Devil Dog at Night

Question
Hi Erica,
We have two male house dogs, one is a miniature poodle and the other a chihuahua. Neither are neutered and both are close to the same size (about 12 lbs). They play and are peaceful all day, but at night the chihuahua turns into what we call a "devil dog." He becomes aggressive versus the poodle. He snarls and picks fights over just about everything - toys, food, sleeping spots, laps, etc. It is odd how the chihuahua's attitude changes at nightfall - he changes from a pleasant household member into a real problem. We have tried discipline including pulling the collar and saying "no", separating the dogs and even ignoring them. He is normally obedient, but once the chihuahua gets into his wide pupil-ed and agressive stance, he no longer responds to anything we do. He has never attacked us - only the other dog. Evenings are terrible - they don't play, they only fight and snarl. How do we stop these dog fights that happen every night?


Answer
You did not mention the age of the dogs, but this is a behavior that happens in young dogs.  they have so much energy that they are busy all day and by nighttime are actually over tired and over stimulated.  Try putting them both down for naps (in their crates) separately, and see if this decreases  what sounds like just snotty, cranky behavior.

Please let me know if this helps, and if not contact me with more details so I can offer a more effective technique.
Erica Slomka
Jumpin JACS Dog Training