Dog being aggressive to other dog.
Discussion
After a bit of advice is possible.
We have three dogs, we have had Daisy (Frenchie) for coming up to 4 years and she will soon be 5, Barry (Terrier) we will have had for three years in January; he will be 3 in November and Daphne (Terrier) is 7 months and we've had her for 5 months.
Barry and Daisy always got on well, they never curled up together or anything but they had a respect for each other and very rarely was there any issues between them, they kind of kept themselves to themselves with the odd moment of play fighting and chasing each other in the garden.
Daphne came along and initially Barry had no interest, he was almost hostile towards her; no fighting but the odd "go away I'm not interested growl" he is a bit of a grumpy old man, and it took him almost 2 months to let his guard down and accept her, meanwhile Daphne and Daisy got on fine, playing etc.
In the last few months things changed, Daphne and Daisy kind of stepped away from each other and Barry and Daphne became close; Barry let her in! Daisy seems fine with this and just behaves like a middle aged Bulldog; lazy with the odd burst of energy and she does play with the other two occasionally.
Since Barry and Daphne have become closer, Barry has become hostile towards Daisy, generally they are fine, they eat together with no issues, when they haven't seen each other for a while they will greet each other with a lick and a sniff and Barry even roles onto his back exposing his belly in that submissive way that dogs do.
However occasionally Barry will go for Daisy in quite an intense way, but there is a pattern to this, it is never "just because", it usually happens when:
We have done a bit of research on this and it appears it may be a dominance or pack hierarchy thing, where Barry feels that his assumed position as the head of the 3 dogs feels threatened and we are not to scold him at all but to reassure him buy stroking him and generally making a fuss, since doing so he has been better but it is still there, but there hasn't been an attack as we have always managed to stop it. Also we read that it is very unlikely that any attack will happen if there are no adults in the house as it is only being done because we are there too.
So just wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar or if anyone has any advice?
Cheers.
We have three dogs, we have had Daisy (Frenchie) for coming up to 4 years and she will soon be 5, Barry (Terrier) we will have had for three years in January; he will be 3 in November and Daphne (Terrier) is 7 months and we've had her for 5 months.
Barry and Daisy always got on well, they never curled up together or anything but they had a respect for each other and very rarely was there any issues between them, they kind of kept themselves to themselves with the odd moment of play fighting and chasing each other in the garden.
Daphne came along and initially Barry had no interest, he was almost hostile towards her; no fighting but the odd "go away I'm not interested growl" he is a bit of a grumpy old man, and it took him almost 2 months to let his guard down and accept her, meanwhile Daphne and Daisy got on fine, playing etc.
In the last few months things changed, Daphne and Daisy kind of stepped away from each other and Barry and Daphne became close; Barry let her in! Daisy seems fine with this and just behaves like a middle aged Bulldog; lazy with the odd burst of energy and she does play with the other two occasionally.
Since Barry and Daphne have become closer, Barry has become hostile towards Daisy, generally they are fine, they eat together with no issues, when they haven't seen each other for a while they will greet each other with a lick and a sniff and Barry even roles onto his back exposing his belly in that submissive way that dogs do.
However occasionally Barry will go for Daisy in quite an intense way, but there is a pattern to this, it is never "just because", it usually happens when:
- Barry and Daisy sleep on our bed (Daphne is in a crate in the lounge), if Barry is up there before Daisy and either myself or the wife, or both of us are either in bed or in the bedroom and Daisy comes up after Barry has settled, he will start growling and in some instances he has gone for her, we now know when this will happen and we can calm him down before he gets proper nasty and he will calm down, however this never happens if Daisy is up there first; Barry will just hop on the bed and settle down and it never happens if neither myself or the wife are in the bedroom, even if Barry is up there first.
- It also happens if we are sat on the sofa with food and Daisy so much as glances in our direction from her place on the other sofa, she doesn't even have to come over, Barry will see her looking and get cross with her.
- And it also happens if Daisy gets a bit snappy; she gets over excited sometimes and can get a bit snappy, also being deaf, she sometimes gets startled if she is asleep, this also sets Barry off.
We have done a bit of research on this and it appears it may be a dominance or pack hierarchy thing, where Barry feels that his assumed position as the head of the 3 dogs feels threatened and we are not to scold him at all but to reassure him buy stroking him and generally making a fuss, since doing so he has been better but it is still there, but there hasn't been an attack as we have always managed to stop it. Also we read that it is very unlikely that any attack will happen if there are no adults in the house as it is only being done because we are there too.
So just wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar or if anyone has any advice?
Cheers.
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