my mom haveing to do with the fighting?

[cali]

ok, Rusty and Blair are always fighting,Rusty hates Blair, he wears a harness as a "handle" to make it easier to pull him out of the fight if they get to eachother. now typcally its Rusty doing the attacking, however BLAIR is the one who wins the fights, in the most recent fight Blair was winning big time when we broke it up, and ever since, Rusty would start snarling at the first glance of Blair. now here is what I noticed today....I had the day off, but my mom worked so I was alone with the dogs. Rusty and Blair were loose together all day and nothing..not even the slightest hint of aggression from Rusty, BUT the second my mom walked in the door I grabbed Rusty because he immedietly started snarling at Blair, and I mean the split second my mom walked in the door Rusty turned Nasty at Blair again. and when I think back, every single fight Rusty and Blair have had, was when my mom and I were home, or when just my mom was home, but NEVER when it has been just me home. so I am wondering, could my mom having soemthing to do with the agression somehow? and if so..what?

[Kfamr]

Is Blair mostly your mom's dog? Does he stick to her a lot?

Quite possibly Rusty notices that and is jealous?

[Genny]

It sounds like Rusty is jealous.

[Giselle]

YES! Ivy does the SAME thing. She never fights when there is no human there. But as soon as a human enters the picture, she snaps and attacks. If you think about it, a human is a very high value resource. We give love, pats, play, walks, and food. We are the beholders of everything good in their lives, so it makes perfect sense that our presence would incite scuffles amongst competing dogs.

Ivy is a number 2 dog. She's very dominant towards Lucky and Gis but extremely submissive towards me. Whenever I see her stalking Lucky (which will lead to an attack if I don't intervene correctly), I recall her and put her into a long Down-Stay. When you see Rusty about to attack, don't reach for him or Blair. If you reach for him, he will most likely attack. Instead, distract and recall him. If his recall isn't reliable enough, keep him on lead. Once you recall him, place him in a Down-Stay. It sounds like Rusty's trying to exert his dominance with unnecessary force. He probably knows you're alpha, but you need to let him know that fighting over humans/resources is not allowed. So anytime you see him getting into that 'mode' (usually head down, hard stare, stalking position), distract, recall, long Down-Stay.

That should do it. Since I figured that out, we've not had an attack between Ivy and Lucky for months now (of course, Ivy and Gis are another story ).

[cali]

I was confused about the jelousy thing though, because Rusty doesnt even LIKE my mom, thats how he became my dog in the first place. my mom was the one who wanted to keep him, not me, but when it came to deciding who's dog he would be? I said he was mine because I am the one he likes, anytime he has to spend time with my mom because I am away he completly ignores her and acts all put out about having to be supervised by my mom at all. to me it seems like if anyone outa be jelous its Blair as my mom favours Rusty over him lol

[Giselle]

What is the pack dynamic like? Is Rusty very dominant over the others? Is Blair?