I have always reinforced Abby as the most dominant dog in the house. She eats first, has a raised bed - not as high as a chair. When we walk multiple dogs, she is allowed to walk about 6 inches in front of the other dogs, when at a doorway, she must wait for all people to cross the threshold first, but is the first dog to go through the door.

I have a ZERO TOLERANCE for aggression, growling etc with Abby.

I have noticed on a couple occassions recently that Kelly (other dog) will sit on Abby or crowd her. Abby will growl at Kelly.

The dogs are only loose together for 10 - 30 minutes a day under close supervision, wearing collars and leashes.

Now - an alpha would ignore a minor scuffle such as this, but to do that would be inconsistent on my part to allow growling in one situation but not others.

What should I do?:
1. Correct Kelly for getting into Abby's space - just "no" and send Kelly to her place or kennel
2. Correct Abby for growling
3. Let Abby show Kelly what her boundaries are
4. Both #1 and #2
5. Take away their time loose in the house together

Thanks

Or #6, stop favoring one of the dogs. It is a bad idea to let one be dominant of the other. A good rule to remember is that you are #1 and all the dogs are #2. Why would you want your dog to be dominant over the other? This will only lead to problems. What happens if one day Kelly decides that she is tired of being submissive and tries to take over? There should be no growling or any type of aggression allowed from either dog. If you are not willing to do this, then you need to keep them apart permenantly.

I have a new rescue dog (complete with issues) about every 2 months. My husband can't figure out pack order very well, so I set an order in stone depending on what dog(s) are there. A clear structure lowers the stress on Abby and the rescue dogs, and helps me out with training as well.

Abby is beginning to mature, so I'm not at all surprised to see small signs of aggression towards another dog - she is a pitmix. I'm not sure how to address it when the other dog's behavior is also innapropriate.

I probably didn't go into enough detail about exactly how these dog's lives are <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Every interaction between any person and a dog is done in order depending on the pack order.

I have handled as many as 4 dog/dog aggressive females in my home and never had a scuffle or incident - even during loose play (with 3 adults to supervise).

But - I've never had a dog sit on another dog either <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I think sometimes, we, as humans, put TOO much thought into things LOL

I personally would just let them figure it out themselves.

 Quote:

I personally would just let them figure it out themselves.

This only goes for 'pet' dogs, though, right? For example, Jack, my 5 month old GSD, is going to be trained as a personal protection dog and *maybe* compete in some protection sports as well (we haven't decided yet). My other dog, 3.5 year old dominant female, has done very well as far as not trying to dominate Jack, because from the beginning I have not allowed it. BUT, now Jack is starting to push buttons, and I am not sure whether to correct or not, or even who to correct. He doesn't seem to know when to stop playing, and will keep on and on and on and on even when Gypsy has clearly had enough and wants rid of him. Also, if she has something, he will go over and try to take it from her even if he had something already. Should I allow Gypsy to 'discipline' him by growling/snapping at him? She isn't trying to dominate him; she's only trying to teach him 'manners.'

I've been just keeping them separated so that I wouldn't have to worry about it, but they will be living together, and I wondered what some of your opinions were on this.

 Quote:

and will keep on and on and on and on even when Gypsy has clearly had enough and wants rid of him.

If she really wants rid of him, she will be rid of him. 20wks seems to be the line of demarcation...where mature dogs begin losing their tolerance of puppy antics. If the bitch is trustworthy and fair, I'd let her work it out with him. A good bitch is a better teacher than most humans. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'll qualify all of this, however, in that I am not exactly the queen of working dogs. My dogs are house dogs and I dabble in multiple activities with them.

I'd follow the advice of the experienced working-dog folks, if that is your goal.

T

 Quote:

If she really wants rid of him, she will be rid of him.

Right, I'm aware of that. My question is should I allow her to handle it or not. Some people say I should, and some people say not to let the dogs work out any issues on their own. I was just curious as to what the working dog people on this board had to say.

I've always been a believer in letting the dogs work out their own social status. Up until receitly, my JRT has totally dominated my GSD. It never seemed to have any effect on his schutzhund training, or any other behaviour. He has never had any fear of other dogs. As a matter of fact, he's one of the better dogs I've ever owned for ignoring other dogs completely. The ONLY dog he's ever shown any aggression was my sister's nasty, Flat Coated Retriever. When they were introduced, the Flat Coat got aggressive right off the bat. The Flat Coat changed his mind when my GSD pinned him down. That was the end of it.
At 22 months old, my GSDS has finally told the JRT to "piss off". Luckily, the crazy little bastard listened to him.

I might add, that I probably don't follow what most working dog people do, but it's worked for me for the past 40 yrs with multiple dog household. Well....there WAS Tramp, but that's another story. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

 Quote:

Up until receitly, my JRT has totally dominated my GSD. It never seemed to have any effect on his schutzhund training, or any other behaviour.

Would the same be true of a larger dog though? Gypsy is 60 pounds and still bigger than Jack - a far stretch from a 10-15 pound JRT.