New puppy and now dog fights. Help!

[bock]

Hi, everyone. As some of you may have seen, we found a puppy on the side of the road on 1/15. We have since located her owner, but only to find out she doesn't want her. She said we could keep her, or she would ind her a new home. She is 6 months old and an Argentine Dogo/Jagdterrier mix. So, basically a large game hunting dog. I originally thought german wirehaired pointer/pit bull...boy was I off!!

Anyway, we also have a 7 year old chihuahua mix and a 11 year old yellow lab mix. At times, they get along like angels, other times they want to kill each other. Last week, our chihuahua bit her on the face in the kitchen over a piece of food on the floor. They ended up fighting, and we had to pull them apart. Just today, they were all following me around the kitchen while I was making eggs. I admit, I used to throw Sugar and Sabrina a few pieces before we got Ellie. I was going to put up the spatula and move them to the other room when I saw Ellie (puppy) growl at Sugar (lab). I yelled HEY, and in a moment Sugar was biting her face. Soon Sabrina joined in and we had to pull them all apart. Keep in mind, Sugar is an extremely submissive dog, and I never believed she would actually attack another dog. Also, Ellie likes to lick Sugar and jump all over her when she is trying to sleep. She is starting to growl at her, just to tell her to back off, which I think is fine. Sabrina will NOT tolerate any type of play or too much sniffing.

I HATE it when they fight, and I hate worrying about it. Sugar and Sabrina haven't gotten in 1 fight in the 7 years that they have been together. Is there a way to fix this, or should we return her home before she becomes too much a part of the family? They need to be able to stay together peacefully when we aren't home, but I don't know if it's possible. Would getting Ellie spayed help? We don't want to set an appointment before we know if we can keep her or not. Help please!

 

[thebanthams]

Thats hard ! They are jealous of the puppy, I am not an expert on how to keep them from fighting. but I dont put food on floor anymore unless they are seperated. ( my dogs fight over food or treats)

 

[Kaitie09]

Definitely not jealous, it seems like dog-on-dog resource guarding that is escalating quickly. I have a lab that is a resource guarder. There are certain levels of value with toys and food, food being the highest value. My advise would be to stop giving them people food, and separate them at feeding time. My family has gotten very good at making sure there is no food left unattended. We also make sure when we are eating that the dogs do not get near the table, because my resource guarder will stare down another animal until they either back off, or she snaps at them. The dogs do not get treats or toys with-ought being separated in different rooms either. You can probably speak with a trainer and see if it can be corrected, but I ended up using the prevention method and avoid all triggers. If you do not feel you can deal with this, it may be better to find her a home with no other animals (my dog will snap at the cats if they get too close too). Mine can sit side by side to get a treat, and will gladly share a spoon with peanut butter on it, but that is because I am the one feeding it to them. If no one is in physical control of the food or treat, my lab will growl and snap at any other animal that gets near it.

Side note: my resource guarder was also a stray that had to survive on her own for quite a while with a litter of 8 puppies on top of that.

 

[xchairity_casex]

defff resorce guarding-i have a female pup who is now 7 months old and a male who is 2 years old, at 8 weeks old my female was ready and more then willing to KILL my 2 year old (who weighes 65 pounds while she NOW weighs only 30)

i WILL NOT advise you to do what i have done, because im a proffessional, and without a professional to observe your dogs reaction second by second it would be unsafe for you to do what i do.

instead, keep all food up, donot feed them together and do not toss them scraps.
while your in the kitchen cooking, MAKE each dog leave-NO DOG should be allowed in the kitchen while your preping food EVER!
you can teach them to stay out of the kitchen by useing a squirt bottle of water and saying "out" creating an invisible line they cannot cross, not a single paw, not a single tail can cross that invisible barrier.

this will give NO ONE a reason to guard anything or to be on guard period.

secondly- NO BEGGING FOR FOOD! never allow ANY dog to beg for food-they are becoming encreasingly excited each second they stare at you eating your dinner, the second a bit falls everyone is so hyped up and tense it causes a fight. STOP THE EXCITMENT and anticipation by enforcing that space be given to you and all family mebers while they eat-including other pets such as cats.

again if ned be use a squirt bottle of water everytime they stare at you and beg or get too close.

 

[Eggsoteric]

First, is the new pup spayed? If not, I'd have her spayed asap. We currently have 7 dogs (5 females and 2 males), we also do a fair bit of fostering. Whenever we get a new foster in, slow introductions are made. By this, I mean I don't allow any interactions other than the foster and resident dogs being able to see and hear one another, however, no other interactions are made until I feel the pack has settled enough to allow the foster to mingle (while leashed) with the resident dogs; initially, our fosters are absolutely not allowed the same privileges as our resident dogs (those privileges are something they need to earn with us as well as the existing pack).

All our dogs are fed at separate feeding stations (they all know where their stations are and they all know they're not to infringe on each others "feeding space"). While they do get treats, their treats are small enough for them to finish in just a few bites - I do not allow high value items such as bully sticks or RMBs unless they're placed in separate areas and supervised. I agree with the previous poster - our dogs are not allowed in the kitchen nor by the dining room table (I'm not fond of mooching dogs and we have several dogs that are large enough to counter surf).

For what it's worth, I think you've given Ellie too many privileges too soon. While it's fine that Sugar corrects Ellie, I do think you also need to step in and make it clear to Ellie (by removing her) that her behavior is not acceptable. Can you keep Ellie leashed (and tethered to you if possible) for a period of time? Good luck.

 

[nzpouter]

6 months old and showing aggro with you around? There is something not right with your management... first of all a newcomer (especially puppy) is always bottom of the rank.

 

[Fly 2006]

I would say if you would rather keep the pup than rehome her then you will have to change the way things work in your house, it seems from what you say that food is the real issue, unfortunately although things worked with your two original dogs, now it will have to be either no tit bits or teaching not to scrounge, my dog has tit bits but she knows not to sit and watch me, if she forgets herself sometimes I just say "away" and she goes off and lies down, it is obviously much more difficult if you have more than one dog and the dogs are competing for the food, you may have to change things altogether and ban tit bits, you could try giving them in a controlled way rather than just throwing them, that is going to cause problems! Get them all to sit nicely and take a treat gently from your fingers ( no snatching!) Teach them the word "enough" that means no more food, everyone relax theres nothing to compete for! Unless your pup is going to be a particularly greedy or bossy dog then you should be able to sort them out, also remember pups are very greedy, they don't always stay that way especially if you teach them some manners and they know they will be treated fairly and they don't need to fight for their food! Good luck X

 

[bock]

Thank you so much. I agree that she should be leashed or in a crate at all times while inside, but my dad thinks I am paranoid and causing more issues in the long run. I'm not sure where that idea came from.

We have her leashed right now, and she is sleeping nicely by Sugar. I do not let her jump all over Sugar, but other family members don't think it is a big deal. Today I put Ellie out while I was eating and had Sugar and Sabrina lay down. After they are used to that, then we can hopefully teach Ellie the same.

I guess I didn't make it very clear, but the first time, Sabrina started the fight. The second time Ellie growled, but Sugar actually went for her. Her previous owners said that she used to live with 4 other dogs, so she might be used to fighting. She is otherwise a very sweet, smart girl. Edited to add, she is not spayed yet, but certainly will be if she stays.

 

[Fentressfarmer]

I wish you the best of luck on new dog introductions I know it can be hard. When we got our little Bonnie she was 8 weeks old and our other two dogs were 9 years old and had gotten use to having Daddy all to themselves! By the way they are all blue heelers, to this day almost 4 years later we still have to feed everybody on separate sides of the house to avoid dog fights. Like everyone else says small treats and no table food for the dogs, the chickens like scraps way to much and they don't fight near as badly. Lol. I know it took almost 3 months before we could leave the new dog with the old ones without worrying so just be patient and they will all learn to get along. Best wishes!!!

 

[fowl farm]

Keep in mind that if Ellie came from a home where she was only dog or abused, she might have had to fight for or protect her food and that Sugar and Sabrina aren't used to rowdy disrespectful puppies. Make sure all dogs realize the food is yours, even they're eating it. You might have to feed meals apart, but you could work on it by feeding Ellie with one other dog at a time. Be careful with scraps, only feed you have complete control. Maybe try something like this; Feed Sugar or Sabrina (not together at first). Have Ellie in room on leash for extra control. Keep yourself between the two dogs, but let them see each other. If Ellie goes for food, grab her by the muzzle and push towards her tail with an "Eehh ehh" or "No". Nothing loud, as that excites. Then switch out. Feed Ellie and Correct Sugar/Sabrina. Make sure you correct the dog that is eating if they try to protect their food. They have to trust you to keep it safe, too. Good luck!