i have a question about my dogs...can ne one give some advice?

Question

alrighty...
so i have two dogs...one i've had for about a year and is one, the other that i just recently got and is also one [i think]. well, when i feed them the one i just got doesn't really let the other one eat. she just runs back and forth to both bowls...lol i would usually put one on the porch and basically seperate em to eat, but now i don't really have the time to do that. but i will again lol.
and something else tht happens is when i try to play with them, the newer one wants to be played with a lot and just basically doesn't let the other one near enough for me to play with them both. everytime the older dog tries to play with the newer one the newer one growls

well i didn't realize how long this was and thank you for reading...please give me some advice on what i can do to stop the maddness...well i wouldn't say maddness...lol i dk
ne ways...thanks!!

Answer 1

You need to make sure you're NOT giving the new dog more attention. Or first attention, (they both come to you, pet the older one first). the new dog needs to learn her place. She needs to be shown boundries. My dogs always go to the own bowls and never eats the others food. (the bowls are next to each other) She's trying to be dominant. you cannot let her win at this. Always tell yourself you are the alpha. And you have to behave that way. Otherwise, you'll have a fight on your hands later on. Good luck with them.

Answer 2

If you mean that both your pooches are dogs, neither of them a b_itch, that is your first mistake. Two pooches of the same sex vie to be top dog or top b_itch, but an opposite-sex pair couldn't care less.

Next mistake is the age.
Any dog that has NOT been well reared & trained is going to, at almost exactly 10 months old, behave like a defiant human teenager. My supposition is that any dog that's available at the age you got him has NOT been well reared & trained! And he sure sounds as though he is a teenager!

Control, and establishing yourself as the alpha, is the answer, but it takes time.
To survive while you are establishing that:
(1) Feeding - Ignore stupid macho ideas such as pretending to eat the pooch's food. Each pooch is fed where he cannot see the other dog's dish. You may have a suitable divider, but probably you need to feed them in diagonally opposite corners of the room. Give the SLOWEST eater the first bowl and ensure that the faster eater doesn't try to steal that instead of following his own bowl. Then place yourself BETWEEN the two dogs while they eat, and physically prevent the faster eater from then moving to the other dog's bowl. If the one you've had longest is really submissive you will need to feed him in his run or on the back porch while the newer dog is fed somewhere else.

(2) Playing - Dogs don't actually need it. But it can be used as a reward for good behaviour and to have the dog get more exercise than the owner gets. Until it is established as to which of them will be the superior, they don't get played with at the same time - physical restraint that puts the "other" dog out of sight.

You don't say how the old-hand dog behaves. My suspicion is that he is a natural gamma = a follower, not a leader.
The newer dog is definitely either an immature alpha or an uppity beta. A true alpha establishes control by its posture and almost never needs to fight. But in the wild a dog cannot establish itself as an alpha until either the existing alpha dies/departs or he himself gains adult strength at 3 years onwards and is able to kill or master the old alpha. An uppity beta will be a loyal lieutenant when faced by a true alpha, but will otherwise attempt to become the alpha - and knows only fighting as a way to do that. TROUBLE! (I have 3 bitches like that....) As you state only growling, not fighting, either your newer pooch is an actual alpha, or he hasn't been with you long enough to get the confidence to actually fight for status, or the older pooch is adequately submissive to satisfy the newer dog. We cannot see the behaviours via e-mail....

Assuming that the older dog already knows the ropes (your commands & expectations), it is the newer dog that you must concentrate on training. Get to a class, where there are other dogs that he has no reason to be jealous of. At home, train him by himself. Always remember that you have full control over a dog while it is on-lead, but once he is off-lead he has the ability to disobey - and he WILL, until convinced that it doesn't matter how far away you are you DO have physical control of him and WILL hunt him down if he disobeys.

Consider having a "left dog" and a "right dog", meaning that each is trained to lie on a particular sheepskin or mat, and one is always on your left side and the other always on your right side.

Ideally, you would have one of your pair of pooches bond with you and be trained by you, the other bond with a different member of the household and be trained by that person. And when both are under control they can be brought together on-lead so that whoever misbehaves can be sternly reminded by its person as to just who is the superior, who the subordinate, and that aggression towards ANY member of your household pack is verboten.
Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Friendly
"In GSDs" as of 1967

Answer 3

Your problem is the dogs do not know who is pack leader and each of them is fighting for the job. You need to spend some time to be PACK LEADER youself.

Walking is the best way to do that. But first watch who of the two is the most dominate and that dog gets fed first and the other one second. (pretend to take a bite of their food before you put down the bowl= the pack leader gets fed first) That dog get petted first and given treats first. When you do not honor their order you upset the system.

Be sure that both dogs know the sit command. Then go on walks with them and you may need to do one at a time for the first time or two. But once they can walk together in a submissive posture you won't have any more problems.

Put the leash on the dog and put him in a sit and wait for him to be calm (if it takes a while that's OK) but don't start the walk until you decide. You go out the door or the gate first with dog in the side back of you. If they try to take the lead immediately pull up on the leash to get their attention and make sure they are behind and close to you. If you have to put them in a sit position until they calm down.

And once you start, don't stop, if you do they win. You start the walk when they are calm.. Sometime you may even have to reverse your direction so that you are in the lead and they can be snapped back into the behind, close position. They will learn very soon what you want. Then put them together on either side of you and walk them together. Watch their body language, tail rudder level (not up-agression, not down-timmed) Ear back and relaxed, (not forward=agressive) If they see another dog, put them immediately into a sit position and wait until the dog passes.
DO NOT LET THEM CONTROL YOU, BE FIRM AND CALM. A red zone dog and really throw a fit, but if you stop they win.

Read this through more than one time and lots of luck. Dogs have a very simple way of dealing with things, but there are rules.

see http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

Answer 4

Your new dog is trying to take a higher position in life than your previous dog. It is a battle that only you can settle. You are the alpha dog, and must show them who eats first, who eats when and where --and the same goes with play time. You are in charge, and must set the tone for which dog is the lead. It might seem to go against your nature since most people want to treat all their "children" equally, but in the dog world, favoritism means peace. Each dog knows their place, and can settle into it - it's the jockeying for a higher position that causes problems.

Answer 5

They are like kids fighting for your attention and also being bullies over the food, you will have to seperate or the stronger will take both if the other does not stand his ground, watch and see.

Answer 6

The new dog is trying to guard resources, the bowls and you. You can learn about this behavior in the book called
MINE!

www.fearfuldogs.com/books.html

Answer 7

Well, with the feeding, I think what you are doing is good, but with the playing, you might consider taking them to a dog park. If you do not have enough time, then idk what you should do.