alpha dogs

Question
I am taking in another rescued dog. She is an alpha chow. Have another alpha chow. I am placing a dividing fence in my yard so they will be seperated and have thier own quarters/yard. Is it best to place a chain link fence so they can see one another or block thier view of one another with a wooden fence? I can't have a lot of barking as my neighbors would not tolerate it.

Answer
I know exactly what you are dealing with. My dog (a pit bull/chow) is a dominant female as well. However, I worked with her over the course of 3-4 months to get her dog-aggression under control. I worked with her to teach her that any aggression directed towards another dog would not be tolerated under any circumstances. Now she can be trusted 100% with other dogs, both on and off-leash.

I guess the main thing would be knowing how long you plan on keeping this dog, Rosemary. If you plan on keeping her long-term, you may want to consider keeping them completely separated from each other, unless you're willing to work with them both to try and get their aggression to a tolerable level.

Is your current dog male or female? Spayed? Neutered? What about the new one, is she spayed? How old are they both? Are there any other dogs in the household? If you could get back to me with the answers to these questions, it will help me to help you.

Kristen