Sled dog breeding

[SternRose]

2 dogs in the same house are a pack, a small one, but still a pack. The more dogs in the pack, the more training all of them is essential. They all have different personalities and there will be squabbles. So training the dogs is a must. When a squabble breaks out you have to be able to handle it. Training them, does 2 things, it teaches the dogs you are the leader, and it starts building a bond of confidence in your leadership, which makes the situation a lot easier to deal with. If a dog loses faith in you, such as how Fiona has lost all faith in my husband, then you have a serious problem. Fiona will do what she feels she needs to to defend herself, she doesn't trust that my husband can keep her safe anymore.

My husband is 6'3" and very strong, he lifts Fiona into the truck for car rides so there is no chance of her slipping and injuring her hips because of how fat she is. I am 5'5" and weight 135 pounds, and have metal rods holding my spins together. I can't lift Fiona or force her to do anything, she weighs 97.8 pounds. But, even though he can physically control her thought strength, I get better results. Why? Because I train her, she knows what i expect of her, and I have done a good job keeping her safe. She trusts me, so even though she could overpower me if she wanted, she has no desire to. She is a Rott, bred to protect, strong willed, and is 100% devoted to and willing to die for her handler. Unlike most Rotts Fiona has an easy going laid back attitude, she loves everybody. How my husband screwed up with such a great dog is beyond me, but he did. And honestly, at this point, he don't deserve a dog like her.

I know why my pack is all screwed up. 2 things
1: I was training a intact male puppy 2yrs ago in our house for 4weeks. And he caused all the fights,
2: my brother took his dog who was leader for a year then now she's back so my dads dog was leader now she's been challenged, that caused alot of fights, now there's no leader cuz we need a male dog to fix the leader problem. The male would be neutered. We don't want preg girls. But the male will come in 6m-1yr

 

[Starfire669]

I know why my pack is all screwed up. 2 things
1: I was training a intact male puppy 2yrs ago in our house for 4weeks. And he caused all the fights,
2: my brother took his dog who was leader for a year then now she's back so my dads dog was leader now she's been challenged, that caused alot of fights, now there's no leader cuz we need a male dog to fix the leader problem. The male would be neutered. We don't want preg girls. But the male will come in 6m-1yr

Bringing in a new dog will not fix the problems, it will make them worse. And 2 females fighting is deadlier than 2 males. Males mostly fight the worst when females in season are nearby. Females fight to the death for dominance. I have been looking it up the past few days since Dawn went crazy. You need to close you pack and help establish an order among them before bringing in any new dogs. A female that is threatened could kill the new dog by perceiving it as a threat to her dominance and she will eliminate the threat. I can not stress enough how much more dangerous 2 females fighting are. After all my research, and asking questions of professions trainers, breeders, etc. I have closed my pack, Fiona will keep meeting potential adopters until we find her a match, but no new dogs will come into my house until my pack is stable again. The danger is very real, you would be devastated if you brought in a new dog and it was killed. So avoid the whole situation, train with each dog you do have individually, then once they obey try training them 2 at a time, then 3, until you can get the pack to obey. It won't be easy, it will take a long time. And you must use your judgement on when to put the 2 fighting females together, it may never happen. Once females lock into a war with another female, the only solution is complete separation or the death of 1 of them.

 

[SternRose]

We don't keenel our dogs. They only fight when one dog starts playing with nala and they start raising hackels and start play growling. Then Lacey my dads lab mix comes over and "dominates" Cheney a huge 100+ grey hound/ Shepard mix. But Chevys like Fiona, she doesn't give a crapper what Lacey things. And when they fight its a intense fight that both come out bloody, and Lacey gets her butt kicked. The fight usually last 5minutes cuz the dogs are old, over 6yrs old. And ones crippled. It's not to the death and no one needs stitches but we've got 5kittens and 4-5 dogs into our house. We fosters the kittens, and one dog the male I trained, would fight with nala so Lacey would protect her from him and any other dog now but, they sometimes fight. A few months ago I came home to hear that nala, Lacey and Chevy got into a blood battle, nala had 10 k-9 wounds, Chevy had a chunk out of her ear, and Lacey's legs were bloody. But everyone got a bath anti biotics on there wounds, and healed 1week latter.. My brother stitched them up, I dressed there wounds and gave them baby aspirin. Everyone got soft food and warm water, on a pile of 5 blankets each. Worst fight ever. Now everyone's better, they sleep by each other, play to get her, but I think here in the next 2-3 years were gunna have to put Lacey down. Her hip pains are getting worse, we give her baby aspirin and took her to the vet but nothing's helping.

 

[Starfire669]

It seems to me that you are in a similar situation as I am. You know enough to get into trouble. Just because I can train individual dogs, and have had 2 dog packs before did not prepare me for having a 6 dog pack. Each dog has a personality, and has to learn to live and work with the others in harmony. And just like humans, dogs can dislike another dog for no apparent reason. Unfortunately, the dogs have no choice in the matter, the owner decides which dogs to bring in, and if the worst happens and the dogs fight, the dogs are blamed. It is entirely the owners fault, but they blame the dogs for their mistakes.

I'd suggest going to a professional trainer with your worst dog. My trainer is great, he has 2 packs, Boston's and Bouvier's, totaling 18 dogs. Some are rescues he is fostering, some are his. He is going to help me better manage my pack.

 

[Starfire669]

We don't keenel our dogs. They only fight when one dog starts playing with nala and they start raising hackels and start play growling. Then Lacey my dads lab mix comes over and "dominates" Cheney a huge 100+ grey hound/ Shepard mix. But Chevys like Fiona, she doesn't give a crapper what Lacey things. And when they fight its a intense fight that both come out bloody, and Lacey gets her butt kicked. The fight usually last 5minutes cuz the dogs are old, over 6yrs old. And ones crippled. It's not to the death and no one needs stitches but we've got 5kittens and 4-5 dogs into our house. We fosters the kittens, and one dog the male I trained, would fight with nala so Lacey would protect her from him and any other dog now but, they sometimes fight. A few months ago I came home to hear that nala, Lacey and Chevy got into a blood battle, nala had 10 k-9 wounds, Chevy had a chunk out of her ear, and Lacey's legs were bloody. But everyone got a bath anti biotics on there wounds, and healed 1week latter.. My brother stitched them up, I dressed there wounds and gave them baby aspirin. Everyone got soft food and warm water, on a pile of 5 blankets each. Worst fight ever. Now everyone's better, they sleep by each other, play to get her, but I think here in the next 2-3 years were gunna have to put Lacey down. Her hip pains are getting worse, we give her baby aspirin and took her to the vet but nothing's helping.

If you don't get a handle on the fights one day you will end up with a dead dog. That's all I'm going to say on that.

Aspirin should only be given to dogs for short periods, it makes joint issues worse and should never be given to dogs with clotting disorders.

 

[Americano Blue]

2 dogs in the same house are a pack, a small one, but still a pack. The more dogs in the pack, the more training all of them is essential. They all have different personalities and there will be squabbles. So training the dogs is a must. When a squabble breaks out you have to be able to handle it. Training them, does 2 things, it teaches the dogs you are the leader, and it starts building a bond of confidence in your leadership, which makes the situation a lot easier to deal with. If a dog loses faith in you, such as how Fiona has lost all faith in my husband, then you have a serious problem. Fiona will do what she feels she needs to to defend herself, she doesn't trust that my husband can keep her safe anymore.

My husband is 6'3" and very strong, he lifts Fiona into the truck for car rides so there is no chance of her slipping and injuring her hips because of how fat she is. I am 5'5" and weight 135 pounds, and have metal rods holding my spins together. I can't lift Fiona or force her to do anything, she weighs 97.8 pounds. But, even though he can physically control her thought strength, I get better results. Why? Because I train her, she knows what i expect of her, and I have done a good job keeping her safe. She trusts me, so even though she could overpower me if she wanted, she has no desire to. She is a Rott, bred to protect, strong willed, and is 100% devoted to and willing to die for her handler. Unlike most Rotts Fiona has an easy going laid back attitude, she loves everybody. How my husband screwed up with such a great dog is beyond me, but he did. And honestly, at this point, he don't deserve a dog like her.

I love Rotts! I agree, your husband ruined a good dog, and no he doesn't deserve her.

 

[Americano Blue]

I know why my pack is all screwed up. 2 things
1: I was training a intact male puppy 2yrs ago in our house for 4weeks. And he caused all the fights,
2: my brother took his dog who was leader for a year then now she's back so my dads dog was leader now she's been challenged, that caused alot of fights, now there's no leader cuz we need a male dog to fix the leader problem. The male would be neutered. We don't want preg girls. But the male will come in 6m-1yr

human should be the alpha male.

 

[Americano Blue]

Bringing in a new dog will not fix the problems, it will make them worse. And 2 females fighting is deadlier than 2 males. Males mostly fight the worst when females in season are nearby. Females fight to the death for dominance. I have been looking it up the past few days since Dawn went crazy. You need to close you pack and help establish an order among them before bringing in any new dogs. A female that is threatened could kill the new dog by perceiving it as a threat to her dominance and she will eliminate the threat. I can not stress enough how much more dangerous 2 females fighting are. After all my research, and asking questions of professions trainers, breeders, etc. I have closed my pack, Fiona will keep meeting potential adopters until we find her a match, but no new dogs will come into my house until my pack is stable again. The danger is very real, you would be devastated if you brought in a new dog and it was killed. So avoid the whole situation, train with each dog you do have individually, then once they obey try training them 2 at a time, then 3, until you can get the pack to obey. It won't be easy, it will take a long time. And you must use your judgement on when to put the 2 fighting females together, it may never happen. Once females lock into a war with another female, the only solution is complete separation or the death of 1 of them.

my females have never had a fight that wasn't playing. I have 3 females and 1 male. the male is extremely submissive so he doesn't fight. and all my girls get along

 

[alldembirds]

Its so easy to train a dog I dont understand why so many people have issues. one of my dogs is deaf and my friends joke it listens better than there dogs. I have 3 pitbulls and 2 chihuahuas all girls and never a fight. I am the leader here . A rott would be adorable too! Next dog for me is an english bulldog though.. wife wants an irish wolfhound for the property. I would like to train my girls to pull weight..

 

[Starfire669]

Its so easy to train a dog I dont understand why so many people have issues. one of my dogs is deaf and my friends joke it listens better than there dogs.  I have 3 pitbulls and 2 chihuahuas all girls and never a fight. I am the leader here . A rott would be adorable too! Next dog for me is an english bulldog though.. wife wants an irish wolfhound for the property.  I would like to train my girls to pull weight.. 

My problem is 2 fold. I have a alpha b**ch in heat turning 2, which is when the majority of their hormones kick in. The second problem is my hubby not knowing crap about dogs. I made some mistakes, like mixing a Rott with Siberians. But my hubby completely mishandles the rott and NEVER hit a dog, especially not when it's already in fight mode. If he had landed that hit on her she could have turned her aggression on him. Very dumb thing to do. I was already re-homing Fiona for her sake, but now more than ever I need to get her away from my incompitant husband. The majority of the fights happen on his watch. Unfortunately it has happened so much it's now a habit for Dawn to attack, and Fiona has had it with her. I have too. I'd much prefer to keep Fiona and get rid of Dawn. But hubby can't be trusted with Fiona, he is just too clueless about the breed. Also Dawn is in no danger from my hubby, he spoils her rotten, which does make her issue worse.

Before I started taking some of the dogs to agility and conformation classes, we had little to no problems. Now that I'm gone more, the issues have started and escalated at a frightening rate. It's from my husbands incompetence. I need to train him.