Kaedyn's growling/attacking Kai

[binka_nugget]

Ever since Kaedyn has come home, he's had food issues. That's understandable so I feed them in seperate areas now. It got worse last night. Kaedyn was getting his treat first but dropped it so Kai went for it. Kaedyn immediately attacked Kai. Kai had no choice but to fight back until I went to seperate them. So now, every second Kaedyn sees Kai, he growls and holds his tail straight. I know it's not a very welcoming "invitation" that Kaedyn's sending out so everytime I see him doing that, I make sure I'm right by Kai to prevent Kaedyn from attacking him. So when I'm by Kai, Kaedyn avoids me and paces back and forth while growling. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm thinking about having Kaedyn on leash and letting him correct himself when he tries to attack Kai. I don't know if that will be efficient enough though. I really don't want to give Kaedyn up but if we can't settle what he's doing, we'll have no choice.

[Amber]

I'd try that, see if it would work.
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I'm thinking about having Kaedyn on leash and letting him correct himself when he tries to attack Kai.

[clara4457]

Ah - the honeymoon period is over. Most books I have read on dog on dog aggression say it takes 4-6 weeks to manifest itself. I is kind of hard through cyberspace to really see how they are acting, but I can give you a few pointers that my behaviorist gave me with Penny Lane and Leo.

You should never give treats, chews, or food in each other’s presence. They should be totally separated.

If either shows any antisocial behavior (growling, snapping or being nasty), they should be given a time out either in their crates or another room away from the pack.

Both dogs should be on the NILIF program. They get nothing without saying please and thank you (sit/down/stay/wait, etc).

They should be separated if you are not watching them completely. They could possibly get in a nasty fight over something as minor as a piece of paper that has your scent on it.

I would also strongly suggest contacting an animal behaviorist to evaluate your dogs’ behavior toward each other. They will be able to tell you if it is going to be manageable. They can also put you on a behavior modification program to help the dogs learn to get along.

I am not going to lie to you, it could be something that might take a year or more to work out - or it could be something that you can't work out. A behaviorist will be able to help you decide the best way to tackle it.

Good Luck and I am sorry you are going through this. It is a very difficult situation to be in.

[Uabassoon]

I'm sorry to hear you are having problems with them, I hope everything works out.

[binka_nugget]

Thanks for the advice Clara. I've contacted their trainer again to get a few pointers. I'm leaving one upstairs and the other downstairs while I'm out or unable to watch them. I just tried the self correction thing I mentioned. Kaedyn started looking at me as if to say "What? Did I do something wrong?" Then I allowed him enough space to lunge and self correct him again, he decided to back off so..*crosses fingers* I hope it's just a little phase.