No. I'm saying I don't think there's a problem they'll need to work out.

"I expect the dogs to get along. I work with my mutts to make cast iron sure they do. I do not in any way shape or manner condone by inconsistent oversight nor do I overlook any behavior I do not want. I correct behavior decisively when necessary. Mostly corrections are voice tone or a touch but

Training, and training corrections are one thing. Correction for unwanted behavior can be another. Sorry if that bugs anyone."


Not me. But as pointed out by Tammy, he is not there. The dogs are alone together all day.

Caveat: Haven't seen the clip. Regardless, "the dogs are alone together all day." Nothing of the consistency you practice, Mike, can possibly ever be in place there.

Good morning Wendy and Connie,

No, I would not leave a foster alone with the mutts if I wasn't around. That noted, I have had fosters in the house for several months that were fully integrated and I have left them and the pack alone outside with me inside on occasion.

Given the described behaviors, I wouldn't leave the subject dogs alone together unsupervised.

My comments were in the order of you have to train to get to a level of what passes for certainty given dogs are dogs. Mostly my comments had to do with the trainer training. It seems to me that a dog owner should have a set of expectations of acceptable behaviors that drive training. In the absence of such, the dog or dogs train the trainer to react.

It seems to me that we often are tempted to seek some sublime intervention when it comes to dogs but the truth is that we train the dogs today for the dogs we want tomorrow. Conversely, if we don't train the dogs today we'll end up with untrained dogs tomorrow.

It is hard to train a dog. Takes purpose, patience, practice. Takes dogged determination. My mutts and every dog I've had over the years, had the instinct to train me. The path of least resistance is to endure or tolerate the dogs unwanted behaviors. Not I said the little red hen.

If some one asks how to stop a behavior I'm often at a loss to answer. I want to say just stop it. But, in my world, it has to do with a firm command set. NO means exactly that. I don't work on teaching a dog to not do stuff, for the most part. If I have a command set I can guide the dog's behavior. If it goes toward another dog's bowl I can make a sound, or lift a finger with a look, or command no, or whatever I have used to cue the dog to pay attention to me and follow my direction.

I try to teach the dogs what I want them to do or accomplish. I work on the conditioning until the dog gets it. It takes twice as much energy or more to teach a dog the things you don't like.

I'm so full of stuff. It is tedious to hear me being me.

 Quote: Darrell Kan

The reason why i feed them separately is because the Andy is a slow eater. Millie hoovers down here food and then will try to go after Andys. She has been bitten before for trying this. Andy will never go after her food.

Darrell, did i read that right? She was bitten by Andy because she tried to go after his food?

I just want some clarification on that.

 Quote: Darrell Kan

In the morning before work i normally walk/play with him and feed him. During the rest of the day he is happy to play in the backyard and sleeps most of of the day. He is not crate trained and lives in his kennel or sleeps on his bed.

They seemed to get along ok, however she keeps trying to dominate him by jumping up onto him and trying to put her head on top of his. She doesnt respect him and will always try to steal his food.

Millie, is our beagle. She is full of energy and never stops running around. During the day she doesnt really sleep much or even stay still. She will be running around the yard sniffing everything. Its like she doesnt know how to relax.

She is constantly seeking attention but jumping at windows and barking and will not stop for hours.

This is what gave me the impression that the dogs were a mismatch, and Andy wouldn't be comfortable in this situation. If I was off-base, I apologize.

PLEASE STOP FEEDING THE WAY YOU ARE FEEDING.

I'm not yelling. I'm trying to get your attention. "Separately" does NOT mean what you said. "Separately" means one dog is not there while the other one eats, and then vice versa.

No "down and watch" .... you are doing exactly what one would do to deliberately cause resource competition, food fighting.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

You feed them completely separately, or you stand there as the sheriff while they eat (not too close to each other, and no dog is looming, hovering, eyeballing, or in any way threatening the food you have given). You have allowed a dog to threaten another one's food and you have allowed a dog to be bitten. This cannot happen. You've already set the stage for the worst kind of in-the-pack dogfight: over resources.

My dogs have now lived together for years, never any aggression. But I still stand there for every single meal. I always have and I always will. Even without the resource-guarding that I never want to happen, I want to be extremely clear that food I gave is now that dog's food, safe to enjoy, no matter if it takes one dog ten times longer than another to finish it. The hoover-dog is not even allowed to step near and look at the slow-eater's food.

NOT:

"I make them both sit, give andy (older dog) his breakfast first while making millie (beagle) sit down and wait for andy to finish. She struggles to sit because she wants food too but i make her wait until andy has finished. Then when hes finished i make him sit and let her eat. "


This is NOT "separately." This is bad. This is setting them up for food-aggression.

Re the video: I saw two dogs playing, both happy, no stress signals from either one. Yes, the Beagle seems more exuberant and energetic, but that's easily explained by the age difference and probably just a personality difference, in general. Towards the end, the Beagle rolls on her back and offers her belly. That's usually considered a submissive posture. Often, when two friendly dogs play, they "take turns" being the submissive one. Kind of a you chase me, then I'll chase you type of thing. Yes, she gets up on her hind legs a couple of times, but I think that's natural considering their size difference. I saw nothing dominant or aggressive in her movements. All JMO of course, and based solely on this short clip.

But this conflicts with a lot of what you are telling us about their behavior together. So I'm confused. Is the play session in the video typical or non-typical?

As to the food, I know it's already been said very well, but I would never feed two or more dogs by putting one's dish down while the others had to watch and wait. Sets up all kinds of stress in both the eating and non-eating dogs. What I do with my two is prepare the two food bowls, ask both dogs to sit, put the bowls down in their respective corners of the kitchen, make sure they are both sitting politely and quietly, then release both at the same time with "Okay." They are watched while they eat. They have been taught that they are not allowed to try to steal each other's food, but that doesn't mean I trust them enough to stop watching. Both of mine eat very rapidly, at about the same rate. If I had one dog that ate much more slowly than another, I would feed that one in my utility room, behind a door, just to make sure everyone got to eat in peace. I would also do the separate room thing initially if I brought a new dog into my family.

Unfortunately, I feel I am at a loss to offer any advice on how to teach and supervise these two dogs together when they spend long periods of time loose in the yard with each other. My dogs have always been house dogs and I have no experience with dogs that stay outside all the time. Perhaps I missed it, but do you have any kind of a kennel set-up in your yard? I don't mean just a crate, but a fenced kennel with space for a dog to move about a bit.

I think we lost him....

I don't.

Darrell's posts have all been in the evenings.