is there a way of making 2 dogs of equall dominance than them fighting to be top dog (below me n fam)?

Question

just got another dog, they dont fight agressively but do argue as such, i dont want to pet one and not the other as i dont want them to fight, how long does the prosses of peckin order take? wat can i expect?! how can i make them of equal order? is it possible? how do i know who is the dominent one of the two? thanx!

Answer 1

I had the same problem.Ive got father and son, there both Staffordshire Bull Terriers and each were fighting for the domain. I got in touch with my vet for advise and he adviced us to have them both castrated, if i just had the one the problem wouldnt go away cos they would still fight and argue. so both it was, they still argue with each other but they dont fight half as much. hope this helps x

Answer 2

You don't mention the age of the dogs as this can influence the time they take to settle down.

The message you want to get across is that while you are the boss they can sort them selves out but no aggression and no violence is tolerated in your pack.

Dogs are very expressive creatures that this really becomes evident when you have more than one because they talk to one another and use their bodies etc. There will be grumbles and thats fine because its the way they communicate and establish the limits around themselves. Until they sort their pecking order, there will be some friction but if you exercise clear leadership they will settle beneath you.
Arguing is also fine - humans don't always get along either, but should it ever get out of hand or aggressive then you must stop them immediately.
After a while (could take several months) they will sort themselves out. The dominance rules for dogs are based on things like:
Who eats first?
Who initiates the games?
Who gets to decide where they sleep?
Who goes through doors first?
Who posesses the toys?
Observe their behaviour in these situations and you will work out which one is the boss dog.
Don't try and make them equal because it will make the more dominant dog have to keep reasserting himself over the other and that will disrupt the peace. Instead, support the pecking order by placing the dominant dogs dinner down first. Greet the dominant dog first when you come home etc. Don't make a big deal out of it and be alert to changes in your pack. For example, as a young dog gets older it may assume the top dog status etc.
Even two male dogs will settle down so long as there is firm leadership.
Having two dogs is even more fun than one so enjoy it all!

Answer 3

YOU are the pack leader. Make the dogs understand that they're under YOUR rule first and foremost. As for the dominance issue between your dogs, the younger one is usually on the bottom or the smaller dog. If your new dog is both, he's the submissive to your first dog. Body language will let you know. If the new dog lowers head, tail and ears when your first dog is around, s/he's submissive to the other. As far as equal is concerned, dogs are pack animals and as such there will ALWAYS be a dominant one and a submissive. The pecking order won't take long to be established and you can expect nipping, growling, barking and wrestling. Just make sure that it doesn't get out of hand. If it does, discipline BOTH dogs equally so they know that behavior isn't acceptable. They'll get the picture quick enough.

Good luck and hope that helps.

Answer 4

if you try to force them both to be equal they will forever be fighting since being equal is not natural. One NEEDS to be dominant and the other will be satisfied to be subservient once the issue has been sorted out. The issue of dominance dpeends on several things. Size, age, sex, whether neutered all have a part to play. Without knowing a little more it is hard to say which is likely to be the more dominant one. Obviously, the dog you have had the longest will be dominant right now as it is his territory, but the other dog may gain superiority later on.
You need to let the new dog settle in, and watch them. Do not favour one over the other at first. See which one gives way to the other over food, going through doorways, sitting closest to you etc. Then whatever they have decided between them, you need to respect that. Pet the dominant one first, put his food bowl down first etc. If you try to raise the status of the lower one you will cause fights and actually make the lower one very worried. Being low in the pecking order isn't bad for a dog. He has no decisions to make, the higher ones make the decisions, they also protect the lower ones.Don't look at it from a human point of view. Trying to be equal might be fine for human brothers, but it is a recipe for disaster for dogs.
If you want to email me with some more detail about your dogs, I will try to offer better advice.

Answer 5

sorry, U don't give enuf details to answer this Q; what age are the dogs? what sexes? who was there 1st?

general tips:
* opposite sex is always safest

* desex EVERYbody!! (saves a lot of drama and maybe bleeding)

* 2 intact F's will fight far worse than any other combo;
sisters or dam/daughter are specially bad, because they're usually abt same size and strength

* don't worry about 'supporting the pack-order'; it's too complex, and it just makes more frustration. the rule is simple: ALL dogs are subject to the benign leadership of -all- humans.

'infants', toddlers and kids under 12 yrs are NOT 'leaders';

never put a child in the position of trying to control any dog, without an adult to supervise;

only kids past 10 yrs should try to handle a dog on-leash - even then, WITH a grown-up to supervise, keep both safe, and make sure that no loose dogs, wildlife, fleeing cats, etc, cause an emergency.

with Ur arguing dogs, no children should be around them when they are quarrelsome; use baby-gates, leashes, tethers (eye-bolts in the baseboards that U can clip a short 2 ft long bike cable into).

FEED the dogs separately; dogs don't share.


if they argue over toys, bones, treats, re-train:
put both on leash first; two ppl job, here.
STAND on the leashes, with at least 8 or 10 ft between; short enuf so that each dog has only enuf leash to sit or stand or lie down; no walking or lunging room. ask them to sit, at the same time.
NO oNE gets the goody, till -both- butts are down.
these group-sits are great practice, for manners!

for further info, go to , buy a clicker, and start re-training these dogs with R+.

they'll love it... and so will U!

BARKING MAD is another great resource: a BBC TV show, on Animal Planet 6 days a week: M - F, 8:30 AM - 9; and Sundays, 8 - 9 am.

happy training! :)

Answer 6

I have two dogs a German Shepherd who is 5 and a Shar pei x lab who is almost 2. My 5 year old girl is the more dominant but my boy is ok with this he has been with me only a few months but i have always had at least two dogs. I have 3 other labs which belong to my family and they spend a lot of time together but they all know i am the alpha and if my girl gets too rough with the others i step in and stop her, the others know this and come to me when this is happening. I don't feed them apart from one another but put their food down and then give them the command to eat and they all go to their own bowls with no problems. my girl does get a little extra attention from me. Good luck

Answer 7

They only fight if they can't settle things any other way.
If you treat them equally you'll make matters worse. The top dog will resent the underdog getting attention - the closer they are in the pecking order the more they resent it.
Keep an eye on them, as soon as you see one of them is top dog start feeding that dog first, put his lead on first and so on.
Don't try to make it up to the other one, you won't help him accept his position in the pack and you'll be encouraging him to revolt.
You've had some great advice about neutering and training; please take it.
And please accept that if you keep dogs this is the way they are; you might feel you're being unfair by favouring one over the other but they don't see it that way. If you can't accept dogs the way they are, why keep them!

Answer 8

The dogs will work it out for themselves who is Alpha. It might go back and forth for a while until one of them takes on a more submissive role in your household. Dogs are pack animals and do not have the mental ability to be "equal." You, as the owner, should be the Alpha "dog" over both of them. I'd suggest a dog training course to teach you ways to show your dogs that you're in charge, but even then one of them will eventually be more submissive than the other.

Answer 9

The dominant one is the one who gets to sleep in the best bed or runs out the back door first when you let them into the garden.
Dogs will always try to "advance" in the pack so this problem will never go away, although they will mellow over time.
The best thing you can do is to keep them together and treat them the same. If you are stroking one - dont let the other steal your attention. But ensure that you give both a equal amount of attention.

Answer 10

Not all dogs exhibit "dominance" in the same way and not all "alpha" dogs have the same concerns. Some "alpha" dogs are more than happy to step aside and let the obnoxious underlings go out the door first - why get trampled? They know how to choose their battles, so to speak.

Choosing which dog will be dominant over the other can be a tricky business. It can backfire if the wrong dog is advocated. I recommend getting Feeling Outnumbered? by Patricia McConnell. Great info for multi-dog households.

Answer 11

Castration will begin to sort the problem out, but you must choose the one you want to be dominant and consistently feed that dog first make sure it goes through doors before the other dog and greet it first . Dogs are very feudal, they love to have a designated position even if that position is subordinate and they will not be happy until you sort it out.