AnneMarie Wright
04-30-2005, 08:38 AM
First, this great site has already taught me a lot! Thanks to all who have shared info. Now on to my my very disheartening situation:
My mother (in our in-law apt.) and my family each adopted a male lhasa apso puppy 2 years ago. My mom's dog "Sammy" is the alpha, with my "Joey" being the little brother and playmate. They have occasional fights, but nothing we were ever concerned about. They have been great little dogs. We lost our golden several years ago and were finally ready to have another one in our lives, so we got a female puppy 4 months ago. She (Phoebe) has bonded very well with my seven y.o. daughter and has played nicely with the two little dogs. Sammy has pinned her down a few times and has shown dominence over her, which we allowed.
BUT over the last month, Phoebe and Joey have been increasingly aggressive to each other. They will be standing near each other and the next thing Phoebe has him by the neck thrashing him from side to side. It is difficult to tell who starts it, but Joey gets the brunt of it. Once Phoebe is pulled away from him and held back, he goes after her. He of course is no match (15 lbs. vs. 70 lbs.) This quickly increased in frequency to 3-4 times weekly, all happening inside with people around. Last Friday it happened when they were outside, we were not able to break it up before it was over, and Joey was left very sore & limping for several days. (Phoebe is not breaking skin or bones thankfully). We have kept them apart since this incident, which is not easy, and I've been working the NILIF concepts.
Last night I held Joey on my lap and my hausband let Phoebe in the room to see how they would respond after being apart for a week. Phoebe came over to him, they sniffed for a few, then an attack attempt. Again, not sure who starts it... it seems instantaneous to me. But it is viscous and scary. :sad:
What is interesting based on what I've been reading is that male-female fights are not common. Does any body have any ideas? I'd appreciate any comments or questions. Thank you.
My mother (in our in-law apt.) and my family each adopted a male lhasa apso puppy 2 years ago. My mom's dog "Sammy" is the alpha, with my "Joey" being the little brother and playmate. They have occasional fights, but nothing we were ever concerned about. They have been great little dogs. We lost our golden several years ago and were finally ready to have another one in our lives, so we got a female puppy 4 months ago. She (Phoebe) has bonded very well with my seven y.o. daughter and has played nicely with the two little dogs. Sammy has pinned her down a few times and has shown dominence over her, which we allowed.
BUT over the last month, Phoebe and Joey have been increasingly aggressive to each other. They will be standing near each other and the next thing Phoebe has him by the neck thrashing him from side to side. It is difficult to tell who starts it, but Joey gets the brunt of it. Once Phoebe is pulled away from him and held back, he goes after her. He of course is no match (15 lbs. vs. 70 lbs.) This quickly increased in frequency to 3-4 times weekly, all happening inside with people around. Last Friday it happened when they were outside, we were not able to break it up before it was over, and Joey was left very sore & limping for several days. (Phoebe is not breaking skin or bones thankfully). We have kept them apart since this incident, which is not easy, and I've been working the NILIF concepts.
Last night I held Joey on my lap and my hausband let Phoebe in the room to see how they would respond after being apart for a week. Phoebe came over to him, they sniffed for a few, then an attack attempt. Again, not sure who starts it... it seems instantaneous to me. But it is viscous and scary. :sad:
What is interesting based on what I've been reading is that male-female fights are not common. Does any body have any ideas? I'd appreciate any comments or questions. Thank you.