About 2 weeks ago we got two dogs; they are both brothers’ border collies 13 months old. One is very shy (Ruben), he won’t come to you until you’ve been around for a couple hours and have pet his brother (Stitch). Stitch is very friendly plays and comes to anyone. At night they sleep in a crate. We have 2 dog dishes and Ruben likes to eat with his brother out of the same bowl. The people we got them off said they have shared the same crate all of their lives. We got a large crate they have been sharing, (they are not big dogs). They have never shown any type of aggression toward each other, kids, or my husband and I. last night my husband and I woke to braking and growling. We went up stairs to find the dogs growling at each other. We stood and watch for a bit and found out it was our shy dog Ruben. He was growing at his brother. He wouldn’t let him in the crate, near the dog dish or the dog toys. We didn’t want a fight to break out in a cage in the middle of the night so we let Stitch sleep on his bed in our room and left the Ruben one in the crate. This morning they were fine, eating and playing and sleeping together. Later on Ruben started the growling again in front of my kids. What do I do? I don’t want a dog fight to break out and fight in front of my kids. My husband has gone out and gotten a second crate.
Update:Each dog HAS its own dish, toys ext Ruben just wont each out of his own, he likes to eat out of the one his brother has.
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Feed them separately and make sure they both have their own space/crate where they can get away from each other if they want to.
Like someone said, they might be coming into their sexual maturity and sometimes two male dogs just don't go together. Of course, this might not always be the case (I've had un-neutered male dogs living together for years without a single fight), but still. If the problem continues/gets worse contact a trainer and consider neutering them.
Why does everyone always think that a big yard means they can have herding dogs? So not true. A big yard is just a big yard. It does nothing to give a BC a job to do, or exercise its brain.
Get a separate crate for each dog. Feed each dog separately. Get them both neutered. Find an activity, like agility or herding and get them in it. The only good herding dog is a tired herding dog.
You may have to rehome one of these siblings if this behavior escalates.
They may be coming into sexual maturity, which will cause this behavior. They should have separate crates. Fed from separate bowls (!!!), I mean, how would you like to share a plate with your sib all of your life....common sense here....
This breed is very intelligent and requires ( A LOT OF) physical stimulation as well as mental stimulation. Neither of which they appear to be getting.
Raising 2 dogs at once is difficult (!!) let alone 2 sibs. Contact a trainer asap. You are going to need some sound advice
Might be the 'shy' one isn't really shy but insecure and feels the need to defend/protect/guard his things. This does need corrected and it is best to hire a behaviorist who reads dogs easily and knows how to correct instead of making it worse.
I fostered a 10 year old dog that must have been 'resource guarding' all his life. I worked with him for 4 months but ended up with stiches and my own dogs were becoming defensive. Had to take him back to the owner. It was allowed all of his life, no way I could correct. Don't let this happen!
He needs to know YOU own the toys, the food, the water, the bed, etc. You ALLOW him to have these things, they are not his. This comes from NILIF. BUT, please talk with a behaviorist. The wrong training method for him, may make it worse.
Add: add: so the 'shy' one likes to eat from his sibs bowl....actually he is controlling his sib this way. Not good. Tough luck to Rueben as he NEEDS to eat ONLY from his bowl, NEVER from Stitch's bowl.
If they are not neutered get them done now - that could be part of the problem. I would suggest you get 2 crates and each has his own - no more sharing. And that goes for food too - two bowls and make them eat out of their own bowl even if it means you feed them in separate rooms or in their crates.
Exercising them should help, these are HIGH energy dogs.
You need to give them at least 3-4 hours of exercise each DAILY.
I do hope you knew what you were getting into with BC's
They will destroy everything if you don't exercise them.
They are herding dogs, not house pets.