Help New Growling Behavioral Issue!

[Mikos_Mom]

I don't go to dog parks so I am no help there, but I think you want to focus on Foxy and Buddha right now to get their relationship sorted out. We introduced our big sheltie (18") to our tiny (6lb) maltese cross when he was 8 months old, and we have achieved harmony between them. We had to be very careful not to give preferential treatment to either of them, particularly JP because of her small size. They have learned to play very well together, and sometimes they do like their own space but a little bark lets one or the other know it's time out. The key for us was letting them work it out under supervision so they knew the limits and it was never allowed to escalate. I would recommend getting crates, they are excellent to use.
We did this video about 6 months after getting Mikos;
http://s1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb446/nbrard/?action=view&current=MikosandPrincessPetey.mp4

Best of luck getting the behaviours worked out.

Remind me again how old JP is

 

[SheltieChe]

Wow it really does seem like nobody here likes dog parks! I can definitely understand why because there are a lot of horrible stories out there of what can go wrong. In our town, we have a really nicely kept dog park. And while the big dogs can get rowdy on most days, the small dog park is never packed because owners seem to prefer putting their dogs where the most dogs are at and I have never seen a fight happen there. I have halted taking the dogs to the dog park since I started noticing Buddha's growling. And I do intend to do some training at home so that he learns to ignore other dogs when they don't behave themselves towards him. I have been doing a lot of reading online already on how to control aggressive behavior it's just I haven't found something specific for what's going on with Buddha. What I've found is how to fix dogs that dislike other dogs etc. But I will keep looking and try those sites thanks!

The only reason Budhha hasn't been neutered yet is that I was told by several people to do it after a year of age so that his coat could grow out since neutering would affect his coat. But that's really funny cause he has the shortest coat I have seen for his age and he has gotten very big. We are currently making arrangements to have him neutered before we move. And I am REALLy hoping it CALMS him down because no matter how much exercise he gets he is always excited and he has started marking! One of the downsides to not neutering him early, I know, but we made that decision early and I know he knows he is not allowed to mark inside the house because the few times he has done it I've caught him and he has cowered in shame and ran away haha

I won't deny I seem to be very overprotective of my chi, but Buddha is BIG and I am not sure if all shelties are like this, but he doesn't seem to know he has a nose. By that I mean, he never thinks before acting, if he wants to turn one way out of excitement, he will do so and hit his face against the wall. Or fall off the coach. Or when we sleep together, and he wakes up while everyone else is asleep, he will walk all over the bed and Foxy is beneath the covers and he will step on foxy. Or walk on my face or my boyfrien'ds face. I'm just trying to give an idea that he isn't exactly the most considerate dog out there yet. I am hoping it is because he is a puppy and has yet to learn, but we are still working on that with him.

My chi used to hate Buddha and now he has learned to tolerate him. He does what he is suppose to when he gets fed up at Buddha's invasive behavior, he warns him. I may have painted a wrong picture of Foxy. Foxy doesn't attack Buddha, he warns if Buddha keeps at it and then will snap to let him know it's enough. He never keeps snapping, just once and moves away. He rarely snaps at Buddha right now since Buddha stays outside mostly and Foxy uses the doggy door to come in whenever. But like I've said, we are moving and these two will need to get used to spending much more time together.

Am I wrong for not punishing Foxy when it is Buddha that has yet to learn his boundaries with him? I could be wrong. Because Buddha isn't purposely being rude to Foxy, he just accidentaly bumps into him etc and he just doesn't know when to stop. What I would like is for Buddha to show some of that warning behavior. I think that working it out themselves under supervision is a great idea. The incident occured in a small confined room. But our apartment will be small so they need to learn to get along in closed quarters! I don't want to find out whether Buddha would throw a real bite! For that reason right now I am fearing for my chi. I love Buddha as much as Foxy. But I feel as though if there were a dog fight, Foxy could hardly harm Buddha and Buddha could kill Foxy. And yes I am taking that to extremes but it's just my worry and not my intention to favor one over the other.

BTW the link with the sheltie playing with the mini mut! That is just adorable! I am so jealous my chi would never play with Buddha like that EVER! He is a super lap dog. All he does is lay next to me. He rarely plays with small dogs even. He is such a princess. That is a sheltie that knows how to treat a little dog right! It is what I aim for with buddha : )

It sounds to me like it is you who is a problem in relationship between Bu and chi. Am not trying to be mean or harsh, just making conclusions based on what you describing. It is easy to fall into small dog syndrom with small toy breeds, many people do that.
If Bu wanted to kill/ bite your chi he would have done that long time ago and judging that he is growing up and playing with lots of small dogs without doing any damage to them he is well aware of size differences. As people have suggested, just crate them away from each other or at least baby gate/ xpen etc.

 

[Trinba]

The NILIF program sounds like an excellent idea, I've already been doing some of those things with him from the beginning, but not as strictly. I'll give it a try and see how it starts to change him. The solution I'm trying to work towards isn't one in which I don't take the dogs to the dog park ever again. They are used to it and really enoy it, I don't see why I should deprive them of it. We go on walks on a leash, take car rides, etc but I can tell that they like socializing with other dogs best. I'll go ahead and stop taking him for a month or so until I feel I have better control of him and then do what you said with the lead, let him play for a short period of time and then get back in control. Slowly increase the time he is allowed to play when he is acting right.

Dog owners with small dogs aren't wrong in protecting their little toy breeds. I've read articles where a bigger dog killed a small dog at a dog park because insticts kicked in and confused the little guy for prey. Which is why most dog parks have a small dog and big dog section to avoid that kind of incident. Buddha has been playing just fine with other little dogs, but I did say that I started to notice a change in behavior when a little dog would get uncomfortable and Buddha would growl back when growled at. So I don't know how fine he's getting along with them now. And why I've stopped taking him to the dog park for now.

My grandparents have 2 dogs. One is 12 yrs old and is the mother to the other one. For 6 years they had been living together in total peace. Then they took in a stray a ****zu mix and the older dog did not like to share it's food with the newcomer. What ended up happening, and I was witness to this my family was visiting, was that the old dog made a deep growl when the ****zu got near the food bowl and the daughter launched to protect the little one and did a full attack on her own mother. Needless to say they had to take Pepper to the emergency room to get stitched up and it was an expensive surgical procedure. It never pays off to be real careful and an attack can happen at the most unexpected of times! I truly believe that after what happened, this was 3 weeks ago. Totally unexpected. And from watching that I can't help but feel worried when any of my dogs show displeasure at the other. Buddha is really smart, he learns new tricks so quickly! But one thing it's been hard to teach him is how to leave little guys alone. He lives with 2 big dogs outiside and likes to play rough. Although he doesn't play as rough with little dogs, he still isn't as controlled as he could be.