I have two female dogs that I am in training for right now because of their agression against each other. They used to play together but one day Lilly (lab/grayhound mix) turned and bit Sadie (deaf pitbull) and it seems to have activated a strong agression in Sadie against this particular dog.

Believe me - no matter how good either dog gets with their training I will NEVER have them out togather.

However - I would like to have enough control of them to have a few minutes to intervene if they ever do by some mistake end up together (I have been doing crate and rotate).

I have to take them to a Kennel next week for 3 days so I thought I would see how they were together with muzzles on to see if they could be in a car together (with muzzles and tied leashes of course). Instant agression. Looks like I will be making two trips. I already have it set up that they are in seperate kennels and seperated at all times.

My trainer suggested having them sleep in their crates next to each other where they can see each other and be protected. I was wondering if anyone else out there had done this or had any other tips. I don't want to do anything that would make it worse. Thanks for any help - Kelly

i think the crates next to each other is a good idea...basically get them used to being around each other and in close proximity with each other without havnig to protect themselves...after a while they will lose interest in attacking each other and realise that the other is always gone be ther so its pointless doing what they doing...IMO...but im sure those with more experience can give u better advice

I don't put dogs who do not get along right next to each other as they will "grouch" at each other each time one of them moves. IMO, this is a good way to start crate aggression.
However, I do have crates about 5 or 6 feet apart and they stay quiet. And in the vehicle I use an old wire crate tray to slide between the crates so they cannot see each other. In the kennels they are placed away from each other also.
I do not "force" them to be close together and crating them right next to each other may make them feel like that.
I am lucky to have only two out of my 6 that REALLY do not get along.

Also, I would read up on these articles of Ed's:

http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/Ed%20FrawleysPhilosophyondogtraining.pdf

http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/packstructure.pdf

http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/dealingwithdominantdog.pdf

http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/howtobreakupdogfight.pdf

http://www.leerburg.com/podcasts/groundworkpart1.mp3

Kelly,

Get a dominant dog collar.

Set up a situation where Lilly is securely tethered and you have Sadie on leash. Walk Sadie really really far away (where she is not paying any attention to Lilly). Then walk Sadie directly towards Lilly. When Sadie notices Lilly, bump her gently with your leg (for a non-deaf dog, I would say "no") and correct her if she continues to give Lilly attention/eye contact. When she offers the correct behavior (looking to you) give treats. Give treats every time she offers the correct behavior, even if you haven't asked for it.

This is a very effective method. One dog I started working on this with her and her owner. In minutes, she was sitting calmly next to the dog who was the target of her aggression. She had 3 sessions over 3 weeks. Corrections were introduced in the 3rd session. She recieved 2 corrections with a dominant dog collar. 1 year later (none of this inbetween), she went to an event with about 1000 people and 1000 dogs (a Cesar Millan book signing). This dog stood calmly with her owner, in a crowd of other dogs and people. Cesar complimented the dog's manners (and the owner is still talking about it... :grin

If I had a similar situation, I would go ahead with the side by side crating AFTER getting results in the training I described above. The dog that starts the crabbing gets a no-bark collar. It sorta works like crittering, IME. Make sure you leave at least a 4 inch gap in between the crates! (You know your dog, if it doesn't work, don't do it.)

6 dogs - wow!

I did the crate thing last night like my trainer suggested. Sadie actually veered away from the crate of the other dog which I think tells me that she knows to stay away - but she did charge agressively once. I put her in a submissinve dog down at this point until she was totally relaxed and then gave her the commands for sit, attention, and then sent her out where we did some work outside. Afterwards we worked on her long stay and then calling her back into the crate for her food which she did pretty good with. There was a couple of loud barks but these were from Lilly and when I gave her the correction I noticed Sadie (who is deaf) was sleeping.

Maybe this will help - I hope. Although I will never have them out together on purpose.

Anne - that sounds like a good idea. Since it is just me here (I don't have anyone to help since BF left) I think this is what my trainer is going to have me do with him and the two dogs next session. So I am going to figure out how to get them in the car together - either make a big seperation they cannot see through or get a crate that is small enough to fit in the car and large enough for the dog.

I have a dominant dog collar for Sadie which I always have on her. When out of her crate she always wears the e-collar and during training sessions she also wears a prong and sometimes muzzle. Quite a bit of headgear but you have to have the right equipment! I've read all of those articles by Ed acouple of months ago but it is a good idea for me to go back and review.

Otherwise the training is going great - Sadie will now sit and stay without even seeign me while I am getting her food ready. When I finally recall her there is a big pool of drool where she was sitting . . .

Oh I forgot to mention that during the time when Sadie became agressive against Lilly with her muzzle on the neighbor's pit-bull jumped the fence and started biting Sadie on the butt! (This was totally unexpected). I had to grab this dog's back legs and pull her off of Sadie - thankfully Sadie didn't even notice the other dog. After I pulled this dog off of Sadie I flipped her on her back - she looked up at me and then turned and jumped back over the fence. I was then able to seperate Sadie and Lilly. So today I get to build this section of fence higher. The last thing I need is for this dog to jump the fence and start to fight Sadie. I've talked to the neighbors several times about their 2 female PBs (they are agressive to each other daily) and they just look at me like I am a moron. "We'll just spray them with a hose". These are people who someday will have their dogs put down because they don't work with them or keep them properly supervised or trained. Or they will come home and find they have fatally injured each other.

Anne,

I did pretty much the same thing for a client who had two goldens that were at each other all the time. I identified the primary aggressor and focused my attention on that dog. My initial session was for me to get the dog under control, then the owner. On the second session the dominant dog collar came out and the training began. By the end of that session both could be laying next to each other without incident. Neither were allowed loose together until another two visits.

Prior to my working with them the dogs were kept in separate rooms. I suggested she crate the dogs at a distance of about 5 feet apart and both facing in the same direction to avoid eye contact. In the following days the crates were slowly moved so that they were allowed to see each other. When no crate aggression was shown they were moved closer to each other a little each night. Two more sessions with the DD collar and life is good.

Howard

Wow Howard that is great. I would love to have similar results. These two dogs really used to enjoy each other - always running and playing together before the fight. I don't know with one of them being a pitbull if I would ever be able to get to that point with them but I wish I could. . ..

Well, you have already identified your goal. Now you work towards it. Depending on your expertise and the dogs' participation, it may go fairly quick or take some time. The way I see it is that you either fix it. keep them separated forever or get rid of one.

Don't rush things. Its a problem you beat one bite at a time if its fixable. Sooner or later you'll get positive results or learn the truth which will dictate which of the above three solutions you choose.