About old dog and rescue [Archive]

Andre Mendizabal

05-19-2005, 01:01 PM

Hi, I hope this is the right place to post this. I'm posting this message on behalf of my sister. She has two mini-schnauzers, a 7 yr old (sister of mine) and her new rescue, also a mini-schnauzer (they say she's 8 but looks like 3). The rescue came home on January and they were getting along ok, after the initial usual problems, but now a new thing came along... old dog won't let rescue go into the kennel, crate, ex-pen or wherever Mony (old dog) believes its HER space... this is causing problems since Sissy (rescue) hasn't been able to have a good sleep in the crate (both crates are "owned" by Mony) and when they stay outside Mony won't allow her to go into the shelter (doggie house), its specially a problem since rains are starting to pour down and they usually spend the mornings outside in the backyard. This wasn't an issue before and we can't figure out what happened to Mony to change her behavior towards Sissy. Any ideas on how to handle this?
Thanks!!!

Renee Premaza

05-20-2005, 11:00 PM

Hi Andre!

Sounds like it's time to teach the old dog new tricks!

Do you have any idea whether your sister has been supporting Mony as "the alpha dog?" This can be a mistake because it gives the original dog a license to behave like a bully. Many people don't even recognize when a dog is behaving like a bully, because they assume the dog is "just being dominant" when in fact, the dog is really behaving inappropriately.

The humans in your sister's house need to start taking control of this situation, and not letting Mony rule the doggy-roost. If Mony won't let Sissy gain access to the doghouse, or other areas where she needs to be, then your sister must provide Sissy with areas where she can seek shelter and rest and not give Mony access to these areas. Here are some other suggestions:

Your sister needs to be supervising these dogs whenever they're together. That way she can teach Mony that these areas do NOT belong to Mony - they belong to YOUR SISTER! So... when she sees that Mony is keeping Sissy away from them, your sister should give Mony a short time-out immediately after anything like this happens. A time-out can last only 30-60 seconds, but it should be done without confrontation. Perhaps this article might be helpful, although it doesn't address this problem specifically:

http://www.doggiebagonline. com/articles/article.php?articlei d=38

I would recommend that your sister purchase a booklet called, FEELING OUTNUMBERED? HOW TO ENJOYYOUR MULTI-DOG HOUSEHOLD, by Drs. Patricia McConnell and Karen London. She can buy the book at www.dogwise.com Do you have any idea if Mony was ever obedience trained? I would implemement NILIF for both dogs, but more strictly with Mony. And... if she's been supporting Mony as "top dog," she needs to avoid doing that.

I hope this helps a bit.

Hi, I hope this is the right place to post this. I'm posting this message on behalf of my sister. She has two mini-schnauzers, a 7 yr old (sister of mine) and her new rescue, also a mini-schnauzer (they say she's 8 but looks like 3). The rescue came home on January and they were getting along ok, after the initial usual problems, but now a new thing came along... old dog won't let rescue go into the kennel, crate, ex-pen or wherever Mony (old dog) believes its HER space... this is causing problems since Sissy (rescue) hasn't been able to have a good sleep in the crate (both crates are "owned" by Mony) and when they stay outside Mony won't allow her to go into the shelter (doggie house), its specially a problem since rains are starting to pour down and they usually spend the mornings outside in the backyard. This wasn't an issue before and we can't figure out what happened to Mony to change her behavior towards Sissy. Any ideas on how to handle this?
Thanks!!!