alpha dog

Question
I have a 10 year old husky/shepherd who i have
had from a pup. We live in the country and the
dog has never been anywhere. He is a blonde husky
looking dog. I brought home a shepherd/husky a
couple of years ago who was 15 months old at the
time. The shepherd/husky has grown and filled out
and is bigger than the old dog. The old dog has
always been the boss but he can no longer handle
the young one when they fight. The young dog had
a better disposition but is challenged by the old
one continuosly. When he lets the old dog up
sometimes the old dog comes back for more. Both
dogs are 'beat up' today as they went several rounds yesterday. They are much worse if there are people or machinery around, especially my
noisy diesel lawn tractor. I think i have to get
rid of the old dog now. I am planning to get a
female pup of some sort, hoping that will solve
this problem. Your thoughts?


Answer
Murray,
I am not quite sure what to make of your phrase.
"I think i have to get rid of the old dog now. I am planning to get a
female pup of some sort, hoping that will solve this problem. Your thoughts????"
What does that mean? Is a dog of 10 years just a disposable object to you if it isnt suiting you now? Having flown 3 Siberians around the world so they could resume their lives with me, this phrase does not sit well. All I can say is your concern should be with your first dog, and I wouldn't get any more until you can do the right thing with your first one. Also I should add a husky/shepherd X breed can bring out the nastiest traits in both breeds you can end up with a very possessive intelligent not nice to be around dog. My advice is sort out the issues with the dogs you now have as they are both alphas. If you cant seem to then you must either keep them seperate or find a home for the youngest one. Dogs are not disposable toys.
Faye.