boxer and snaucher fighting

Question
QUESTION: i have a 1 year old boxer and a 7 year old miniature snaucher....they were going good for a while... for a whole year they were fine with eachother...my mini(annebelle) is the leader of our pack of 4.... our bpxer(zoey) is the youngest in the pack...after annebelle is joey(smooth fox terrier mix)and then is sofia(sharpei,lab,pit mix)then zoey(boxer).....now when annebelle gets a small scent of zoey...she attacks her.....we have no clue why this is happening....this is my conclusion....



annebelle is the leader of our dog pack.. she is the highest rank.. zoey is the lowest.. zoey is getting bigger and stronger and i think she is trying to take annebelles place... annebelle gets affended and attacks.. but the thing is.. in every fight they've had zoey is always on top... now this is what my dad thinks..


annebelle is old.. she doesnt like to play(but her and my dad play rough all the time)zoey is a puppy and loves to play...zoey jumps around and annebelle doesnt like it.. so she starts a fight... but why would she keep on pitching a fight if she always ends up on the bottom...


now annebelle isn't allowed in the back yard with the other dogs because my parents think that zoey is a maniak... i need help...


i also need help on taming her.. when she was a puppy my mom and dad wouldnt let me potty train her my why so they put her outside and she never got socialized...


HELP!!!!

ANSWER: Honestly, there are so possibilities and combinations of possibilities here, that you need in-person professional help, to define what you are seeing, and what you may be able to do about it. It may be a combination of the puppy being boisterous, and the old dog being annoyed, it could be a pack status issue, it could be the puppy maturing and not willing to take being bossed. Boxers (especially females) have some breed tendency to be same sex aggressive. And, with same sex aggression, females tend to be more seriously dangerous to each other than males.  Also, Boxers tend to behave in a way which many other dogs see as rude and in-your-face. Impossible to tell over the internet exactly what is happening. But the fact is, especially with the difference in size and strength  between an elderly schnauzer and a young boxer, if you don't get to the bottom of it, or keep the dogs totally separate, you could end up with a dead or severely injured old dog. Sandy Case BFA MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you soo much... just one more thing...


i went outside with the 3 dogs(not annebelle)and i sat in the dog house with them.... zoey(who loves the other dogs) started attacking them.. she wouldnt let them near me or the dog house..

Answer
At a year, Zoey is just starting to be close to social maturity. And while she may have loved the other dogs as a puppy, that may be changing. I'd really look at getting in-person help to give you a better idea of how to handle this. If these are family dogs and you are living with your parents, that might be a job to convince them of this. It's very possible that Zoey is "resource guarding" you. As in, trying to keep the other dogs from being allowed to interact with you. Sandy Case BFA MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com