She is being so mean.....
 

Well I have now had Ace and Arizona for about 2 months now and well....Im concerned about Arizona. Ace is very sweet and loving. Arizona is becoming meaner to Ace by the day.....She doesnt like to let him eat anything!!!! She will bark and growl. So I gave them two seperate food bowls and she would go back and forth between them growling at him. Now its to the point where she almost snaps his snout off. Ive seen her bite at his face and pull it. From the moment they came home I have been crate training them. Arizona loves it and she always goes right in as did Ace but night after night they fought worse and worse. I had to bring Ace to sleep with me and DH (he wasnt too happy about it) but what could I do? Arizona would fight with him til he was out. I bought Ace and then two days later bought Arizona so that they could grow up together and so Ace would have a playmate but she treats him like crap. They do play together during the day but she play a bit rough with him. I love both my furbabies and Im not going to rehome her just because she is who she is. Im hoping that someone can suggest or help me figure out what I need to do to change her behaviour. Im sorry this is long. Thanks in advance for your time and suggestions.

Sorry to hear you're having trouble! I am not sure how to address all of these issues, but I did want to recommend that you get a crate for each of them - it sounds like they share a crate? A crate is a dog's special space that is just for them. If Arizona is getting territorial, she will NOT want to share her crate. And Ace should have a place to retreat. :)

Yes well..they were sharing a crate but just for a little while because then Arizona would get so ugly and upset with him. I had been bringing Ace to bed with us and then I tried letting Ace just loose in my room hoping that maybe he would just find himself a spot he likes and nope! He will bark at me til I pick him up and let him in the bed. That going to be a problem isnt it...:eek:

Are you able to get another crate? It sounds like Arizona has decided to establish herself as the dominant dog. There are different recommendations for how to handle this, and I'm not sure which one is best. I think Ace would appreciate his own crate, though.

Are you free feeding them? My suggestion would be to put down their food at opposite ends of the room for them to eat. If Arizona is continuing to act aggressive when they are further apart I would not allow them in the same room while eating. As soon as they are done I would pick up both bowls of food. How old were they when you brought them home? It almost sounds like maybe Arizona was not properly socialized and taken from her mom too soon.

no Im not free feeding them they eat 2 to 3 times a day. I tried to seperate the food bowls but Arizona would rush to whatever bowl that Ace is at and snap at him. As it is now, Ace is so scared that he will steal a kibble and run somewhere to eat then com back steal another and run away. Arzona was 9.5 weeks old when we brought her home ans she and Ace acted as if they had been littermates all along but as they have gotten older she has just flat out gotten meaner and meaner to him.

To make matters worse Ace loves Arizona and for example last night, Ace was on our bed, sitting at the edge and cried and whimpered a bit because he wanted to be with Arizona so I tried to see if she would have it. But as soon as I put her down she got up and snapped at him. He wants to be around her but .......:confused:

Could you feed one while the other is in their crate?? That way they each have their turns at the food dish without any anxiety??? :confused:

If you do get them their own crates and Ace realized his is a safe haven, maybe he would eat his food while in it where Arizona cannot get to him. We are free feeders in our house and our little foster girl used to be like that. She has onle been here about a month and has gotten out of that habit. The only time we had an issue in the last 3 weeks now was the night of the full moon! When they get their milk bones, they each go to different areas in the room to eat them. They figured that one out on their own.

Now that Ace is used to sleeping in bed with you, he is probably going to try to stay there and not want to sleep in a crate. Our boys sleep in separate crates in separate bedrooms. Our foster girl lets us sleep with her in our bed!

:rolleyes: :D Oh that little Clara Belle!

Yup, that's the little stinker! :animal-pa

Do you take them for walk together?

That usually really help a pack to bond.

Im not sure if Ace would take to his own crate....I was already thinking about taking the crate away since they seem to be getting through the night. I was gonna buy each their own bed. See if Arizona will do without a crate and if Ace will take to a bed.

Do you feel that Arizona is food aggressive to you as well? I am also wondering if she came from a breeder or a pet shop? The reason that I ask this is because at 9 1/2 she was pretty young but not horribly young but if she came from a pet shop she was taken from her mom even younger which could cause problems like this. My Pebbles is food aggressive but not to the point that she chases the other 2 out of the room. I put their food down and they eat----end of story.

Hmmmmm? What happens when you give treats? Does she try to take them all from Ace and chase him away then too? If you were to sit on the floor and work on give sit and give paw how does she act? Will she wait her turn? I am thinking this might help but it is only a guess. What I am thinking is if you get some really good treats that you would not normally give cheerios or maybe tiny pieces of cheese. Sit on the floor make she sit give a treat and praise and do the same with Ace. Make them wait for their treats but give lots of praise to both. When Arizona sits and waits for her turn make she you praise her then as well. Make her earn her food.

We got Pebbles when she was about 5 months old and she had horrible habits from lack of training. I was at my wits end with her and I found a book called Let the Dog Decide. The idea is to have control by using a longer leash and harness while training. When they try to run away or whatever it is that you are trying to get them to do you can step on the leash they are dragging behind them. What is does it makes them think they are deciding to not run or for your example attack Ace and his food bowl. When she tries to charge across the room step on the leash so that she cannot get there but do not even look at her. It's early and my brain is not fully away but I hope you get the idea of what I am trying to say. This really worked with Pebbles. She walked around the house for weeks with a leash and harness on. When she would try to run under the bed I would be able to stop her, when she tried to run out the back door ahead of me I would stop her but always treat and praise after. I swear to you this worked! She now will sit at the back door until I tell her that she can go out. Better yet I can open the front door for the pizza guy without her charging out the door. I guess my point in all of this rambling is that this book really worked.

No this is really stupid but I havent really taken them for a walk...I let them olay outside for a little bit but Im not sure how long or far they can walk. They are so little Im afraid to overdo it. I really want to take them on my walks. I walk twice around my block and that is equal to a mile. You think they can handle that?

Actually I just had them both together when i was working with them on the "sit" command and she is not aggressive when it comes to the treats. There is no snapping or being mean. Could it be cause Im right there in front of them. They are pretty great with sit so I need to teach a new one but they know when they sit they get a treat and when i have them in front of me they sit right next to eachother til I give it to them. Arizona is only food aggressive with Ace. I have a 3 year old that will be pretty close while she is eating (my daughter Katie likes to watch sometimes) and Arizona just eats. I can stick my hand anywhere in her face if I wanted to and she doest do anything. i know this because I used to stop her so Ace can eat and she wont react bad at all. Ace is the only one she does this with. Thank for the book suggestion Im loioking into it now.

I only have one dog. So do not have experience with two puppies. However, watch a lot od dog training shows. What I have seen is that behaviors only become worse with age . It is important to take care of these issues now , than try and deal with them when they are older.
I would Feed Ace in a totally separate room. Without Arizona present. The thing is that little Ace may start losing weight, and not be getting enough to eat , because of Arizona's dominate behavior's. IMO, totally separate them when they eat.
I also would not try to give one puppy any more loving then the other. Although Ace is the more mild mannered one, and may need to be "protected" Your little Arizona is just going to become more and more demanding. If Acew is going to sleep in your bed, then giving her own bed in your room, I believe is the right thing to do. Are they pad trained? Can Ace jump off your bed safely? To potty during the night?
Since little Ace loves Arizona that is wonderful. Arizona was very young when she came to your house and I think she did not have time to learn social skills with her litter mates. This is part of the problem. She is a little rowdy, however, I think it can be dealt with. When you have toys for them, have two of the same toys . One for each puppy.
Puppies do play rough together t, but should not be hurting each other .

Where did you get Arizona from?
 

Just curious now, where did you get Arizona from? How many pups in the litter? I know you got them about the same time but who was there first?

You should defiantly take them on walks together , like Chantal said it will help them bond together and will get their energy levels lower. They will be best friends in no time .:animal-pa

They will need to get use to it first. Start with short walk... You can use two leashes at the beginning. I like to use the double leash for my own dogs.

Hope it will help.

Ace was first and he was 11.5 weeks when we got him....Arizona came 2 days later at 9.5 weeks old. Arizona came from a breeder and I didnt ask great questions. There were only two girls left. I thought that since she was AKC registered that it would be ok to purchase her. (This is before Yorkietalk and before I knew better)

Im sorry really new to this. Sooo Do you think that 1 block or just may be Up and down my street first would be good? They are 5 and 5.5 months old.

What I am thinking is that since they both are fine together while doing sit that you should just make them work for their food. Hand feeding might be the way to go then move up to putting a few pieces into each dish until Arizona gets the idea that she need to behave during meal time. I know that it is a pain in the butt to have to sit there and put a few pieces of food into each dish but they do not eat that much :rolleyes: I'm also thinking that since there were only 2 puppies left in the litter and she was only 9 1/2 weeks old how soon did this breeder let the other go? Maybe she was under socialized or had to fight for her food as a little baby?

Great Tips
 

I love your ideas expecially the one about the leash. We have a very aggressive eater in our home his name is Luigi. Anytime I give Bella and Luigi is given a larger treat ( carrots, Dentastix, Bullysticks, etc.) Luigi will take his and run with it then drop it and come back and steal Bellas. I get so mad because she just stands there and lets him take it, then looks at me with a sad face. But when it comes to playing she is the dominate one, she will take control of the situation quickly if he gets aggresive. I don't understand but I am definitely going to try the leash training thing.:aimeeyork:thumbup:

you have got some great suggestions. I think it would be a good time to look into a behavourist. In the meantime, I would make sure you have TWO crates. and keep them a couple of feet apart when they are sleeping. Close enough to see each other, but not close enough to try to attack. I would also try feeding them each inside thier crates. This way Ace would feel safe to eat and Arizona cannot be agressive. Until this matter is resolved, YOU need to be the one to protect Ace. One attack with you not close enough to intervene can be tragic for one or both of them.

Here is a like to the book that I was talking about earlier. It really did help Pebbles with a lot of her issues when we first got her. I even went so far as to hire a trainer and the only thing that got me was a wallet with $350 less money inside it.:rolleyes: But I have to say that for the $15 this book cost me it was well worth ever penny.

Amazon.com: Let the Dog Decide: The Revolutionary...
When I bought that book I also bought a book on TRICK TRAINING too which was pretty helpful called The one and only dog trick book you will even need. Here is the link for that as well:

Amazon.com: The Only Dog Tricks Book You'll Ever...
*Quick story about Pebbles and what the dog training book helped me teach her that I totally forgot about..........One of the things in the book they talk about is how you need to use repetition with everything that you do. Like I said earlier they need to sit before going out the back door and will only go out of the house through the back door. I took Pebbles to the groomer this morning and wasn't thinking about what I was doing when we parked. She was trying to jump into the back seat of the car when I stopped (I know should have been in her doggie car seat) and I was getting annoyed with her until I remembered...........she is trained to only get out the passenger side door of my car and will sit there and wait for me to open the door to LIFT her out of the car. She get upset if you even try to take her out any other door of the car. So you see this book really worked for me.:thumbup:

And you sound very tense. I'm sure you are with the confusing behavior of your two. You won't know how far to go until you get them outside & try it. If handling both at the same time is too much at first, take them one at a time for awhile, then take both at the same time. If you are observant, each one of them will let you know when they are too tired, so you will know if you've gone too far. You can gradually add more distance as they get used to the walks. Neither one of them is going to immediately understand what walking on a leash is all about, so be patient with them.

There are a lot of dog training books, magazines, dvds, Dog Whisperer on National Geographic channel & It's Me or The Dog on Animal Planet, free help online including YT. EDUCATE yourself so you can be better able to deal with their challenges. Training your dogs will never end, so get prepared. The more training tricks you learn the better prepared & more relaxed you will be while working with them. No one method or book has all the answers. What works for one of your dogs may not work with the other so you need lots of ideas to pull from. Even though each source will differ a little on command words/signals, make your own list & definitions for each to help keep you from confusing the dogs. Try not to teach too much at once.

It's very important that you be relaxed & patient. You can make it fun for all 3 of you. Good luck & enjoy!

OK so a detail that I failed to mention in all this was that they have and can be in the crate without fighting (I am going to get another cage but I didnt mention this in the original post). For example, right now they are asleep in the crate. Naps druing the day seem to be fine, they play together well (although I still feel Arizona is a little too aggressive at times) but when it comes to bedtime for the night she starts fighting til I gt him out (which is shortly cause its right next to my bed). So basically bedtime and Food agressive with Ace only.

I wasnt sure if it was ok to feed Arizona (or any dog for that matter in her crate.) I just was under the impression that it was too sleep only.

I really appreciate eveyones suggestions. I hope that I can get Arizona to calm down a little. She seems to train a little faster then Ace so maybe I can train her to be less aggressive.

You need to get the book or video written by "The Dog Whisperer" by Caesar Milan. He deals with dogs trying to establish their dominance over other dogs, and over the entire family sometimes. He has great suggestions. Your little Arizona thinks she's the leader of the pack. You need to show her that you are. His ideas should help. Tucker's mom

I would try to put the leashes on them and walk them in the house or in the backyard before the first real walk. So they can get use to their harness. You can take them for 10-15 minutes walk the first time. You'll see how they do.
Keep the leashes short.

I love the Dog Whisperer. :thumbup: