Aggressive behavior indoors

Question
Hi,
I have a  female Great Dane/Greyhound mix that I rescued from the shelter a while back. I also have a 14 yr old male German Boxer. I recently moved in with my boyfriend who has a 4 yr old female Lab, and the Great Dane is a bully in the house. When they are together outside she is fine but inside I must keep her in a muzzle to keep her from attacking the Lab. We have tried to put them together and show both of them that we want to show both affection but the Dane does not want the Lab in the room. We really want to be a 3 dog friendly home. Help!!! We also have a cat, snake(red tail boa)and 2 spiders. We love animals. Also the Dane is on meds amitriptyline 50mg per day. What more training can we do. I have recently had neck/spine surgery and can not afford for the girls to get into a fight when I am alone with them as I can not break them up. They almost weigh what I do.

Thank You
Lisa

Answer

Hi Lisa,

It's a lot more common to have aggression problems with two female dogs, rather than a male and a female dog, or even two neutered males. The Dane isn't a bully, her behavior is really quite natural for a dominate female dog. Spaying both dogs can help, but it may not. The only way to know if your Dane mix and your boyfriend's dog will ever get along is with time, and plenty of supervision.

Obedience training for all dogs in the household is recommended in situations like yours. If your dogs have already been through a class and understand commands, practice with them on a daily basis. A long "down" is great for cooling the heels of a rambunctious dog. A good pop-quiz is to put all your dogs on a "sit/stay," then call each one to you individually for attention or a treat the alpha dog first, of course!

This may not be a situation where just reading about how to fix things is the answer. It can be very helpful to have a behavior specialist come out and evaluate the situation between the two dogs. There may be a lot you can do in how you run things in the house and handle the dogs to make things safer. This is the time to do something about it, because these problems get worse over time. Your veterinarian or boarding kennel should be able to refer you to a dog behaviorist, or you can locate one here:

http://www.iaabc.org/suchen/

Muzzling is what's needed, so it's good you already got one. Do not let the dogs alone together. If you can't handle both dogs when you're alone, one needs to be crated, or kept in a separate room. If you can't get this under-control, there aren't a lot of options. You would need to consider re-homing one of the dogs. Living with this kind of aggression or the tension it creates isn't healthy for you, or the dogs.

Many people do manage to live with a situation like this, and keep the dogs safe. It requires training, diligence, and a rather vigilant lifestyle, but it can be done. I hope things work out well for you and your dogs.

Best of luck,

Patti