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Fighting brothers After a couple weeks of having to pull Eddie (8 lbs) off Jack (4 lbs) over toys, I stumbled across a blog online that discusses aggression between dogs living together. I wondered what everyone thinks of this. My tactic during fights had been to pick up Eddie and put him outside, giving Jack the toy they were fighting over. But this blog said I'm doing it exactly opposite. I should be elevating the status of the alpha instead of the other way around. That's the way it works in nature. It doesn't seem fair for those of us who pull for underdogs, but this site says fighting can be eliminated in 2 days with this technique. Has anyone had any luck with this technique or found something else that works? Here's the Web site. Scroll down to the part where it talks about aggression between dogs living together. http://www.dog-breeds-blog.com/dogre...on-In-Dogs.php |
I have Cricket 5lbs. and Bubba 10lbs. and sometimes I see Bubba running across the room with Cricket in his mouth. He's not hurting her, she yelps if he is. They just play. He is dominate with the toys, but there are so many that Cricket will get one and jump on me. If she's with me she's alpha LOL!! She will growl at Bubba and let him know that I'm with my Momma and she wont' let you take it. It's fun to watch them steal each others toys and chase each other. I think if you let them work it out, they will be fine. Jack will learn to steal from Eddie! LOL You just wait until he's all better. |
I can see where that blog is coming from. They need to figure it out for themselves who the alpha is and once they figure it out, they shoudl be fine. Seems Eddie is determined to be alpha dog. Just let that happen. |
Interesting. That is what I worry about with getting another dog,, do I get a male, or a female? I think he could hurt a female, and would another male make him totally crazy? Or does it not even matter. He is ALPHA with every dog he has ever met, big, small, cat, whatever. :rolleyes: |
This is an interesting technique. It runs contrary to what I'd do in the situation, so I'll be anxious to hear how it works for you. |
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Thanks, Mike! I am having some of the same problems with my girls. Dave wants to separate them all the time, and many times I have come home from work to find Wosie in her crate, and Dreama walking around. I'll check out the blog, thanks for the info! |
Lily and Lola are sisters and litter mates. They are now 6 months old. When we first got them (12 weeks old) Lola was taking the lead. Now, Lily gets really aggressive. No matter what, if Lola has a toy, Lily will grab it from her. We now call it "the switch". All of a sudden the girls switch bones. Lily will get very stiff and press her face against Lola's and growl. Kind of scary, if they weren't only 3 lbs. I am assuming Lily is the aggressor now. Based on the article mentioned above ( http://www.dog-breeds-blog.com/dogre...on-In-Dogs.php ) we need to give Lily what she wants? That will be hard...but I'll try it. Poor Lola...always getting the shaft. Thanks for the info! |
I think it should be just like skin kids. I've always let my kids work it out for themselves, as long as no one is getting hurt. Kevin was bigger and use to win all of the time, but Megan learned to fight for what she wants and he can no longer push her around, even though he's about 8 inches taller! I wouldn't separate them unless Jack is getting hurt. Poor Eddie, he just wants to be the big brother and he keeps getting kicked out of the house for it! I wouldn't give the alpha what he wants every time, that seems cruel to the other one. Let them work it out for themselves. (And take pictures) |
We have the same problem with Magic and Sailor sometimes....and have come to let them just work it out themselves!!! We used to take the toy from Magic and give it back to Sailor but we realized that this just made things worse, Magic would get mad at us and not Sailor at all...so we started letting Sailor fight for it if she really wanted it and now they are so much better....Magic is the smaller one and if Sailor wants to she can take things back from Magic, but Magic is the alpha!! I think letting them work it out is the best option....as long as they are not hurting each other!! |
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I'm gonna feel real guilty if everyone follows the blog's advice and we end up with a bunch of beat-up Yorkies on YT! One thing it said that gives me comfort is that no matter how fierce the fighting sounds, it's pretty much all show. No one is getting hurt. That's a good thing. |
Mike, thank you very much for the website. As I have mentioned many times before (it's getting to be an old story for me) Chattie and Chizzie fight. It has esculated to the point that I have to keep them separated 24/7. They fight through the baby gate that divides their "space". This summer while I am off from work, I plan to work very intensively to see if I can restore some peace to my home. I love both my girls, and it is heart breaking to have them trying to tear each other apart. |
It's only been 3 days, but I've had strangely mixed results with this technique. Eddie has only been aggressive toward Jack once since I started making an effort to elevate his social status during confrontations. I picked him up and held him and didn't show Jack any sympathy. I also show Eddie preference when I'm sitting on the couch and Jack hops on my lap. If I see it bothers Eddie, I move Jack and pick Eddie up. I don't want to declare victory yet, but one fight in 3 days is an improvement. Their relationship isn't exactly fun, fun, fun, though, and I guess that's a frustration. I wish they'd play more. But I'll settle for less violence for now. The strange part happened tonight at work when a co-worker brought in his golden retriever when I had Eddie in there. Eddie was aggressive toward the golden! He's NEVER done that with big dogs! And of course Eddie's aggressiveness incited the golden, who gave chase and had to be restrained. Ugh. I don't know how you women put up with us boys. |
This is a great thread. Thanks for all you input. We too are thinking about another Yorkie. I worry because Starsky is alpha male over my big fat beagle Haggis. I just think because of the yorkie temperment that is why. But I always wonder what a yorkie over a yorkie would be like. For those of you have gone on yorkie playdates, has this problem ever arrived? I am planning one for Sunday. |
Yeah, I have read a few articles about this myself. It seems really counterintuitive from a human perspective, yet it makes sense when you look at it from a pack viewpoint. From what I can gather, it seems that coddling the submissive dog will only further piss off the alpha dog to where he feels like he really has to put the lower one in his place more often. It sucks. Maybe if you dunk Jack in peanut butter, Eddie would associate him with awesomeness. I wish I could be more helpful, but really the peanut butter thing took me a while to come up with, and now I'm spent |
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