I have an 11 year old lhasa and a 10 month old golden retriever. They are both indoor dogs. The lhasa HATES the retriever. He doesn't like him to play, run, drink, or eat. I feed them in separate areas of the house so that the GR will have a better chance of eating and I still end up having to stand between them to keep the lhasa off him while he eats. I will give them these raw hide squares, and the lhasa just goes up to the GR and takes it away from him! A little growl and the GR drops it and the Lhasa walks off with it shaking his little booty!! Then he doesn't even chew on it. He lays it down and lays down in front of it while the GR just stares at him. I have tried telling the Lhasa "NO" in an authority type voice, and he will listen and do what I say when I tell him to do it, but when I am not watching or I don't say anything, he just does what he wants to. I am tired of the Lhasa being a bully and the GR being a weenie!! Please help!
2007-10-15 06:28:43 · 14 answers · asked by Corona 5 in Pets ➔ Dogs
Also, when I say the Lhasa doesn't like it when the GR does something, that means he attacks him.
2007-10-15 06:32:19 · update #1
You have two breeds with two very different personalities. Lhasa as a breed have a tendency to be dog aggressive and tend to like to be only dogs in the household. Goldens love everybody and are not aggressive at all and will always withdraw rather than fight. You are not going to fundamentally change their personalities and you shouldn't try. You are going to have to keep them separated when you are not home and supervise them like crazy when you are there. The pack order is such that the Lhasa is going to demand being dominant. What you should not allow is any aggressive behavior by the Lhasa that may hurt the golden. I would also crate them both at night.
2007-10-15 06:46:24 · answer #1 · answered by ? 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is not a good idea to interfere in the pack structure of your dogs. You cannot change who is in charge and you could cause more problems by doing so. As your Golden grows, it will get better at handling the Lhasa. This will be a time you need to defend the Lhasa from a large teenage Golden with a grudge. What you can do is alter the way they treat each other. Make sure they each have their own space. Crates are very useful for this. When they need time apart or you can't trust them together, they both get to take naps in their separate crates. Also make sure they do not have to share food bowls and that they each have at least one toy that is theirs only (probably something they can keep in their crates or play with one on one with you). Feed them rawhide squares (only if you must as they aren't very healthy and some vets say they shouldn't be given at all) only when they are apart. Do not try to force a pack structure on them though. This rarely ends well because a higher status dog that can't stand on its own is always subject to a violent coup. You can't stop whoever is on top from lording it over the other, you can just minimize the number of things that they might have cause to fight over and punish the aggressor with time out if a particular situation gets out of hand.
This also has nothing to do with you establishing yourself as alpha. Even if you are an excellent alpha, the dogs will still have to establish rank order among themselves. Look at the sled dog teams. They still have fights in the pack despite there being clear submission, even by the alpha dog, to the authority of the human in charge.
2007-10-15 14:07:43 · answer #2 · answered by Maverick 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Been there lots of times.
You can not remedy this situation. Your GR will not put up with this forever. Eventually they will come to an understanding. The only other thing you could do is lock the llasa up and I am sure you are not going to do that. Trying to watch over their every move will not really work in the long run the GR will put his foot down eventually.
lol I have a chihuahua that use to do this to my Saint Bernard and my German Shepherd believe it or not. She just got over it one day.
2007-10-15 13:36:38 · answer #3 · answered by ldonovan7 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
there is always heirarchy between dogs.
let them have it their way, the gr is I assume larger? if he wants to change everything I am sure he will.
I think he does it because the llasa is older and has been there longer.
my two dogs both do the same thing. the larger one will pee in the same spot the other does, when I throw toys to fetch the larger one barks to get the toy first or the smaller one will drop it for the larger one.
its just what they do.
you have to intervene once in awhile so there is balance. I lock the larger dog inside for a while and strictly play with the smaller one and then bring them both out.
don't worry.
2007-10-15 13:34:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Lhasa is showing the Golden that its the Alpha dog. Try feeding the Lhasa first, do this also when you give treats,attention,toys.
2007-10-15 13:33:32 · answer #5 · answered by littlepixiefyre 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Dogs are pack animals. There needs to be a leader in the pack and in your case it's the Lhasa. One dog will always dominate the others.
Just the way nature works.
2007-10-15 13:34:20 · answer #6 · answered by Fester Frump 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Dominance let the Ihasa eat first and let the golden see this once the Ihasa has had it fill let the golden eat also don't keep them from fighting they need to work out there dominance issues on there own, it might sound mean and hurt full but unless you see blood there working out there territory issues and if you keep getting in the middle of the two they will never work out there issues
2007-10-15 13:37:13 · answer #7 · answered by Lab Runner 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
u can't really do anything about it because my dogs were like that too but just keep their food dishes apart and give them separate water dishes away from each other. the reason the ihasa does this is because he thinks he the alpha male. he'll get used to the other one in time.
2007-10-15 13:37:02 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I know this will not help you but my dogs are the same way. I have 2 boxers. Nekko is male and he is 8, Gracie is female and she is 3. Gracie is always beating up on Nekko. If we try to play ball with Nekko she takes the toy from him. She eats from his bowl, bites his ears and actually slaps him around. If you find out what to do please let me know.
2007-10-15 13:34:14 · answer #9 · answered by Jodi B 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you make yourself the leader of the pack, instead of one of your pets, your problems will be largely solved. Make it clear that YOU do not intend to put up with bad behavior, and stick to it. If you need a leash for a while, use it, but let them BOTH know who's in charge.
2007-10-15 13:35:47 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋