How do I establish my dominance over my dogs?

Question

I have 2 female sisters and a newcomer male. One of the females has befriended the male and they fight together against the bigger sister dog. When the mom was around, she was dominant over the other 3 dogs. She sadly passed and now the hierarchy has been broken, no dominance has been established. It used to be just the 2 sisters fighting, but now it is just disaster when they fight. It really scares the rest of my family and it has become almost impossible to break them up.

I would like to know how to show that I am dominant over all of them, or just some way to make it so one is dominant without anymore fighting.

Any other tips are very much welcome. Water does not break them up, neither does hitting on the butt area. I have to pull them apart myself, the dogs have never bit me while doing this.

I can't really find something that triggers it, I just went to go throw out the trash and all of a sudden they attack.

Answer 1

You do have issues.

First are they all altered. Hormones can reek havoc on an animal in an inclosed home.

Second - are you crating anyone?

Third females are B*tches and siblings on top of it.

My females have their own hieracrchy and the males their own. I would definently isolate the one that has befriended the male and fighting with the other female. I would say the male is just in the wrong place at the wrong time and you won't have problems with the other isolated.

If this works I would check into an isolation therapy and starting from scratch on the female that is attacking

Added:

Please don't decide to go in a roll with the dogs fighting.
Think of a dad in the family. Strong but loving and offers guidance and support. Believe it or not human families and dog families can be much alike.

You want to take the chance of the fight away and find out the cause or who the cause is to work on it. Not just go in like a barrel of bullets and no aim.

Answer 2

The simple answer to establishing dominance is holding the dog down to the floor by the scruff of the neck and then getting over top of her and growling until she relaxes and submits or shows submission. You might have to do it more than once. And if you aren't afraid of being nipped, you do the same thing when you break up a fight. You just push the dogs, all of them to the floor or even roll them onto their backs and growl at them. They won't really attack you and bite you (well maybe if they are pits they will?) although they might nip while aiming for another dog, but you will establish dominance this way.
I had several pekes, (nasty little beasts that argue with each other and bully each other), and this would put them in order quickly. The girls always seem to argue more than the males. There is always an alpha dog. It is a girl. You have to establish dominance over that dog. Everyone else will follow suit once you control her.
And of course never hit the dogs or be mean to them in anyway. Just speak their language. They don't understand "time out"-- they understand dominance and submission.

Answer 3

I believe that is what they are fighting over. Given time, one should come out the dominant one but I understand your concern now. The fact that you feed them establishes you as the master, but it appears that among themselves, they all want to be the boss. Here's why...the two sisters were there first and see each other as equals and each will not choose the other as the leader. At least one sees the new male as new to their territory and will not choose him as the leader and the other may not either. Since pack animals chose their leaders, this is a type of stand-off so there are fights. If time doesn't cause one to rise to the lead, I'd guess you can either take them to obedience training one by one, together, or just keep them separated. They don't bite you because you do feed them, but this is territory you can't have much more say in. One more suggestion if all else fails and you aren't able to take them to class...call an obedience school and just ask the teacher's advice. I'd bet they've seen this behavior before. Good luck!

Answer 4

Am easy way 2 break up fights quick is the put a choke hold on the aggressor. It stops them for shaking the neck of the other dog, and they release w/o pulling them away and risk further tearing. I just grab the collar with my left hand and pull up and put my right ram around there neck, while telling them no, stop, and release. Work on ur dominance with me. You can also pin them to the ground and DO Not let them up until them are calm, do this a lot. Oh there is no difference in any breed, pit bull or poodle you are the alpha male. Never smooth a growling/snapping/barking bark that just reinforces the Behavior. Lots of Xercisse to. they will B 2 tired 2 fight. I also pin the "dominant" 1 down and call the submis over to sniff him and correct any growling.

Answer 5

One of my dogs is a Poodle. They are smart dogs and train just as easily as any other breed. Are you getting one with a temperament problem? If not you don't have to dominate over it. You DO have to be the ALPHA member of your dog's pack. Human over dog, not the other way around. You need to find some books and read up on owning a dog. You can do searches online for dog training, puppy training, puppy and dog care. Just go through the search engines online and you'll be reading for hours. You are getting a very high maintenance breed of dog. Poodles need to be brushed CORRECTLY every day or at least 3 times a week. Having them groomed is expensive especially if you are using a real groomer and not settling for something like Petco or PetSmart. BTW PetSmart is a better choice if you do use one of them. Very small poodles sometimes have special needs. The breeder you are buying from should be able to answer all of your questions and should be WILLING to do so. If the breeder can't answer your questions, find another breeder, no matter what, please study up on owning a dog and study the particular breed before you make a decision. Find a breed that is better suited to you and your family. If you are still wanting to get a dog, but I'm thinking you're getting a puppy because you need to housebreak it. You have to be consistant. I make sure I have 3 days to work with a new dog or puppy. I get them when I can schedule my time to help them learn to fit in and start off training. Pups are easy to housebreak. I have never had one that wasn't fully housebroken in 2-3 days and only one or two that ever had an accident . Ever! I take them out about every 20-40 minutes, just to go potty. I don't let them play, they are out there to do their business. As soon as they do, or don't after a few minutes, back inside, no playing outside. After they eat or drink, just wake up, or start to sniff, back outside. If you tell them "potty" or another word you want to use, they learn why they're there and it makes it a fast job later on. Like when the weather is bad or it's extra dark out. If while you're playing outside and they happen to go, praise them. Dog's train easier on praise than on correction. No treats for correctly done commands. They should be doing this for you, not a treat. Once they get used to being rewarded with food they can stop listening to you when you don't offer it. Just don 't make it harder on them. Knowing commands are important. Some commands can be life saving. My dogs have ONE place to do their business in the yard. They go there only and they all go there. Take your dog to the one spot that is out of the way, safe and easy to clean up.

Answer 6

The first thing to do is put a leash set just behind the ears. Then walk them but do not let the dog lead. Hold them back along side you. Then when they are wanting to fight, watch the aggressor very closely. As soon as it takes notice of the other dog yank the collar and say no. It has to be timed just as soon as it looks at the other or perks up its ears. The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan has many of his techniques on DVD's. Also on TV from time to time. You have to be the pack leader and there will be peace. Also you can give a light tap in its ribs with your heel from behind so it cannot see exactly where it came from. lol

Answer 7

I apologize for just giving links, but this problem is far too complicated to just offer a few words. Although this site is dedicated to pit bulls, the article is how to make peace living in a multi dog house. It shows a bit about making yourself dominant, which takes the choice away from the dogs: http://www.badrap.org/rescue/multidogs.cfm
It also explains how to safely break up fights.
Here is a site with a few more good tips: In-Home Multiple Dog Management: http://clubs.akc.org/aba/bully/multiple.htm

http://ezinearticles.com/?Avoiding-Fights-In-the-Multi-Dog-Household&id=289967

Answer 8

This may sound weird but I've used it many times & several of my friends have & it's worked. My dad taught me that to take the dominate role, you must be over them. I grab the dog by the collar or scruff of its neck, straddle the dog over it's shoulder, pin it with my knees & take the collar firmly. I stay in that position until the dog sits &/or lays down. It's worked with pits, saint bernards, german shephards & chows. It's worth trying.

Answer 9

You need to establish boundaries and be consistent! You also need to figure out who is top dog among the pack, and who is the instigator of the fights. But you also need to be intolerant of the continual fighting. You may need to separate them from now on if you wish to keep all three of them. You also need to work with them individually on basic dog training, one at a time, without the others around to interfere. The more time you spend with them, the more you establish your dominance over them. I suggest you take each dog for a walk by yourselves, one dog at a time, with a training collar leash and work on basic commands such as sit, stay, lay down, and come. The more you work with them, the more they will cooperate for you. It takes some time but can be worth the effort.
You also need to remove the triggers for their fights, such as fighting over a certain toy or invading personal space. It might be worth your while to invest in some fencing to set up separate kennels in your yard for each dog and confine them to the individual kennels if they just can't get along.
You need to be aware that if one or two dogs kill another dog, all of them must be destroyed. Any dog that has killed another dog will not hesitate to do so again, except in such rare cases of self-defense. By reducing their fights by confinement and trying to work with them, you can reduce the potential danger of a bigger problem in the future. Stop giving them permission to fight by reducing their contact with one another.
Good luck.

Answer 10

At times when you feel the tension picking up between them seperate them, and make them stay seperate stand over the most aggressive one with your face facing down at them. Try to calm the aggressors down, find something that identifies your bite. Theres a good documentary about a guy that raised wolf pups very interesting might be worth checking out i dont remember the name though. Oh and Ceaser on animal planet, he's magic with behavior science.