we (and our dog) need help

[Guest Anonymous]

Just curious if anyone has considered the humans role in the pack and the dominance issues. I can't say I know alot about this but I've read alot and know people with jacks who fought and over came it. One of the most important things they say is that as the human/alpha you have to maintain the dogs positions at all times. So maybe kenzie should get her food first, get treats first, get first dibbs on playtime etc. They say the order should follow the order they arrived in the pack. This will help bruiser understand that Kenzie is above him in the order and he may start to back off. Ultimately as alpha you have the final say and need to continually reinforce what the pack order is. Many people say it is impossible to have two terriers of the same sex live together without fights but I know many who have accomplished it by maintaining the pack order. They say dogs don't necessarily care where they are in the order, but they have to know or they will try to be dominate. Dont know if any of this will help but wanted to know if anyone else had considered those things and what your opinions are?

[Carolk9s]

Foster said "Kenzie could be biting you out of fear but I have to say that you should not have put your hand in the crate after the dogs were fighting. "

I have to agree with this, even though there had been a ruckus, her crate should be her haven. She might have already felt cornered even though she went in there herself. Is Bruiser going to be neutered? That MIGHT help.

[usmcbyrd]

thanks to all that helped. this has become a dead subject with my wife and i. we are going to handle things the best we know how. thanks again.

[courtnek]

Byrd, I feel very badly for you. I had a friend in the same situation.

couple of things:

Get Bruiser neutered, the sooner the better. If you already have, I musta missed that part, and I apologize.

Dont allow either of them to sleep on your bed, until they get their pecking order straightened out.

It sounds an awful lot like a dominance issue, mixed with jealousy. But the dominance issue has to come first. Once Bruiser is neutered, that puts them on a somewhat more even ground. Un-neutered he is the whole male and is going to want to run the whole show. Trying to take her food
is a sign of that. The Alpha male always eats first. SInce she was there first, she wants to be the alpha.

If neutering doesnt work the issue out for you, you may have to do something you probably wont like. You'll have to pick one of the dogs
to be the alpha. That will cause some tension at first, I have to warn you.
The one you pick will need to be fed first, played a little more attention to,
allowed to walk ahead of the other one. It takes time and patience.

If you're willing to do all that, the sitauatin will work itself out.
Despite what some people say, dogs really dont mind being in a "lesser"
position - it's the pack mentality anyway.

And she must never be allowed to bite you. or your wife. YOU two have to
be the alpha pair to both of them. Once all of the above is established, you'll probably find more peace in your house. It's something to try at
least, before deciding to get rid of her.

There;s a really good book you should get - called "Why does my dog..."
by John Fisher. He devotes a whole chapter to this issue. He is a dog behaviorist. It helped me a lot with my two, since they had dominance issues for alot of the same reasons.

Best of luck and dont give up hope.

:D
p.s. - you really should take her to the vet as well. Neurological problems
can cause dogs to start acting like this, out of the blue.

[Peng1zrule]

your new dog will not copy extremely aggressive behavior...behavior like this is born in. when she bit you, that is NOT normal. Some people like to try to train the dog out of biting again...I know it's hard to do, as you do love them, but if a dog bites me in the way you were bit (that is, an aggressive, deliberate chomp that broke the skin, eye contact was made) I would get rid of it...and not try to give it away...chances are, doggy will try this again. Also, if you decide to keep both...maybe try keeping them seperate from now on...if she's beating on him badly enough to require 22 staples, this is not dominance, this is something that you cannot allow to happen again.

[courtnek]

I agree with the statement above - IF you can train them to be less dominant, and that requires YOU to be dominant - and that's hard to do with an aggressive dog - you might want to let Kenzie be the dominant dog in this bunch. But she should NEVER EVER lay teeth to you. FOR ANY REASON!!! In a wolf pack, NO ONE bites the dominant Alpha. EVER.
unless they are trying to take over the Alpha role. And that is a fight to the death in some cases. She has to understand that YOU ARE THE BOSS.
PERIOD. I cant stress this enough. It's situations like this that cause
people to get bitten by their own dogs. ACD's are domineering animals if you let them be. So you cant let them. You could probably turn this
situation around, with some work. But regardless of the roles of Kenzie and
Brusier, you have to be in charge. Please gain control of this situation before it becomes a real problem for you.

I hope it all works out, for yours and Kenzie's sake.

If you want to private me, feel free. I'll help all I can.