This is kind of long, but I wanted to give you some background info, you don’t really NEED to read that part to answer my questions. Thank you in advance for helping!!
I’ve had a dog for two years and recently got a new dog (see background details further down), and I’m having some issues with fighting and them establishing their dominance. Here are my questions and I am also looking for other tips on how to help with this!
- One thing I read is if I’m petting the non-dominate dog, and the dominate one comes up, and the non-dominate one walks away, let her. She knows what she is doing. What if I’m petting the dominate dog and the non-dominate one walks up for attention? I’m afraid if I try petting them both at the same time, the dominate one will start fighting…
- Other question is – The non-dominate dog gets more one on one with my daughter – she is just more playful and her and my daughter hang out a lot. It’s not too bad, the new dog still gets plenty of attention, and we are usually all together, but sometimes my daughter will take the older dog into her bedroom & play or hang out with her alone.. The newer dog is not house trained completely yet, so she is not allowed in her bedroom. Question is - Until the dominance is established, should we not do this, or is it okay?
Background: I have had a female, spayed dog for 2 years (she is 2 years old) and recently adopted a spayed, female, two year old dog (was a stray.) They are similar breeds, one slightly larger than the other, similar personalities – friendly and sweet. They got along great together at the dog shelter, but the minute we got home the problems and fights started (which is a common, I realize that now.) They can be in the same room together without fighting, and the fights are decreasing; we just have to be careful at this point.. no toys, they eat separately, etc…
I believe the newer dog is the more dominate dog, but my old dog is not giving up that easy since it’s “her” territory. They don’t seem to be hurting each other in the fights, none of them ever have any marks or anything, but they scare the crap out of me, and I have been intercepting. The fights sounds very vicious and I HATE it. I found a very helpful website today that says not to intercept unless they are hurting each other, so I plan on letting them figure it out next time they fight. Anyways, looking for answers to my questions and I’m interested in getting tips to help with this issue.
For those having the same issue, I found this website, and it is very informative - http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/2525/multidogs.ht...
Update:I was trying the non dominance thing and the problem was not getting any better, and ever since I have put some of the dominance tips into practice, the problems have totally turned around. I believe the dominance tacticts work for some dogs, including mine. I will put this out to vote, thanks for all your answers.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
The issue of dominance in dogs is a very murky subject. The dominance theory has long been prevalent in the dog training community, but you might be surprised to know that research done by David L. Mech (pretty much the be all end all of wolf knowledge, as he's been studying them in the wild since 1958) has turned that theory upside down.
The "dominance" and hierarchy that was observed in wolves that would later be applied to domesticated dogs in the household is founded on observation of a captive group of wolves, with captive being the key term. A wolf pack in the wild is composed of related wolves, while the captive wolves that were observed were not related, and therefore were more or less forced to live with each other. What does this mean for the term "dominance," "alpha," and "hierarchy"? David Mech can explain it better than I can, so you might find his article that I've referenced an interesting read.
So what does this mean for your situation? You need to look at it not from a dominance perspective, but from a behavior modification perspective. Your "dominant" dog attacks the other dog when you are giving her attention because she is resource guarding you. She sees you as a resource, a source of affection, and the other dog is competition for that affection, not a dog that needs to be shown whose boss by your original dog.
You're completely right to keep toys away from them when they are together and to feed them separately. You should not let them fight, as this is only making the problem worse. This means avoiding any situation that will cause them to fight. I suggest you hire a behaviorist that can come into your home and help you with this problem because it will not go away on its own. Until you do that, do not give affection to either dogs while they are in the same room as that seems to be the source of the fights. Go to http://www.iaabc.org/Divsn/dog.php to find a behaviorist in your area.
Please set aside all of the "dominant dog" ideas -- they are nothing but a fad, based on badly-done research that has long-since been proven false.
http://www.kathysdao.com/articles/Forget_About_Bei...
http://www.apdt.com.au/files/dominancestatement.pd...
http://www.jeandonaldson.com/jeans-blog-mainmenu-5...
http://www.nonlineardogs.com/100MostSillyIntro.htm...
http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/iwmag/2008/winter/...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VmWizZueFQ&feature...
Your current management -- limited access, no toys out, eating separately, etc -- sounds good.
What matters is that you get the behavior you want, and your dogs get along well enough not to hurt one another. Here is one way to work on it:
Always make the presence of other pets a pleasant experience – tensing up, scolding, shooing and grabbing teach that another animal is to be disliked.
Learn the signs of peacemaking and stress in dogs.
Praise any appropriate interaction that you see – polite dogs can help one another learn.
Serial feeding is a handy way to support several goals:
- helping an animal learn its name
- getting an animal to enjoy the company of another animal or person
- encouraging animals to remain calm around one another
- strengthening the idea that food should not be taken without permission
Have all of the animals within reach, and equidistant from you. If any know “sit” or “down,” and are comfortable doing so in one another’s presence, ask for it. Say an animal’s name, your cue for giving permission to eat something, and feed that animal a treat. Then do the same with the next, etc., until each has had a treat.
Any animal that gets pushy, bothers another animal, or does anything else that you don’t want, doesn’t get a treat when their turn comes around again. Keep moving yourself, if need be, to keep the distance equal between you and every animal.
Periodically repeat this ritual, to remind all that the presence of the others brings good things, but only if they are all calm and polite.
this isn't your fight. let them sort it out. don't let them fight, but otherwise let them do as they wish with dominance. otherwise they will fight because the non-dominant one will recognize that she can gain dominance over the male and will try to take it. one thing you can do, is ensure your male is getting the attention and respect he needs. whenever you feed them, always put food in his bowl first or give him treats/table scraps first. don't allow the female to eat from his bowl, sleep in his bed, or take his favorite toys. make sure he recognizes that you still love him just as much as you used to even with the new puppy. also, since you know puppies take more attention, make a conscious effort to show him extra. if you're going in the car and it's somewhere he can ride along, take him. if you need to take time out to train the puppy, go play ball with him for 30 minutes first. basically, pretend you have a toddler and you just adopted a baby. the baby takes a lot of your time and attention, but all the toddler sees is you paying attention to the baby and forgetting/replacing them. so of course, they get a "you don't love me anymore" complex. disprove said complex and your dog will stop shying away. borders are too smart for their own good and quite capable of holding a grudge, get back in his good graces however, and things will be as they once were.
I think you should let go of the idea of dominance in dogs (out dated theory) and look into other methods.
natural dog training, clicker training, and postive training.
Dominance theory has never worked on any animal I have had. I use positive/natural training.
_adding
Do NOT allow them to fight. Watch them closely and learn their signals, stop them BEFORE they get to that point. I usually say their names, or make some kind of loud noise.
You need to get a trainer. And I highly suggest one that is NOT domiance/alpha based.
try to let them figure it out on their.... cause this is about dominace