Designating Alpha

Two dogs are fun, but Oh So Challenging!

We have had a couple more fights and some authority issues with the kids, or specifically, Zee and Darby.

The dog fights are food related and unpredictable. One day they'll share all of their food, while the next day they'll tussle over a smell of something that's not even for them. The fights are scary, but luckily they seem to have been all noise and teeth on fur, with no dog getting hurt. Jim got bitten breaking one up, and Darby got bitten by being right in the way of one and not being able to get out of the way. She was only bruised by teeth, but it frightened her and made her angry.

Zee will also NOT listen to Darby. As it turns out, he thinks she's beneath him and he will outright ignore her, or even snap at her if she's forcing him to do something. He did the same thing to me the first week...bit my hand when I tried to force him somewhere that I wanted him to go. I yelled at him fiercely and grabbed him hard and put him RIGHT where I had wanted him and he submitted immediately and has not done it since. Darby was too startled to react like that (nor would I want her to) when she got snapped at, so I ran in and laid him down. That helped with the immediate behavior, but not with Darby's authority over him. He did not break skin with either of us.

It's not that they don't love each other either. There are still super happy greetings and lots of cuddles, he just does NOT want her to be boss.

So, we have some retraining to do. Again, I went to Cindy. (Thank you, Cindy!) There was quite a bit that I didn't know.

Dog Fights - They happen! Where there is competition, there is fighting. It makes sense; they can't argue. The best way to prevent it is to avoid the competition. So, no feeding jointly and no hanging out in the kitchen when there are yummy smells.

Breaking up dog fights - Grab tails and hind legs, never heads or collars. That makes perfect sense when you hear it, but when they're fighting with all of those teeth, our first reaction was always to make them stop biting. That's how Jim was bitten. Also, the girls should NEVER break up a dog fight. As Cindy said, better dog stitches than girl stitches. Of course, as I'm typing this Tressa tells me that she has broken up two fights, one an escalated wrestling match in her bedroom and the other a legit fight over food. The wrestling match ended with her throwing both dogs down in her room, and during the actual fight she grabbed Zu's tale and pulled her back hard, then smashed her onto the floor, holding her down. I told her never to do that again (unless it was on the lacrosse field to the opposing team).

Make Zee the doggy alpha - This was the coolest advice so far! I never realized how much more peaceful life could be if the dogs know the proper order of things. Feed Zee first, put his leash on first, let him go out first, greet him first. It has taken one day to have Zu sit patiently while Zee goes first. And now, I don't have two giant beasts pushing me over, competing for first with everything! Ahhhh :)

Training Alpha - we haven't done this yet, but the next step, probably this evening when we have the whole family home, we will do obedience in sequence with Zee. With a lead, Jim will have him come and sit, then I will, then Darby will, then Tressa will, so that he can see that the kids are above him too. We did a quick test last night when Jim came home and Darby and I were heading out, but we weren't using a lead and it did not work at all. Jim called Zee. He came right over. Jim said sit. Zee sat. I called Zee. He bounded over. I said sit. He sat immediately and watched me to see what was next. Darby called Zee. He glanced sideways at her. She called him again. He turned his back to her and laid down!

More to follow, I am sure!!!