My problems:

1. I wanted to crate our Pits already when they were 2 months old, but my husband refuses absolutely, because he thinks, when crated, they are of no use against burglers.
When we bought them, I was a total beginner - actually still am ~ but I had at least read a lot about dogs and bought several DVDs of Leerburg in order to get a clearer picture about the world of dogs.
After having watched the DVDs about Pack Structure, Dominant and Aggressive dogs and Obedience, I was convinced, that each one needs a crate, as a condition to create a good pack structure. Recently my husband gave finally in, but the next morning, while I was on a walk with one of the dogs, he was threatened by a masked man with pistol on the veranda. Fortunately he reacted rapidly and succeeded to run out of the line of fire and untie the other dogs (which normally are not on a chain). The consequence now of this event is of course, that crates or kennels are out of question.

One of the Pits, Slippe, can be aggressive against the Lab, but not against people, on the contrary, she loves them. That's why I fear, that she even wouldn't attack a burgler. He'd probably only take off, because of the reputation Pits have.
Is there a chance to establish a good pack structures, without going the whole way described by Ed Frawley? I'm afraid, that without crating it will not work.

2. Although I have watched the DVDs many many times, I still cannot make out, whether Slippie, 3 years, is genetically dominant or not. Certainly she is dominant over her sister and especially our Lab-Mix (female, 2 1/2), a resgate dog. The first 6 months after having taken her in our home, everything seemed ok. But one day, the Lab sat on her chair with a bone and Slippie, the dominant Pit, wanted this bone, although she had her own. The Lab didn't want to give it and Slippie attacked. She bit her badly, and strangely her sister, who is never aggressive in the least, attacked immediately too.
Of course from then on we stopped giving bones or other things, when Slippie wasn't chained. Then: 3 months without problem. But one day, I returned from a walk with the Lab, what I do daily the same way and I never had any problems, not even the slightest sign of aggression of Slippie. But that day, when I entered with the Lab, she all of a sudden attacked her again and Slippies sister participated, it gives me the impression of solidarization. The rest of the time Slippie doesn't do anything to her. It only happens in situations of (in human terms) envy and jealousy. Until now I have as only solution avoidance of situations which could trigger such feelings. On walks she is never dog aggressive, so I think, it must be a dominance problem. Somehow she hasn't accepted the Lab as a pack member, although if people visit us, they get the picture of a stable family.

I'd be very grateful, if someone with more experience could give me a recommendation.

Thanks!

Christina

i have no idea about you or your situation , how or where you live , so my advice is measured ...

first , my sympathies extended with respect to the alleged assault by the masked man with a pistol . i find the timing of this episode somewhat ironic .... enough said on that point .

your husband should understand that the crate is used for a variety of reasons .... one of which is as a training tool to establish structure in your household . the goal is not to train the dog to live full time in the crate , but rather , there are times when the dog will be isolated in his crate/den . if the training is done properly , the dog will be turn out to be a well adjusted , grounded dog who will take comfort in the fact that he will always have "his" space in the house .

as a somewhat informed dog enthusiast who does not ( and has not ) trained in the protection aspect , i'd even suggest that your dogs' motivation to protect house and home will be enhanced by the crate training , due to the fact that the dog will eventually transfer the feelings he has for his crate to the whole house .

as to your other issues , understand that as soon as you have have more than one dog present , pack mentality becomes active . dogs are constantly determining a pecking order , and sometimes a dog will pick an opportunity to display that dominance . the other dog " piling on " establishes her position as a subordinate to the instigator , but ranking higher than the target dog .

in the situation you described , slippie is seeing the lab getting exclusive time with you ( the leader ) , which might have slippie seeing her position with you declining . she has accepted the lab as a pack member , just not as an equal pack member .

hope that sheds some light on the situation , and again , condolences to you and your husband living in a location where defense tactics against imminent attacks by armed masked men are a reality .

I can tell you what I have done, but I would trust the advice from Leerburg above all others. I do know that crate training only enhances the ability for your dogs to be trustworthy roaming the house in the future after pack structure and rules are completely understood. It will also greatly depend on your dog's personality and the amount of exercise they get vs. need. But this is what I did:

I puppy proofed my master bathroom and used that as his "kennel" making sure to exercise him, and leave him with puzzle toys and chews. I also would put him in there while I was home and tired of keeping eyes on him so it didn't necessarily mean I was leaving, and he never developed an anxiety disorder to my leaving. Of course, he is also genetically clear headed and non anxious so who knows if my approach had anything to do with it. :-)
I am also a stay at home mom, so my position is a lot more flexible than many other people's.
Once he showed me that he was going to be calm in the bathroom and it didn't seem likely to change, I puppy proofed my bedroom and just left the door to the bathroom open. So I was just slowly making his confinement area bigger. After he seemed dependable in that space, I started to add "trouble" temptations while I was at home. I would leave the bath mats down and towels in his reach, or a yummy leather belt on my bedroom floor, and the most tempting of all.. the bathroom trash. :-) My guy loves toilet paper rolls and such!
After a long time of this and he seemed ready, (by guesswork & "feel" knowing his personality) I started leaving my bedroom door open also. I have been leaving him with full run of the house since around 6-7 mos, the general age where you can officially refer to them as being potty trained (provided they actually are, of course).
Keep in mind this is just my experience with my dog. If you want something that is more absolute, you should listen to what Mr Frawley recommends.
For reference sake I have a 13 month old intact male German Shepherd named Aries.

I have also seen 2 dogs gang up on one, and the milder dogs side with the more aggressive, the winner dog. Nobody comes to the aid of the weak one.

I would get a crate for my lab to protect the lab. Let him/her eat in there and have her bones in there. It can be that dog's den.

If you have more than one dog of the same sex it is likely that there will be fights, especially if you have several females, in my experience females fight more often and more seriously than males.

I think it is going to be tough to maintain control over these three big dogs without crates to control fights around eating and sleeping places as the dogs mature. In my experience dogs on chains become pretty crazy, if some are chained and others are free there is teasing that goes on that makes it worse when the chained dog is freed.

I think you would like crates --- not to keep them in all the time, of course. The crate is in addition, a control measure. Dogs can be fed in crates and there is no fighting.

You already know from your research, your DVDs, and advice you've just read here all the reasons why it's good to have crates available for your dogs when needed and have the dogs trained to accept them. Unfortunately, if your husband is dead-set against crating, I don't believe anything I say is going to change his mind.

But I do have to say I fear for the safety of your Lab. I hope you will never, ever leave her alone and loose in the house or yard with your other two dogs. Not even for five minutes. I know of a situation that just happened where two dogs ganged up on and killed a third dog in the owner's home while the owner was outside talking to someone. There were warning signs in that situation, and you are seeing warning signs, too.

If your husband refuses to have crates, I hope at least there is the possibility of keeping the dogs safely separated when you are not home, meaning separate rooms with securely closed doors, etc.

What you describe is a serious situation with potentially deadly consequences for at least one of the dogs involved, and I believe a committed proactive management approach is going to be extremely important.

A human can absolutely get hurt during one of these scuffles.

The dog which is not the powder keg would be the one I would leave loose in the house - ie. your soft to people, bitch to dogs girl needs to be crated when you're not there to make sure she minds her manners.

Consider crating your husband as well if he argues. Pull out the vet bill from having your girl treated and revisit that, if it will help.

I would consider moving if armed gunmen on the veranda is a regular thing for you, though I know that's not always possible.

 Quote: Kristin Muntz

I would consider moving if armed gunmen on the veranda is a regular thing for you, though I know that's not always possible.

The best advice in this thread...

Keeping people off your property, or physically assaulting or mugging you, are reasonable expectations for a protection dog. Someone who is willing to shoot you will also shoot the dog.

JMO

 Quote: Christina Stockinger

I'm afraid, that without crating it will not work.

I'd be very grateful, if someone with more experience could give me a recommendation.

Thanks!

Christina

I will play the "bad guy" here, Christina:

Unfortunately, your K9 scenario is a Blood-Bath waiting to happen, IMHO

You have THREE female dogs, and no one in the home who has anywhere near enough Canine Experience to handle this living situation "as is" -- Your husbsnd is being uncooperative & unreasonable, so he will be of no help to you whatsoever...

The alpha bitch & her beta sister can (most likely will) pack-up on the omega female, and do her Grievous Bodily Harm, while you end up being Seriously Injured trying to stop that FIGHT

I truly mean no offense by saying so, but this is a really DANGEROUS time-bomb which you are unhappily NOT competent enough to Defuse -- At the very least, you should re-home your poor Lab for her own safety ... BTW, any thug willing to Kill a Person will SHOOT a DOG dead without a moment's hesitation, FYI

"I'm afraid that without crating it will not work."


I agree with Betty, Cheri, Kristin, Duane, Candi ...and I agree that you have a Lab living in danger.

" Consider crating the husband......" !