3 cairn terriers

Question
QUESTION: I have three one Male almost years old fixed, one female almost 6 years old fixed. one almost years old soon to be fixed.  the youngest just started to attack the other female.long to short found out she in current having a false pregnancy. receiving meds for this.  i now cant keep them all together with out a fight starting and i don't want to get bite again.  what can i do to make my house a happy house again for all the dogs. I love them all and don't want to have to muzzle them.

ANSWER: Kathy -

You are really in a pickle. It is very common for female cairns to fight with each other as they are extremely territorial and are prone to being quite scrappy.

It is possible that once the youngest is spayed and her hormones straighten out that she will stop being such a trouble maker. On the other hand, she may have just been waiting to get old enough to try to take the top spot from your older female.

I am putting a link below of how I believe you should handle your trouble maker.  Perhaps if you take the lead she will no longer feel like she needs to cause so much trouble.

I will forewarn you that it would not be unusual for this to not resolve itself.  In the meantime, put harnesses on all 3 of them and have them drag leashes. That way if there is a problem you do not have to reach between them to break it up. You can just snatch up the leash and dangle the trouble maker til you get them split up and crated.

Here are a couple of things you should read:

http://www.cairnrescue.com/general/index.htm#toto

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

Let me know how you make out. OH - and if you have the resources, you may want to locate a terrier-savvy trainer to come to the house and watch the pack in action.

-Beth



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

QUESTION: Thank you and I did notice that my ages of the male didnt not show up he is
almost 6 years old, like the female that is fixed. the trouble maker is almost
2. I do have harnesses on all of them or i would be able to control them
outside.  And i have paid attention the that stand that they take before the
trouble maker makes her move,  it took 6 months to get them all used to
each other and things were going smoothly until this false pregancy.  The top
older female did start the fight, the young one was the one that went to bite.  
But today when the young one bump into the male he growled and she
gowled back and went to attack and the old female went to join the fun.  I
also am wondering if they will gang attack the young one.  I am sure that
prior the the biting of me that they have had other fights when i am not at
home?  And one other thing they all want to be with me all the time and do
have behavior issue when i want to leave.  do you have any advice for this for
me too. They will block the door so i cant leave and the rest i am sure you
know and can figure out. I really do appeciate your time that you have taken
with me and will read the info that you sent in the email    Thank you again  

Answer
Kathy -

These dogs are ***way*** too big for their britches.  Think of it as "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

You are going to need to take the lead of this bunch and quick.  Given the circumstances, they should not be left alone together. They should be crated individually, spend their nights in their crates, be fed in their crates and spend any time when you are not home in their crates.

While they may fuss at first, you will be keeping them safe from each other and it will resolve the door problem.

My jack russell likes to rush the door when I go to leave.  What I learned was to stand with my back to the door, and using my arm in a sweeping motion tell them to back up... and they seem to know to do it.  This gives me the chance to get out without an escapee.

This may sound mean, but you simply cannot let them get away with this crap. If you do, someone will be hurt badly and chances are it will be you. You simply must start using Nothing in Life is Free right now, or call a trainer.

You do not do these dogs any favors by taking it easy on them when things are like this. They need structure and expectations and you are the only one who can make that happen.

Go get'em tiger !

-Beth