher level of leadership.

If you want to fix a problem like this you can but it takes some work.

Here is a DVD that I would recommend titled Dealing with Dominant and Aggressive Dogs. If you go to the link on this DVD you can read about what it covers. You will also see a detailed outline of what’s in the video.

I also recommend our video on Pack Structure and the Family Pet and the free article that gives you an outline of how to set yourself up for success with a new dog or how to rework an existing relationship with a dog. I would suggest reading the article first.

I think the Electric Collar video would help you understand how to correctly use the collar. Once you know how to determine your dog’s working level you can then use the collar for many different issues, from coming when called to jumping up.

As a side note, I hope your vet ran blood work to test for liver function BEFORE he prescribed the Rimadyl. This is a dangerous drug if not used carefully, I would not use it in my own dogs unless it was their last hope. Vets these days prescribe this drug for everything including post surgical pain and this is just wrong. I believe there are other much safer things we can do for our arthritic friends with one of the easiest things being changing their diet to remove all grains and using Salmon Oil & Vitamin E (a natural anti-inflammatory) and possibly one of the many joint supplements that are available. You can see the supplements we have available.

Read this article on feeding a raw diet. It’s a work in progress but there is a lot of good information there.

I hope this helps.

Cindy