I apologize if this seems long but wanted you to have as much information as possible. HISTORY: We rescued Mya, 3 year old spayed Malamute, in October of 2008. She was supposed to get along with other dogs but we don't know much about her life before us. When we brought her home, she was the only indoor dog but was outside with our older male, Sox. They got along fine even though Mya exibited stong dominance over him. Sox died of old age in March and Mya seemed lost outside. We decided to rescue another Mal. North is a neutered 5 year old Mal/Siberian cross who was chained to a tree and abandoned by his owner along with his 8 sledmates. Needless to say he was very timid and not sure if he wanted to trust another human. We drove 10 hours to Utah to meet North and see if the two of them would get along. They spent 2 hours playing in a large fenced area without incident so we adopted North and brought him home. In the past month, he has really come around and loves being in the house with us. Here is my problem.

They get along fine outside. They play hard, run around chasing each other and even sleep side by side on top of one of the dog houses. The only time I have seen any aggression outside is when either my husband or I are in the pen with them and this doesn't happen often. Inside is a different story. We have to keep them separated in different rooms. On a couple of ocassions, Mya has attacked North without provocation. It wasn't over food or toys. He just walked by her and she lashed out. This doesn't happen all the time which is what is making it so difficult to deal with.

I have tried possitive reinforcement which seemed to be working until, after about 10 days of no problems, she went after him again. I have tried a muzzle when she growls or curls her lip at him. She hated it from the first time I put it on her which indicates to me that her previous owners used one on her. I do have to use it on her when we go for walks as she will fight with North on the leash. I searched for an animal behavior specialist in our area and there are none. Closest is about 5 hours away. We have taken to leashing Mya in one room with me while North stays in another with my husband until bed time. North is a very mellow guy who only wants to get away from her when she wants to fight. He seems to be very forgiving and wants to be her packmate.

I want to restate that her attacking him does not happen all the time. She has attacked him 4 times in the 6 weeks we have had him althought I am sure it would be more oftem if we didn't keep them separated as she often growls or curls her lip at him. Any help would be appreciated.

I don't think that her hating the muzzle necessarily means that her previous owners used one. I have only had one dog that didn't hate a muzzle at first. Try using marker training to get her to accept the muzzle. So hold the muzzle over the palm of your hand an put a treat in it, let her stick her face into the muzzle to retrieve the treat. Let her do this many times and make it FUN! Then you can move up to actually putting it on her and then doing some fun marker training while she wears it. Ideally she would learn to ignore it.

I think the reason she is aggressive with the other dog is because she sees the house as "HER HOUSE" and it acting in a territorial/aggressive manner. The only way to alleviate this is to up your pack status. Check out the groundwork article on this website. Keep in mind, you may never be able to completely trust them together unsupervised. Mya may have to be muzzled whenever she is in the presence of the male for a long time, maybe forever. But she needs to understand that aggression towards other pack members will not be tolerated! YOU decide who is OK in your house, not her.

In my experience, it takes any new pet 6 weeks to integrate into the home. Start the groundwork program with both of these new dogs and you may see the change you are hoping for

Good Luck!

I agree with the idea on the muzzle and have tried the treats inside it. Seems to be working. I am afraid that you are right and Mya will always need the muzzle inside. After I fed them last night, she went after North again. It happened so fast that we hardly had time to deflect her attack. My question is this: After breaking up the fight, how much 'force' is acceptable to discipline her? My husband picked her up by the scruff of the neck and hauled her out of the room. Fortunately, neither North or Mya were hurt during the fight.

Still looking for some advice here. They get along so well outside. I only wish she would behave half that well inside. I have read many posts on aggression between pack mates but most of them relate to aggression inside and out. This truly only happens inside. Any other suggestions besides the muzzle on this problem will be appreciated.

 Quote: LorranCarlston

After breaking up the fight, how much 'force' is acceptable to discipline her? My husband picked her up by the scruff of the neck and hauled her out of the room. ....

No fights! Please don't allow this! Separation, and this is worth emphasizing:

 Quote: Niomi Smith

... The only way to alleviate this is to up your pack status. Check out the groundwork article on this website. Keep in mind, you may never be able to completely trust them together unsupervised. Mya may have to be muzzled whenever she is in the presence of the male for a long time, maybe forever. But she needs to understand that aggression towards other pack members will not be tolerated! YOU decide who is OK in your house, not her. ... In my experience, it takes any new pet 6 weeks to integrate into the home. Start the groundwork program with both of these new dogs and you may see the change you are hoping for

Are you working with each dog, separately, daily?

 Quote: LorranCarlston

My husband picked her up by the scruff of the neck and hauled her out of the room. Fortunately, neither North or Mya were hurt during the fight.

Fortunately your husband wasn't hurt during the fight.

I have limited experience with dog on dog aggression, so you can take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

When these dogs are inside, you need to keep them separated. You are subjecting both dogs to a very stressful environment by continuing to allow them to interact.

There are many members here with two or more dogs who are not allowed to mingle. If you can't prevent Mya from attacking North, then you have to manage their environments. A muzzle does not do anything to address the root cause of the problem, and also does nothing to ease the stress that each dog must be feeling when in close proximity to each other.

Many people here crate and rotate, so that one dog is crated while the other dog is out. Perhaps that's an option for you?

I won't comment on what's happening outside except to say that there is no guarantee that the aggression you see inside the house won't spill over to the oustide environment.

I hope some of the folks here that have multiple dog households will comment further...

Please ask if you don't know what's meant by the LB "groundwork program" (or any other LB terminology used here).

I read the article and do understand the GW program. I, like so many thought that GW and obedience training were one and the same. After reading the article, I have started to implement GW retraining with Mya first as she is my main concern. As of tonight, they will be completely separated from the moment they come into the house. I am determined not to let this happen again and if it takes total separation, then that is what it will be. Trading off crating them will take a little training. North loves his crate but, (I'm sure you are about to guess this) Mya doesn't. As of tonight, she will be fed in her crate both morning and evening (as per the article on Leerburg's feeding program).

I do want to say thank you to everyone who has posted a reply to my problem. I have had multiple dogs before but never had this problem no matter how many I had at one time so this is all new. I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep my dogs and family safe.

I want to thank Niomi and Lynne for their help with this problem. We started rotating the crating on Friday. This gives us time to spend one-on-one with each of them without worry. North is fine with being crated but Mya still puts up a fuss. I am feeding her in the crate so it makes it a little easier. This does seem to be the only answer to this problem since it is so sporadic. I will continue to work with each of them with the ground work and obedience. Thanks again.

 Quote: lorrancarlston

I read the article and do understand the GW program. I, like so many thought that GW and obedience training were one and the same.

Yes, that was why I double-checked that you knew what we meant.

There are terms used here that don't always mean exactly what a new board member might think.

There was no condescension meant in the question. (It was pointed out to me that when I say, as I often do, "Please let us know if any of this is new terminology" or "Please post back if you don't know what this advice means," I sometimes sound patronizing. I NEVER mean to. Heck, I get a lot more than I give here!)

And back on topic.....

 Quote: LorranCarlston

... We started rotating the crating on Friday. This gives us time to spend one-on-one with each of them without worry. .... I will continue to work with each of them with the ground work and obedience.

Good work.

Are you doing marker work with the individual dogs?