Question
Alice and Julia
I have two female rescue dogs - Julia, a 20 lb. rat terrier mix, was my first dog whom I adopted about four years ago. A year after that, I adopted Alice, a 13 lb. chihuahua/something mix (I suspect she may have some terrier in her, but I have no way of knowing for sure - I'm going purely on looks here). Earlier this spring they began attacking each other (this was when I was living alone). It was a rare occurrence, but things have changed. I've recently moved into a house that has four dachshunds. At first things went smoothly, but then Julia started attacking Alice. The fights have gotten progressively more vicious and more frequent. Julia never attacks the dachshunds - only Alice. However, the resulting chaos has now caused the dachshunds to fight among themselves (this actually happened tonight, and both my dogs and the dachshunds suffered bloody bites). Patti, I LOVE my dogs and will exhaust every option before considering re-homing. But I just don't get it - they get along fine on walks (although Julia does [and always has] tried to attack any other dogs she sees while on walks). I'm an unemployed teacher, so hiring a dog trainer just isn't feasible. I've tried ignoring them and not petting either of them when we're together, but it doesn't seem to be about me. Julia just seems to have developed a hatred for Alice, and Alice now slinks around in fear with her tail between her legs. Please help me.
Beyond stressed,
Nikki
Answer
Hi Nikki,
I can't say why the friction between Alice and Julia has gotten worse lately. It might be because, between your two dogs, and the four Dachshunds, that's a pack, and there are bound to be dominance issues as the dogs strive to have an "alpha" to be the top dog. It might be because you've recently moved. Why the fight isn't nearly as important in getting them to stop.
Aggression between familiar dogs that live in the same home is actually common. Fights between dogs in the household are usually about dominance-or social status aggression Fights will be about those resources that are considered most important to dogs. These include food, resting-places, territory, favored possessions, and favored people. Fights then can occur over treats, owner attention, greeting the owner upon return, sleeping positions near the owner, entering or exiting the home, high arousal situations such as fence running, or movement through tight spaces. These fights occur most often between dogs of the same sex, but are often the most severe between female dogs. Conflicts can occur between dogs where the dominance status is ambiguous, in other words they appear to be close in rank, or fights can occur between dogs where one is clearly dominant. In these situations it may be difficult to determine which dog is the dominant one, and often dominance can be context specific with one dog dominant in one situation, and the other dog dominant in another. Hierarchies may not always been strictly linear. Regardless, the fighting can be severe and injurious, as you already know!
Aggression between household dogs can be difficult to treat. If no fighting occurs when you are not home, and you've never come home to an injured dog, it's because while the dogs are alone, they are aware of the hierarchy and often the subordinate dog does nothing to challenge the dominant animal. If this is the case, you may not be a firm enough "leader", of your dogs. Supporting the more dominant dog. This means she gets fed first, goes outside before the other dog (but not before you), gets greeted first etc. Treat her as the "top dog" she is, but still avoid situations that cause aggression.
You didn't say if your dogs are obedient to you. Many times, obedience training (even if it's just a command or two) helps assert YOUR leadership over the dogs, so they know the pack already has a leader, and it's you. A simple way of establishing your role as leader can also be had by practicing the "Nothing In Life Is Free" method of enforcement. You can read about this here:
http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm
It would greatly help not to allow your dogs to be around the Dachshunds. If things continue to be bad in the way of fights, you must muzzle your dogs, or at least muzzle Julia, if she is aggressive one, so that nobody can be hurt. A basket style muzzle is the most humane, allowing a dog to even drink while it's being worn.
Preventing fights from even starting is important. This means constant supervision on your part. It is helpful to keep leashes on the dogs when they're in the house so you can quickly and safely separate them if a fight breaks out. When you can't be watching your dogs, one needs to be either crated, or safely contained. Child gates work well for this, if your dogs aren't crate trained.
Many times, just reading about a problem can't offer the help you need. If things continue to be bad, it's time to find a dog trainer/behaviorist, if you don't want to give up one of the dogs. Contact a few in your area, it might be a lot more affordable than you think. Because finances are a problem, do you have any friends or family that could lend you the money?
Your veterinarian or boarding kennel might be able to refer you to a trainer. Or, you can locate one here:
http://animalbehaviorcollege.com/dog_trainer_search.asp
http://www.iaabc.org/suchen/
I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,
Patti
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