Mini and Shadow had another fight...

[gemini9961]

Ashley I can relate to this. This is the exact reason why I joined PT, Sadie and Maggie were fighting. They still get into little scraps now and then, and same as you, food is not involved. It seems to be a dominance issue like you said. The only thing I can say is to keep reinforcing Shadow as alpha and just keep an eye on her and Mini. It's to the point with me that I can see when they are about to go at it and I tell them to quit and stand right by them and make them go away from each other. Mini is a female, right? Here is the link to my original post and maybe it can help some. Hope it all works out for you.

[Dixieland Dancer]

Is there another post with more information on this problem? I don't think I'm getting the whole story from just this post.

What makes you think Shadow is the alpha? What breeds of dogs are we talking about? There just isn't enough information given to give a good solid idea of what is going on. If you do have posted on this before can you link to the original post?

[gemini9961]

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=100274

That might be of more help.

[k9krazee]

Shadow is our female Rottie, almost 10 years old. Mini is a 4 year old female (unaltered) Jack Russell.

I'm pretty sure Shadow is the alpha, the other 3 all look up to her and show signs of submission (licking her face, etc) and Shadow is the one to enforce the rules or let them know when playing gets out of hand...

I haven't really posted about it before. Its a relatively new problem. Mini will stalk Shadow throughout the house and then become extremely nervous and shakey. Sometimes we can tell that they are going to fight and can break it up, other times it happens because I guess we really aren't paying close enough attention.

I guess what I'm wondering is if there's hope to work this out or will we just have to always keep constant supervision of the two?

[dab_20]

I'm really sorry this happened again. I can't be of much help. Molli and Sam get in alot of fights but it's usually because food or toys are involved. I really hope you don't have to end up giving any dogs away. That would just be awful. Good luck.

[howlyip]

There are a lot more questions to be asked.
Are all females spayed??
Your Rotti is a bit old, how old is Mini??
Minis breed may have a lot to do with this, they don't know their size.
The fact that they are females is a huge part.

You cannot decide who is Alpha, except that you are Alpha, don't you try to figure out who should be and shouldn't. You are top dog, what you say goes.

Are they on leashes or free roaming??

How are they all greeted by you?? Must they obey a command to get some loving??

What more can you tell to the story??

[dab_20]

There are a lot more questions to be asked.
Are all females spayed??
Your Rotti is a bit old, how old is Mini??
Minis breed may have a lot to do with this, they don't know their size.
The fact that they are females is a huge part.

You cannot decide who is Alpha, except that you are Alpha, don't you try to figure out who should be and shouldn't. You are top dog, what you say goes.

Are they on leashes or free roaming??

How are they all greeted by you?? Must they obey a command to get some loving??

What more can you tell to the story??

k9krazee answered lots of those questions in the last post. Mini is 4 years old. And only Shadow is spayed.

[k9krazee]

Are all females spayed??

Mini is not at this point in time, Shadow is

Your Rotti is a bit old, how old is Mini??

Mini is four years old

Are they on leashes or free roaming??

Always free roaming

How are they all greeted by you?? Must they obey a command to get some loving??

They do, they have to sit first

...

[howlyip]

Right now I would say that Mini is coming into her own, being not spayed and 4 years old, she is staring to think about being top dog. Between 4 and 5, I have heard of this happening in smaller breeds.

I would think to get her spayed and work with her around Shadow on a leash. Mini, not Shadow on the leash. You need to be able to remind her what behavior is acceptable and what isn't. Especially if she is the one starting it.

Just my thoughts. Shadow could cause some serious damage.