First and foremost it has to be said that the most aggressive are female dogs to each other. Male dogs can be aggressive, especially if you have two dogs with different ages in your household. Sometimes the younger dog that probably came as a puppy to you all of a sudden starts with 2 to 4 years to challenge the older dog for the lead role. In many cases the older dog might give up his alpha status, but not in all. It depends very much on the age of the dog. The owner making mistakes though triggers many times the aggressive behavior.
Let’s try to explain first the hierarchy of dominance between animals. There are “alpha dogs” and “submissive dogs”. Keep in mind, you as the owner are even ABOVE the alpha dog in the hierarchy!
Typical signs an “alpha” dog displays:
He might take toys away from other dogs, and mostly wins a tug-of war
Typical signs of a “submissive”, also called “omega” dog:
Since you know the differences in character now, have a good look at your dogs and act accordingly. You need to accept the alpha-dog for what he is, the leader (remember, YOU are the TOP LEADER!). Don’t feel sorry for the submissive, omega-dog, he is quite happy in his position. That does not mean that you have to favor one of them, just correcting a few mistakes you might have made. If you unknowingly treat the omega dog as an alpha dog the dogs will fight. Many dogs fight only in the presence of the owner, which is a typical sign that the owner makes mistakes.
If a fight breaks out either blast them with a spray of water, or yell at them. If the dogs fail to respond grab the more aggressive dog’s rear legs and lift them up, moving backwards. Remember - DON’T grab a collar or a head/neck of a dog that fights! A dog in a serious fight with another dog will not recognize you as authority and most likely bite you when you come in the middle.
I recommend including a certain “emergency command” in your dog training. As I had a Rottweiler, my dog trainer was teaching him one command where the dog simply froze and dropped everything. He even stopped dead in the middle of a run/charge. You will need a lot of patience until your dog obeys completely, but it’s well worth it. Don’t use this special command for ANYTHING else but an emergency!
A good exercise for any dog to remind him of your state as “top dog” is the following: lay down with your dog on the floor, keep him on his side, put your hand on his neck with slight pressure, The dog will immediately turn submissive and still. Later on you might put your head/face on his neck instead of your hand. This is a position a dog-mom teaches the pups to behave and to show superiority. The dog might be looking at you out of the corner of his eyes, don’t stare at him though. Keep this position for a few minutes and then let the dog back up, praising him.
Aggression between dogs is not that difficult to solve if you keep in mind to treat them in the right order. It very seldom happens that you have two dogs constantly fighting for the lead-role. One will sooner or later give up and accept the “stronger”? personality. It’s up to you to figure out who is the alpha and who is the omega dog and act accordingly.
There is medication to help with the problem but honestly, its use is mostly not appropriate. If you learn how to treat your dogs, your dogs will learn to get along with each other. Cases where that never happens are rare, and sometimes triggered by diseases or disorders.
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November 27th, 2005 at 3:40 pm
I have a 3yr old Spayed Bichon and a 6yr old Spayed Maltese. The Bichon
marks over the Maltese outside and even lifts her leg and marks in my
house sometimes!! Lately simple things like the doorbell, or the alarm
clock has caused my Bichon to attack my Maltese, who is definitely not
acting like the top dog in the home. My Maltese is constantly looking
to see where the Bichon is before accepting love from us, because she
is well aware that the Bichon will disapprove. I have tried using
Amitriptyline and it works for a while, but then they get in a pattern
for 3-4 days where they can’t seem to resolve things between themselves.
The Maltese always ends up getting hurt or bit!! HELP!
November 30th, 2005 at 6:59 am
Hi W.,
Thanks for your second email.
Sorry about your bite wound, I hope it’s not too deep. I know, it can hurt so bad! In case they should get into a serious fight again, don’t go in-between. Keep a spray bottle filled with water handy and blast them water into their faces. That should scare them enough to let go of each other, especially since we are not talking Rottweilers or Pittbulls here.
You can also try to wiggle a treat in front of the dogs immediately when they start fighting. These are fights due to jealousy, not maliciousness, a favorite treat might make the Bichon change her mind immediately. This is a trick an animal trainer used with Pitbulls, it works normally.
Please try to follow the advice I give you and I think you will see some improvement within a few weeks. Whatever you do, always keep in mind that the Bichon is the Alpha dog, but she has some insecurities that show in her behavior.
I also think that the Bichon has a hormonal problem due to very early spaying. Some time ago scientists have discovered that neutering/spaying, especially in very young animals can trigger a so called “menopause” with symptoms such as aggressiveness, jealousy, being less social, not feeling too well in general, similar to symptoms women experience. To determine this you’d need a blood test from your vet. I know, you work at a vet’s office but unfortunately I have to say that some vets are not acknowledging these findings. Many are fierce defenders of early neutering/spaying. I am not saying that your vet is wrong, what I am saying is that missing hormones DO have an influence on behavior of animals, some show little signs, some show very significant ones. My second cat totally changed his demeanor after neutering, I would never do it again, especially since they are both indoor males. That cat, the younger one, was the sweetest animal in the world. About half a year after neutering he absolutely dominated the older cat and even bites him. He actually got more aggressive after neutering than before and he acts like a grumpy old man most of the time. Please read the interesting article on just one of the websites that discuss this hormonal problem::
http://www.courageouscaucasians.com/neutering.htm. One more personal remark: I am originally from Europe, no animal - unless it is an emergency - will be neutered before the age of 1 year, in some cases even a bit older.
There is medication to balance the hormones. But let’s try first a few changes you should do:
1.) When you let your dogs sleep in your bed (mine does it do, and my cat, don’t feel bad ), let the Bichon in the bedroom first, let her settle down and then let the Maltese in.
2.) When you feed them, put the food bowls and water bowls in separate areas. You have not answered my question if they share the bowls, don’t let them share! Fill the Bichon’s bowls first, then the Maltese’s. They can eat a the same time, but apart from each other.
3.) When you walk them, put a leash ON BOTH animals. Bichon first, Maltese second. Even you say the Maltese does not need a leash, the Bichon is jealous being on a leash. Bichon first out the door, Maltese second. Same when you come back - Bichon first in the door, Maltese second.
4.) Try to walk them for longer periods of time and try to integrate some sit/stay training (even if they already know the commands). It distracts them and in addition they both will try to please you. Don’t forget to take some treats with you (break them in pieces, don’t overfeed, or use some dry kibbles). Every time they listen to sit/stay or lay down, give them a treat and a pat on the head. Again, Bichon first Maltese second. If either one of them won’t listen, wait, repeat the command and don’t move on until both are in the position you want them. Don’t reward the one who already sits but not the one who still stands. They need to learn to behave together.
Training sessions are challenging for dogs, it keeps them busy AND it makes them tired. After training they don’t have that much unnecessary energy left to jump on each other or agitate each other.
5.) When you want to pet your dogs, call them BOTH. Sit down in a comfy chair, let them come to you, and talk to them quietly, and praise them. Never pet the Maltese if you THINK the Bichon does not see it. Dogs have a “6th sense”, she will know anyway.
6.) Plan some playtime with both dogs involved. As little as 10 -15 minutes a day does the trick. You know best at what time the Bichon has the greater tendency to be aggressive. Try to play with both, even if the Maltese does not particiate as much, prior to this time - it will take her mind off. You mentioned your girls, I don’t know how old they are but make sure they do understand the Alpha-Omega situation here and not “protect” or “prefer” the Maltese when they play with the dogs, even if they feel sorry for her.
7.) Get some Kong-Toys for them to keep busy. Kong Toys are absolutely the best invention ever. They are hard chew toys and treats can be hidden. That keeps dogs busy for hours. And since they jump at random, they will also chase them. A good way of taking their minds of each other. Make sure to get two - or the fights will be worse. We have a product review on our sistersite http://www.tippypaws.com - click on chew toys or put Kong Toys in the search box.
8.) The Bichon definitely has a toilet problem. Don’t punish her when she uses your house instead of the outside but be firm and take her outside immediately. Teach them a word that means “toilet time”, whatever word it is, it does not make a difference. Every time you walk them use this word before you leave, don’t use it at other occasions. They soon will pick up the meaning. My dog rushes to the door just by mentioning the word. Praise the Bichon after she did her business outside, even give them both a small treat. She will pick up that it makes you happy being a good girl and not use your house. You need to treat the spots in your house with an Enzymatic cleanser. See our site http://www.tippypaws.com - “Marking the house” on the top right navigation bar. Please read the article, we suggest 3 products that eliminates the smell (even if you can’t smell it anymore). No scrubbing in the world will help, your dog already considers certain parts as his potty spots.
Her - as a female - lifting the leg to pee on the Maltese is a sign of dominance. Try the water bottle in that case, it should take away her taste for being so rude
You can give your Bichon some homeopathic medicine that is normally used if a dog is under stress, etc. HomeoPet Anxiety Relief (see review on http://www.petstuffreviews.com under “medication”) works normally well in stress situations and dogs calm down. Its a natural product without side effects but your Bichon could benefit from it. I am not saying to use this medication forever, but you can try it as soon as you see some signs of increased stress in her. And a lot of the misbehavior she displays look like stress related to me.
Don’t expect miracles within a week, but when being consistent and by assuring your Bichon that she does not have to fight for the Alpha dog status, she will gain more confidence and leave the Maltese alone. There might always be some small power-struggles, but they should be far less than what you are experiencing now.
Since you work at a vets office I’d suggest to have a hormone test done on her anyway..
Hope this helps, and keep us updated!
Erika