aggressive herder

Question
I have 2 female Corgis. How can I stop the one from being very aggressive towards the other. To the point of some very nasty fights. She tries to "attack" with little provocation. Like the other jumping off the bed. Also she has to always be the first one out the door barking excessively and back in trying to herd the other two out. Thank you for any help that you can give me.

Answer
Your "problem" Corgi is taking charge of your pack; there seems to be a developing aggression problem between the two females, to make it even worse.  (I'm going to call them the picker, for the instigator, and the pickee, for the recipient, to make this easier.)  These two may be close in temperament (one not clearly more dominant than the other), or you may inadvertently have promoted the "pickee" over the "picker", or you may have disciplined the picker for attempting to control the pickee, or any number of other things.  No matter, you now have a serious problem.  Don't beat yourself up over this, it's NOT your fault!  You're a loving dog owner trying to give a loving environment to three dogs.

The first clue to the dominance issue is that picker is trying to get out first, and attempting to control the pickee and the male (stuck in the middle!!)  Going in/out first is a sign of self perceived rank (and most people don't know this, so they often encourage their dog out the door before THEM! and thankfully, most dogs don't develop a napoleon complex!)  When pickee jumps off the bed, she is at a greater height, which picker objects to (not to mention that pickee is ON the bed to begin with, which picker objects to.)  It appears that picker is the more naturally dominant, so we will focus on that.

This is going to require you to educate yourself in a hurry.  I don't have to tell you that the corgi is a big dog in a small body, independent, stubborn, very smart, an excellent watch dog and a wonderful companion.  But these are the very same traits that can get any dog into trouble, so you must learn everything you can about reading dog body language: read Turid Rugaas' book "Calming Signals" and Roger Abrantes' book on dog communication (body language.)  Observe your two females very closely; the pickee is obviously not demonstrating sufficient subdominance or submission to picker or, if she is, picker is ignoring it (even worse.)  I can't see that from here.  You need to determine if pickee IS provoking picker (by giving signals you now don't understand) and you will also be able to PREDICT by observing picker when she is about to launch into an attack.  When you DO perceive this, you must REDIRECT HER (and you'll have them all on behavior modification at this point so this won't make the situation worse.)  You will redirect her to a TRAINED BEHAVIOR you can reward; hopefully, consistent treatment of this type, AND rewarding the subdominance or submission of pickee toward picker (which you will also learn to perceive) will prevent this relationship from devolving to the point where one of these dogs must leave the home.

Also study positive reinforcement training, because you will have to use it to teach ALL the dogs ONE solid behavior ("sit", but use a unique word) they can ALWAYS perform 100% of the time, for reward/praise.  Use a clicker; no dog is better suited for it than the Corgi (since they were bred to work to SIGNALS).  Go to Karen Pryor's web site, ClickerTraining.com, and equip yourself with all necessary information.  You can also read her book, "Don't Shoot the Dog".  You will teach each dog (yes you have to drag the poor male into this too) separately.  Once all three can perform a "sit" 100% of the time (and this may take two weeks or so), you can use the "sit" as a redirected behavior.  You can also make ALL THREE EARN EVERYTHING, all the time.  This establishes YOU as the leader, makes the dogs less anxious and enhances their problem solving skills.  Make them earn GOING OUT, coming back in, being fed, being played with, etc.: NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE is a wonderful regimen.  I suggest all your dogs require it because you cannot subject the self appointed leader (picker) to this without the others or you will create a worse problem.  This does not harm them, it helps them, and you.  Once you've determined (from your study and observation) that picker IS higher ranking, you can make them all "sit" at the door and let HER out first, then let HER in first, feed HER first, greet HER first, etc., but you MUST feel absolutely confident that SHE IS the strongest temperament.  Don't treat her as the leader of all three dogs (under you) if you aren't sure she is.

Regarding multiple dog households, read Patricia McConnell's book on this topic and read John Fisher's "Think Dog".  Once you have a good understanding of all of this and have instituted a positive reinforcement training for all three and have put them all on NILIF, begin to click/treat PICKEE whenever she demonstrates CLEAR SIGNALS of subdominance or submission to picker.  BUT BE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING, because if you reward the wrong dog, you're in trouble.

You might want to find a certified applied animal behaviorist to help you determine if picker actually IS the more naturally dominant between your two females; a trained eye can make all the difference.  Please don't hesitate to repost with further questions.