When to Intervene?

[Alicia Goldberg]

I could use some advise from multi-dog families about the level of play, sharing, fighting I should expect and when to intervene. We currently have a 12 week 20+ pound, White German Shepherd (Max) and a 1 ½ year old 7 pound Papillon (Bruiser).

We have had Bruiser from a pup, and he was used to sharing us and his toys with our Golden who we lost back in February at the age of 13. Although they got along well, the Golden was the patient old man, usually allowing the silly puppy to climb all over him, but as he was getting older he sometimes got cranking with him. Bruiser usually respected his authority and we rarely had problems.

Now Bruiser has had the house to himself for several months, and when we got Max 4 weeks ago he has been sure to let Max know who is boss, regardless of size. Because we felt it was important for him to teach Max how ruff was too ruff we have not intervened when Bruiser beats up on Max who was double Bruisers weight at 8 weeks and is over triple now.

Most of the time they play well, and if Bruiser accidentally gets hurt (never anything remotely serious), he halls off and sends Max running with his tale between his legs. Sometimes, they play very quietly; lay side by side with a bone or play tug with their tug toy (Max pulls Bruiser all the way across the floor but when it’s Bruisers turn to pull, Max either walks forward and lets Bruiser feel like he is really pulling him or plants anchor). However, more and more Bruiser seems to be acting like a tyrant rather than a quiet leader. Max will take a bone and lay down to chew it, and Bruiser will take it away. Max will move on to another toy and Bruiser will take it away, and so the story continues.

They each have their own crate, which they clearly consider their den (but Bruiser is allowed to sleep on the bed with us at night), while Max still sleeps in his crate. They are fed at the same time but from separate bowls (however they keep switching off who gets what bowl). We have MANY toys around for them to share, but nothing that they would get too protective of (i.e. Rawhides, hoofs, etc). They also each get alone time with us.

So my question is, should we start intervening on Max’s behalf, or let them continue with Bruiser calling the shots? Although Max is being an unbelievable good sport about it, I’m afraid he will get fed up with Bruisers bossiness one day and… well..good by Bruiser). Any advice would be appreciated. I know now is the time to establish the ground rules, I’m just not sure of what the rules should be.

[Amber]

When we first adopted Sally, Precious would also take EVERY toy Sally would get interested in. Of course, the thinking behind this may have been "I taught you how to play with these things, so I can take them away." Sally didn't know how to play with toys whatsoever when she came into our house. What I did was, when Precious would take something that Sally was playing with, chewing on, or even looking at like she was about to go after (yes, Precious would go after toys that Sally was just LOOKING at!), I would take it away from Precious and give it back to Sally. I would tell Precious "No. It's Sally's." It's been 9 months now and it has gotten MUCH better. Now they do it to each other in play, not in "spite" or whatever you want to call it. One will take the other's toy and they will begin to play tug of war or chase or another doggie game. It's cute.

It took a while of playing moderator, but after every day for about a month of taking toys away from Precious to give to Sally, Precious got the hint. Good luck!

[Renee]

However, more and more Bruiser seems to be acting like a tyrant rather than a quiet leader. Max will take a bone and lay down to chew it, and Bruiser will take it away. Max will move on to another toy and Bruiser will take it away, and so the story continues.

Ah Alicia, I really think that you are a keen observer! You stated: Bruiser seems to be acting like a tyrant rather than a quiet leader. You are quite right...good leaders should not be acting like bullies or tyrants. So, its time to step in...


They each have their own crate, which they clearly consider their den (but Bruiser is allowed to sleep on the bed with us at night), while Max still sleeps in his crate. They are fed at the same time but from separate bowls (however they keep switching off who gets what bowl). We have MANY toys around for them to share, but nothing that they would get too protective of (i.e. Rawhides, hoofs, etc). They also each get alone time with us.

This is excellent...


So my question is, should we start intervening on Max’s behalf, or let them continue with Bruiser calling the shots? Although Max is being an unbelievable good sport about it, I’m afraid he will get fed up with Bruisers bossiness one day and… well..good by Bruiser). Any advice would be appreciated. I know now is the time to establish the ground rules, I’m just not sure of what the rules should be.

Yup, time to start intervening because Max's patience might wear out if this continues. You know your dogs well and understand when Bruisers is stepping over the line. The easiest way to handle this situation is through simple obedience/redirecting Bruisers behavior. Does Bruiser know "off" or "leave it".? That would be a nice place to start. Then, you could redirect him to a special toy that he really loves. Or you could call him to you and put him in a down stay, reward him with treats when he is on the down stay, then relase him. Basically what you are trying to do is offer Bruiser other things to do besides bullying Max.

I taught my dog to quit bothering our cats with the "off"/redirect to a toy method. My cats usually run around the house in the morning. Sometimes this works Pepper up and she chases them. Needless-to-say, the cats don't appreciate this. Now Pepper will chase the cats for a second and automatically stop and pick up any of her toys. I don't have to say a word because this is now her default behavior.

Good luck,

[Sharon Alcon]

Yes I would definitely say to look into seeing what you can do to help everyone co-habitate. I will tell you a similar story. My sister got a 8 wk old female Lab and she was a mellow clumsy puppy. They already had a 8 yr. old Jack Russell full of energy and queen of her castle. The Jack Russell used to torment that poor pup with nipping her ears, her heels, running around her to tease her. They did not enforce any rules on the Terrier and low a behold as the Lab got older she snapped. She got the Jack Russell pretty good by the neck and it could of been worse. Jack Russell had to get tubes and alot of stitches. They then pursued getting good training for the Lab and everyone looks at her as the aggressor but I feel like they should of done something about their Jack Russell alot sooner and this would not have happened. It is all about correcting the Lab and poor Jack Russell. Needless to say they have 2 dogs that they have to keep separated now. They don't want to give up the Lab because she really is a good dog.
I think you've seen it, there is putting the puppy in his place and then there is just being a bully. Its just like kids there is playing rough and then there is mean play where someone gets hurt. Thank you for noticing and looking at this now. Fixing something sooner will make for a happier household for you all I think. Good luck and I think you can get alot of good advice from people here.

[Susie B]

My two have gotten into a few spats. Nothing big, just pinning down and a lot of barking. One just happened over the weekend and I think it wasn't quite over for awhile. I kept watching the body posture of the dogs and referencing the book I got on Dog Language and was able to redirect another little spat. Now there back to normal.

The book is called "Dog Language An Encyclopedia of Canine Behaviour" by Roger Abrantes. It's like a dictionary with pictures of a lot of canine terms. It's pretty interesting and I saw a lot of communicating between my dogs after looking up some terms in the book. Maybe this would help and let you know when to intervene.

[Alicia Goldberg]

Thanks, lots of good advice. My husband kept saying, "just let them work it out", but I do feel Bruiser is being a bit of a bully, although they have plenty of tender moments too.

Bruiser does know, "leave it" and does well in a down stay, but believe it or not, using the basic obedience commands to moderate their interactions never occurred to me. I'd definitely give that a try.

Thanks again, I'll keep you posted!

[Andre Mendizabal]

Hi Alicia, everybody gave great advice, and I just wanted to add my two cents! When Nala came home she was the dumb clumpsy good-to-the-bone puppy, and Molly (7 yrs old) was Ms. perfect lady, queen of her castle (as the JRT) and not too happy to have a youngster all over her... Redirecting their attention helps A LOT and getting both into the NILIF program, that helped us a lot with the toy issues, both of them would get a toy just after doing something to deserve it, and if somebody got someone else's toy, she would have to drop it off and do some commands in order to get another toy.
Just so you can get an idea, Molly has never been a "toy dog", she rather be petted, but just as Nala came along she instantly was a toy lover, and she always wanted the toy that Nala had, no matter what kind, as soon as she took it away from Nala she went to her corner to put it in her bed, played with it for a couple of minutes and then forgot about it, and started the "stealing Nala's toy" routine all over again. It was getting rough because growling was starting to happen and Nala was growing up, she outgrew small Molly and I was afraid (as you are) that some day Nala's patience would come to an end.

Good luck!!!! :-P

[Susie B]

Andre,

I have a close situation to yours, Dooley was 6 when I brought 1yr old Missy home. Dooley is the affectionate one wanting to be petted and Missy would rather have a toy. My question is, did you see a "pecking order" establish between your two. It's been almost 7 months and sometimes they confuse me. Dooley says when it's time to play but Missy will sometimes just look at Dooley and he'll leave the room.

They've got me puzzled.

Susie