My brother-in-law has two working cocker spaniels. They are father and son and aged around 5 and 3 respectively. As the son has matured they have started to show some aggression towards each other - this is most often seen by walking besides each other growling and some baring of teeth but can also be seen at feeding times when it becomes face to face snarling. I'm afraid that BIL is very old school in his dog training views (I wouldn't be surprised if he humped them and p***ed in their beds!!). His idea for resolution seems to be to encourage the older dog to (you know what's coming don't you?!) show the younger dog "who is boss". I'd be grateful for some suggestions as to how this might be resolved without the whole 'dominance' approach. I do appreciate that seeing a behaviourist would be a perfectly sensible approach but there is no way that he would ever consider that so I'm looking for DIY approaches that I can pitch to him. Edit to add: both dogs are entire.
For a start - feed them in separate rooms!!! This sounds like it is working up to a serious fight, to me.
It's difficult when it's someone close to you isn't it! With the meal times, I had this problem with Harley and my old foster dog, Spero. I ended up having to feed them in different rooms with me in between the two rooms. Over a period of several weeks we brought the bowls closer (as long as there wasn't any growling etc) until they were about 3ft away from each other. I also gave them treats at the same time. They started off with small treats the minute they sat near each other, ignoring each other. I then started training them side by side with things such as 'down, paw, high five' and they soon realised they got rewarded for doing things together. Apart from that I really don't have any other suggestions. I hope your BIL takes on some of the advice you give him.
I had two Cavalier spaniels, one food guarded, I always fed one in the crate and one out. It's easy. ...
Difficult when you are dealing with 'old school' I would take the approach Naya suggests but it is a slow process and I wonder if you BIL would be willing to do this, probably not but it's worth suggesting. When Charlie came to us you would have thought he had never seen a decent meal before or treats which he probably hadn't , he sometimes got a little rough with Hattie but with Naya's approach that never happens now, Hattie & Charlie can even eat raw bones side by side without any issues at all but it takes time. Charlie always finishes first and leaves Hattie alone. Good luck UncleBob it sounds like you are going to need it.xx
When Shadow first came home, we had some guarding issues at meal time, and so I just made sure they had plenty of space to eat without feeling pressured. It resolved very quickly and now they can eat side by side. However, it doesn't sound like meal times are the only issue, so fixing that (which should be easy) might not cure any "everyday" tensions. Still, it's as good a place as any to start.
Cooper and Tilly do a lot of play fighting. It is obviously play, but sometimes Tilly would just as soon not engage. Someone who did not know them might think it was a real fight, because of the bared teeth, but they seldom ever make any contact, and either one will just stop some and the game is over. Often one of them will pick up a toy and try to get the other to get the other to tug, or just quit biting. Years ago we had another family sharing our ski cabin. They had a Damnation named Lilly, and she and Ginger actively disliked each other. I think they snapped at each other a few times, but mostly they would lie down in opposite corners of the room and face away from each other. They kept up an armed truce for a couple of ski seasons.
Such a difficult situation. Since I have no more than 6 weeks experience of a 2 dog household, I don't feel I have a lot to offer....sorry. I make sure that there is no need to resource guard. There is always 2 of everything. I go out of my way to make sure if one dog gets something, the other dog also gets the same thing. I'm doubling up on a lot! Betsy gets a new teddy, Charlie gets a new teddy. Betsy gets a treat for having a wee, Charlie also gets a treat (treats are flying around here, fish4dogs are making a fortune out of me....) they do not approach each other's food bowls (but are fed together - Charlie is so unlikely to resource guard anything, that was a tiny risk and we soon taught Betsy that she didn't touch Charlie's bowl simply by dropping treats in her bowl when Charlie was still eating). 2 mats, 2 beds - everywhere, and more treats for using your own bed. One dog left with a tasty kong when the other dog gets a walk. OH and I cuddle a dog each...and so on. Apart from Charlie finishing Betsy's kongs when she gives up, which has just taught her not to give up and to only leave them when they are empty, I've had no problems.... I suspect it's about being sensitive to the dogs. Not something the person in question seems likely to do....
Thanks for the feedback. To his credit BIL has tried feeding them separately and this seems to help (at least at meal times). As Julie suggests, it may be a case of making sure he doubles-up on everything.
I do wonder if the dogs being related is an additional factor - I say this just because I saw a mother and daughter fight once (really fight, there was no play in the fight) and more experienced people than me commented that it wasn't unusual for mothers/daughters to fight. Plus met a pet owner recently having an awful trouble having kept a daughter from her bitch's litter... Edited to add: although this seems more unlikely father/son - given that Dad presumably had nothing to do with the puppies while young....
When bitches fight its a lot worse than males. they mean it they really do ive know people who have had to rehome a younger female when she and the older bitches fell out. Female to female aggression in the same household is very difficult to tackle.
