6 month old Staffy showing agressive behavior towards our other dog

[Loki]

Hi guys we have a 6 month old male Staffy (Loki) and a 5 year old female Tenterfield terrier (Jade) and only in the last 3-4weeks have we noticed that our staffy has started showing agressive behaviour towards her.
Most of the time she puts him in his place (even though she's about 1/2 his size now) and they are usually fine when out side and playing around.

I'll give you guys a few examples of whats been happening, hopefully someone can help me out and help find a solution to his behaviour.

EXAMPLE 1: The agression was first noticed a couple of weeks ago and its strange as he had been desexed only a few days before hand and we had never seen any of this behaviour before the desexing.
Both the dogs were given a bone each and when my little Tenterfield (Jade) finished eating hers (Loki was still eating) she was sniffing around the garden and must have got a bit close to Loki and he went for her bitting her on the rear and drawing a small amount of blood. It took me a few seconds to be able to divert his attention but finally i grabbed him by his neck and pulled him off her and sat him down to chill out.

EXAMPLE 2: Later that night my cousin brought over his 2 Staffy's 1 female (Loki's sister,the same age) and the other a male who is a month or so younger than him. All 3 of them were in the back yard playing around for a good 10minutes or so and having a great time then all of a sudden Loki attacked my cousins male Staffy for some unknown reason and again it took me grabbing him by the skin on the back of his neck and pulling him off to snap him out of it.

EXAMPLE 3: Mum was patting him in his bed the other night while he was resting, Jade came over (she hangs around mum's feet like a bad smell) and he just snapped again as soon as she got too close so mum got a bit shaken up over it. They usually are fine sleeping together in the same bed but just that time when mum was there at the same time he lost it.

EXAMPLE 4: Tonight Jade was walking out of the laundry (where they eat) after they had both eaten and Loki was sitting outside with mum at the doorway so he wouldn't go in and try to eat her dinner, as she walked passed he went for her again :confused:


Im starting to worry now as it seems to be something he's doing more regularly. Can anyone help us out??

Thanks Nick

[Giselle]

First rule at my house: Food and toys MUST be supervised AT ALL TIMES. No begging. No random treating. Food is only available during training sessions and meal times. Meals are eaten in the crate. Dogs must stay in crate until I release them with an "Okay!". Dogs are released one by one into the yard for potty breaks. Dogs must wait outside until I let them back in. Even when I open the door for them to come back in, they MUST wait outside until I say "Okay!", at which point they can come back inside.

If you set similar rules about meal time (i.e. crating and vigilant supervision), you can avoid these food scuffles. Almost every multi-dog household I know has had scuffles like this, especially me. Their owners usually wise up and put into place stricter feeding time rules ;)

Regarding the play time scuffle, it's really a matter of supervision and human intervention. Whenever your dog is interacting with other dogs, you MUST pay full attention. You should also have a decent knowledge of dog body language. If you don't, be sure to pay attention to the hardness of the eyes, the rigidity of the muscles, whether the weight is being held in the front or back, whether the dogs' arousal levels are getting frenetic, etc. As soon as you see something "iffy", step in and separate the dogs. Work on eye contact and calming behaviors. Then allow the dogs to play again. If you can't separate the puppies or if your dog is just too amped up to calm down, you intervened too late and you should start teaching your dog calming/focus behaviors, like extended down/stays, eye contact, touching his chin to your palm, etc.

Lastly, it sounds like your puppy has "claimed" your mom. This is not the type of behavior you want to see in a young puppy. Your mom needs to step up and assume her rightful position as leader. One of the most effective ways to do this is through NILIF, Nothing in Life is Free:
www.k9deb.com/nilif.htm
From now on, what the puppy wants, the puppy needs to earn - and your mom should make him earn it. If puppy wants to sit on the couch, your mom needs to ask him to sit or down or give paw. If your puppy wants attention, your mom needs to ask him to lay down first, etc.

Also, to prevent what sounds like the beginnings of jealousy, try cooperative feeding and petting. Whenever Loki wants petting, bring Jade over, put Loki in a down, pet Jade, and then pet Loki. Same for feeding. If you want to give Loki a treat, call Jade over, give her a treat, and immediately treat Loki. This way, he learns that Jade receiving good things means he will receive them, too. Jade becomes an ally, not an enemy. Good luck!