Bedlam
Well-Known Member
I'm upset right at this moment, so forgive me if my organization isn't the best. I was just in the middle of a dogfight and quite unhappy.
I'm a pretty experienced dog owner and familiar with pack behavior. I have two dogs. The first, Goodman, is a lab mix adopted from the shelter 4 years or so ago. He's big and mellow. About 105 lbs and intelligent. He never challenges my leadership.
My other dog is Otto, a purebred boxer adopted from a puppy mill. He was burned as a very young pup by the neglect of, probably, a heat lamp. We got him right at 2 months old and he's about 2 years old now. He's about 65 lbs and very energetic. He seems to continually challenge me. He's a joy, but a challenge.
Otto has started to show some food aggression of late. He doesn't mind me messing with his food and I make apoint to do so frequently, but gets REALLY jealous of Goodman. On the few occasions I've seen it happen, Otto seems to start it, but gets his ass kicked by Goodman, because of the size difference. He's had his face bitten a couple of times, twice right around the eye. That scares me. Afterwards, Goodman shys away from Otto, seems to be leery of him and takes a bit of time to warm back up to him. Each time, I immediately put Otto into submissive position for a bit and things will be okay for a few days.
Tonight, I let them in and they settled down on the dogbed as usual. I sat on the floor between them and was petting them. They were both loving it, when suddenly Otto just went for Goodman, right over me. I tore part of a fingernail off and got scratched incidentally as I broke them up. As usual, it was only for a few seconds, I put Otto into submissive position AGAIN, and Goodman made himself scarce for a while. Turns out, Goodman had a little piece of rawhide I didn't see and that's what precipitated the fight. Add to that the fact I was, to Otto's perspective, belly-up and probably looked less pack-leaderish to him just before it happened. Again, Otto DID NOT go for me; He went after Goodman.
But I'm sick of it and would like to hear some suggestions from the experienced dog people around here. I don't want this to get worse and I don't want any injuries. Still, part of me says to just leave it alone, since Otto's getting his clock cleaned, and let them sort it out.
Appreciate any ideas, here. Thanks.
I'm a pretty experienced dog owner and familiar with pack behavior. I have two dogs. The first, Goodman, is a lab mix adopted from the shelter 4 years or so ago. He's big and mellow. About 105 lbs and intelligent. He never challenges my leadership.
My other dog is Otto, a purebred boxer adopted from a puppy mill. He was burned as a very young pup by the neglect of, probably, a heat lamp. We got him right at 2 months old and he's about 2 years old now. He's about 65 lbs and very energetic. He seems to continually challenge me. He's a joy, but a challenge.
Otto has started to show some food aggression of late. He doesn't mind me messing with his food and I make apoint to do so frequently, but gets REALLY jealous of Goodman. On the few occasions I've seen it happen, Otto seems to start it, but gets his ass kicked by Goodman, because of the size difference. He's had his face bitten a couple of times, twice right around the eye. That scares me. Afterwards, Goodman shys away from Otto, seems to be leery of him and takes a bit of time to warm back up to him. Each time, I immediately put Otto into submissive position for a bit and things will be okay for a few days.
Tonight, I let them in and they settled down on the dogbed as usual. I sat on the floor between them and was petting them. They were both loving it, when suddenly Otto just went for Goodman, right over me. I tore part of a fingernail off and got scratched incidentally as I broke them up. As usual, it was only for a few seconds, I put Otto into submissive position AGAIN, and Goodman made himself scarce for a while. Turns out, Goodman had a little piece of rawhide I didn't see and that's what precipitated the fight. Add to that the fact I was, to Otto's perspective, belly-up and probably looked less pack-leaderish to him just before it happened. Again, Otto DID NOT go for me; He went after Goodman.
But I'm sick of it and would like to hear some suggestions from the experienced dog people around here. I don't want this to get worse and I don't want any injuries. Still, part of me says to just leave it alone, since Otto's getting his clock cleaned, and let them sort it out.
Appreciate any ideas, here. Thanks.