I though I'd cracked it

Every time Tobey and Archie meet another dog or see a cat they attack each other! I control the situation by keeping them on short leads and making them sit - which they do.

I thought it was because when we first walked them together Tobey was a great one for barking and Archie was just getting him to stop before he starts! Sounds reasonable, made perfect sense until this morning when we met up with Herbie.............

Herbie is the most gorgeous Yorkie and both mine were so happy to see him there was no nastiness at all......back to square one :rolleyes:

I'm certainly no behavior expert, Denise, but I find this interesting. Daisy and Delilah seem to use teamwork when another animal comes around. This being the exact opposite of your situation. I wonder if it's a dominance issue? It will be intriguing to find out what some of the experts on the board have to say about it.

Hello there,
I think you have half solved the situation by yourself and the other reply you have on this is spot on.
This does sound like a dominanace issue and although you are doing the right thing by slowing things down and making the dogs sit when a situation arises I'm not sure you really understand what is going on?
Do you know which of your dogs is the more dominant? Do you go out of your way to treat them equally?
They are both responding to you well as the leader if they are following instructions in an exciting situation such as when a cat appears and the fact that they have greeted another dog calmly without turning on each other is a step in the right direction, not a set back.
Your dogs have either a dominance issue between them or turn to each other to release frustration.
Try watching them closely when they are in the house/garden/car/playing and see which animal is the more dominant in each situation. Support the more dominant animal in his role and continue to be the Alpha by insisting on sits when difficult situations arise. For instance, if one dog seems to be more dominant in the car, get both dogs to sit when you open the door to get them out. Put their leads on, most dominant first, and clamly ask for the most dominant to get out first. All calm, all cool and nothing happens unless it is what you have asked for.
Hope this helps.

Thanks both - you have confirmed what I had been thinking.

Although he is the youngest and "newest" member of the pack Archie appears to be the more dominant. I have to get my head round that and the fact that Tobey is happy in his role too.

You have given me something very concrete to work from.

My Lacey and RB Mandy used to go at each other if the neighbors little dogs came running up to our fence. I always heard it was called redirected or displaced aggression. Sort of like they couldn't get at the other dogs, so they turned on each other. I'm no expert, just something I've read. ;)

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Originally Posted by chocolatepuppy

My Lacey and RB Mandy used to go at each other if the neighbors little dogs came running up to our fence. I always heard it was called redirected or displaced aggression. Sort of like they couldn't get at the other dogs, so they turned on each other. I'm no expert, just something I've read. ;)

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Something else to look into - thank you

Exactly, also the younger dog is more usually the problem - as the toddler or teenager can often upset the balance of a home, a pup will often bring it's own view of life into a household and needs to learn where its own view of life fits in with everyone elses!

When I used to have Belle and Maggie out together, they would be more like a 'pack' in behavior...they would gang up on a strange dog or be friends with it, but would agree together on which behavior it would be; they would herd/hunt/chase a strange cat, rabbit, bird, etc, at least they would try, since I kept control of the leashes). If I took either one out by herself or when they were inside, they acted more individual and we could see that Belle was nearly always the dominant. Our cats were also part of the 'pack' as far as the dogs were concerned (and the cats had higher pack status than the dogs). I don't know how they knew which cats were allowed and which weren't, but they would only bark at the strays and not ours when viewed through the glass door. Now that I only have Belle (Maggie stayed with my ex when we separated), I try to get her to a group class situation as much as I can so that she stays socialized, so her behavior there is more like the individual behavior she used to have, focused more on me than the other dogs (finally!).