I am new to the forum. I have seven dogs--two are Shelties. Our one year old female Sheltie, Annie, has been with us since she was around 10 weeks old. She bullies our other dogs by barking (incessantly and shrilly) and lunging at them. They have varying responses to her from showing their teeth to ignoring her. What can we do? They hate her. We have been training her to sit and stay on command and that helps somewhat. However, she particularly goes after our rescued mini fox terrier, Bailey. She seems to sense that Bailey has some serious issues and won't leave her alone. We fear Bailey will snap and attack her. So far Bailey just shows her teeth and occasionally chases her. (Annie runs off scared to death when that happens.) We stagger their outside time so that she won't be with the ones she has the most trouble with. She is miserable when they are outside and she is not. Ha. She is sweet otherwise.
Bullying
- Thread starter janell
- Start date
labgirl
Forums Sage
I don't tolerate such behaviour between my dogs, or any dogs. When Merlin reached adolescence he tried it on with Cadbury once, tried to chase him away from a treat. I was furious! I told Merlin off and sent him to the kitchen, where he had to stay for about ten minutes. We only ever had one episode since, and that was not so serious and I think Merlin was testing me out to see what I did. I reacted the same. All is harmony now.
I would try correcting the behaviour and making it clear this is not acceptable before considering rehoming.
Of course, sometimes dogs just don't get on and you have to make other choices. Hopefully it won't come to that
I would try correcting the behaviour and making it clear this is not acceptable before considering rehoming.
Of course, sometimes dogs just don't get on and you have to make other choices. Hopefully it won't come to that
Ruutu constantly bullies Honey. Honey just growls at him or now she'll just ignore him. We tell him bad boy. For some reason, bad boy makes him upset and he'll stop doing whatever he is and will kiss us, then he'll go back to doing it 
. Since Honey won't tell him off, we push him off of her and away from her often. Usually they are fine, but if playing is involved he acts the worst during then.
. Since Honey won't tell him off, we push him off of her and away from her often. Usually they are fine, but if playing is involved he acts the worst during then.
Calliesmom
Moderator
are you sure it's bullying?
barking at/in the face of any of my other dogs is how my 10 month old boy solicits play.........
my almost 4 yr old boy would do that to my significantly older female when he was younger- she would show her teeth and then chase him off- which was exactly what he wanted......
I did eventually get a younger female to keep him occupied so he'd leave the older girl alone.
I found the 9 month to 1 year period really hard with my high-drive sheltie. How does she do on walks? Does she react to strange dogs on walks and in the home? It sounds more like a bored sheltie than one who is always trying to start a fight. If she was trying to start a fight, the other dog's negative response would trigger a conflict. If she runs away and jumps around with giddyness, I would say she is just vying for attention more than anything else. It's a tough stage, and I've found that my Sheltie, when he wants my 10 y/o aussie to play with him, does a lot of playful growling and is very vocal... I never let him escalate to an incessant barking though. However he still tries incessantly to play with her by chomping on her ears and since she doesn't stick up for herself he simply continues. Me telling him no only works for a short period of time and he will continue to do it when I am not around.
I would say let your other dogs reprimand her and tell her its not okay to be harassed! She is still at an age where fighting with older members of he pack is probably not something she is really bold enough to do, since she is still an adolescent. If fights start, you know you have a problem beyond that, but I wouldn't consider re-homing your dog at this point!
Hope this helps!