I had an eventful morning yesterday as I found a black lab x staffie running on the road in the traffic when I was walking the Pig. Luckily I had my long training line with me as well as the pig's short lead so I walked her home (with difficulty, she pulled like a train). I had to have the dog in my house for a few hours whilst I tracked the owner down (and was ridiculously late for work as a result!). She was a dog called Callie that I recognised because the pig had played with her a couple of times, but I didn't know who the owners were. Anyway, the pig was just dreadful with her. She wouldn't leave her alone, just trying to play, barging her, chasing her about, putting her paws on her and nibbling her ears. When poor Callie kept trying to get away the Pig was barking with frustration at her. We never have dog visitors to our house so it came as a surprise to me that she was so bad, as she is quite submissive at daycare and very sensitive to other dogs body language. I kept separating them to give Callie a break, and I could do some basic sit stays and go to beds with both of them for treats without any play-fighting, but as soon as the treats were put away Indie was back to being completely overbearing and bullying. I was wondering what is the best thing to do in future situations like that? There was no aggression, just the Pig being too physical and overexcited. Should I just wait for the other dog to give a stronger signal to the Pig that she should back off? I suspect that if I had left it, Callie would have growled or snapped at the Pig and I would hope that she would back off. In fact, they both got kongs in separate rooms and when the Pig approached Callie's Kong Callie growled and the Pig froze and wagged her tail apologetically. We have a few friends with dogs who I would love to visit in our house (including my parents' rescue Great Dane but that is another story!), so for the future, as long as there is no evidence of one dog completely ignoring escalating warnings, is it best to let them just work it out? My worry is that the Pig just won't stop and then get herself bitten I have absolutely no experience of more than one dog in a home setting, so just want to know what is normal?
Hi Lara, You might find this article of interest: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/bullying-dog/ It gives some options for dealing with over-friendly and pushy behaviour. Hope it's helpful!
I wouldn't just leave them to sort it out. If you have a garden, I'd consider letting the two dogs into the garden when you first let them into the house - then there are other things to distract them and they can play and have space to get away from each other. Then, when you bring them into the house, tell them to go to their beds and reward them regularly for staying there. If they get up, send them back to bed again. You can teach Indie that outside is for playing and inside is for relaxing. You could put a lead on Indie and have her near you and even stand on the lead so she can't move very far. But it depends on the dog - I wouldn't do this with Lucky because he has problems with frustration on the lead. In this case you could consider a physical barrier. I also wouldn't give them food or toys unless separated somehow, or you're there to make sure they stay away from each other. Here's a really interesting article by Barbara Smuts, a researcher who studies dog behaviour. For me, the take home message is how much you let the dogs get on with it by themselves depends on their history of interacting with each other, and is a difficult judgment call! https://thebark.com/content/dogs-use-non-aggressive-fighting-resolve-conflicts
