Younger dog going for older dog

[cart1984]

We've had our younger dog for about 10 month now - he's nearly a year. So far him and our older dog of 2 n bit years have been fine but all of sudden the younger dog is snarling and going for the older dog whenever we are petting both of them at the same time! :/ confused to say the least !!

[Sula]

Sounds like some jealousy is coming into play now. Keep the attention short and praise when he does not react to you patting the older dog, but there will be some one with more knowledge and advice on soon xx

[Top Barks]

Are both dogs entire?

[MIN]

mine are both bitches, but we have to watch gemma the younger because she will have ago at the older staffie, ( death wish)
 luckily poppy is too lazy to retaliate and is getting used to her hanging off her lip. just to say though, we are aware of what the consequences could be so dont leave them unsupervised

[lescef]

We have had the same problem with our two and the ages are about the same. We have been told to pet them separately,  gently pushing the other one away and reinforcing this by saying 'Maddie's turn' etc. This way they both know they will get our undivided attention and Bramble doesn't need to worry. Maddie doesn't care two hoots, but Bramble is very attention seeking and pushes the boundaries whenever she can. However, it is working and life is more peaceful.

[cart1984]

Hi Mark - the older dog has been neutered but the younger dog hasn't yet ... If that's what you mean??

Thanks for the replies all - it's just a shock to the system to see when they have been like best buddies since we got murphy!

[JohnK]

Minnie was 2 when we got Dennis, she used to idolise Danny, who we lost in May 2012. She sort of treated Dennis like a son and they play really well together. They do play fight and if Minnie decidesshe has had enough she gives a certain bark and he backs off. They have both now allowed an older bitch, Rosie to join their "pack". They know they will all get their fair share of cuddles

[cart1984]

Hi all - just a update and wondered if i could get your thoughts.

we just had murphy in for his "operation" with the vets.....

on picking him up the vet ranted that he was a "fear aggressive" dog and went on about them having to put him under before he BIT them.

Now - he is very stand off ish with people he doesnt know anyway and he hasnt been to the vets since he was 11 weeks old (now 11 months)!

If i went into a strange place and they started pinning me down im pretty sure i would react with some "fear" or "agression"

however what do you guys think!

[Homebird]

I don't quite know what to say - our vets always take trouble to get to know the animals and I can't imagine them ranting about a dog being fear aggressive - it sounds to me like a different vet might be a good idea but it depends if there is another practice near you.  Do you know other dog owners and could you get their opinions about the vets?

[Top Barks]

I don't blame your dog at all for being scared in what was a stressful and strange situation, some vets just dont know how to deal with this I'm afraid.

[Roro]

 If you haven't already done this (and I don't doubt that you have), they need to be trained to get along with or, at least, accept each other. If you don't mind, I will teach how to do this in this post.
 Watch them for a while whilst they are together. It could be that the young dog is not always the true culprit. There may well be some occasions in which the older dog will start the fight, for whatever reason.
 Try just scolding them every time you catch either of them behaving aggressively towards the other one and praising them and giving them a few treats every time you catch them behaving in a friendly manner towards one another. This way, they should, eventually, learn that it is better for them to be kind to one another than it is to snarl at or try attack one another.
 As one other user has already said here, it could also be a jealousy issue. Please be sure to give them both a lot of love and attention as well as roughly the same amount of random titbits, if any at all. 
 Best of luck. 

[JohnK]

Roro

I don't know why you keep spouting this rubbish about scolding your dogs, it doesn't work with dogs, just as it doesn't with children.

Please stop giving this negative sort of advice, as some people may try it and make their dogs worse.

[8 Hairy Feet]

Roro

I don't know why you keep spouting this rubbish about scolding your dogs, it doesn't work with dogs, just as it doesn't with children.

Please stop giving this negative sort of advice, as some people may try it and make their dogs worse.

John , I think this is a young lady who has been
watching too much Cesar Milan.
Let's hope she continues to be on CoL
where she can get some insight into
positive training.
steffxxx 

[Helpers and Seekers]

Has having Murphy done eased the situation or is he still being jealous towards your older dog?

If so then always praise them separately as said before and always the dominant dog first...  we as humans automatically go for the weaker one, our reasoning is we do not support bullying, but in the animal kingdom it don't work like that lol.   Your older dog seems happy to be submissive and let Murphy be more dominent...... but ....  if it is a case that Murphy is just freight training your other dog all the time then that is different.

As for you vet OMG    This is why you need to vet your vet, so to speak and go by recommendation if able and I would suggest changing to another vet OR do several visit to your vets for meets with the nurses and the vet again for nothing more than overcoming his apprehension.

We make the problem worse as we only take out animals to the vets when they are ill or need something done and we should take them for random things like once overs with the nurse just to be weighed is a good one and gives our pets good experience and non association with it being for bad things only.

Pets at Home many have their own vet clinics and have scales and the reception/nurses are fab if you explain you are just helping a dog over coming their fears.

I do this a lot when I have nervous and fear aggressive dogs to foster etc these are what I specialise more so in ... for my sins lol

Also always worth being registered with 2 vets and also enquiring when their next open day is as good to see behind the scenes.

Always get your dogs crate trained helps if they ever have to stay at the vets.

Debbie x

[Jan D]

Have sent you a pm 

I live locally to you and have had similar probs with my 2....I can also recommend an excellent vet