jack russell biting other dogs over food/treats

Question
My husband and I went to the shelter to adopt 1 dog and we ended up adopting 2 jack russells and a lab mix puppy.

One of the jack russell is about 5 years old and is extremely smart and well trained (comes when you call him, waits for permission before getting on furniture, etc) - he is very sweet with people and is fine with the other 2 dogs when they're outside playing.

However, he bit the other jack russell on the face and left 2 small cuts. It was about food, he had finished his bowl and went over to the other one and they had a big fight.

Yesterday he bit the lab mix puppy right above his eye and left a cut, this was over a treat, similar situation to the last one.

I'm worried he will continue hurting the other 2 dogs. I don't know his history but my husband feels that's why he was dropped off at the shelter - he was hurting other dogs.  However I feel that he has been on his own for awhile and had to find food then once he was at the shelter (was there for a month) he had to fight with about 7 other male dogs to eat.

What do you think? is he trying to be the alpha male dog or he's just worried about not getting enough food?

Thanks!

Answer
Iris -

He is being the alpha dog, but on the other hand, he is not likely to stop the behavior unless you intervene and take an active role to retrain him - and never ever cut him much slack.

Jacks are very very smart, and if they see a small crack, they will take it for all it's worth... and I will give you a training regimen I recommend for this type of dog further below.

Jacks are also naturally very combative, and it's simply been bred into them and this is no surprise to me.  My own jack (a rescue) is terrible with other male dogs unless on a leash, so I can only foster females.

First off, you must understand dog behavior a little. 99% of all dog fights come out of the existence of FAT to be competed over:

F = Food
A = Attention
T = Treats.

You can simply avoid the issue food by either feeding in crates (or at least the older jack), or tie him at his dish til the others are done.  When I have a foster dog, they always eat in their crates to avoid this issue completely - Why ask for trouble ?

The other thing is to reduce the use of treats to only training time - in other words when you are working with just one dog.  You can go back to giving group treats only after everyone learns to sit nicely and take their turn (I always say their name just before they get the treat, so they know when it's their turn).

I would also strongly recommend a series of obedience classes for your older dog.  It's not about getting him to behave politely, it's about him being more socialized and you learning to think like a dog.

In the interim, here is a regimen I would like you to try with him - I really believe it could help you give him better manners.

http://www.cairnrescue.com/docs/NILIF.pdf

Good luck, and let me know if there's anything more I can help with. You certainly took on a lot of dogs all at once.

-Beth