balkcalb

Thank you everyone. Needless to say he is inside at night still, I just can't leave him outside. Neither dogs sleep on my bed btw, they have their own doggy couches on the floor beside mine. I have needed them desperately these past few months, they are very clingy to me and vise-versa. My son takes the young 'brat' lol for a run every night after school and I play fetch during the day, he is also daily trained as I show him. Over the past week I have just re-asserted myself to him in a positive way and when he is doing undesirable behaviour I have taken him outside to cool off for 5 then gone out, thrown a ball around for a little bit then brought him back inside, it seems to be working, he hasn't stood over her in the past 2 days. Also I looked at her coat and realized it probably was just a bit of good fun for him to rip it up after he pulled it off her, she didn't have any kind of wounds or marks on her so I'm guessing the ripping happened when her coat was on the ground. There goes a $30 coat. Why oh why are pups so destructive lol that's 1 coat, 2 foam beds, my flyscreen door to mention just a few wrecked things from this crazy but lovable dog :) Thanks again for all the replies of advise and help, I have taken a bit from each of you. Cheers

I've had 5, it was great, a lot to feed and care for though. 2 is good but has disadvantages as i'm discovering with age gap. I guess I would be happy to have 3 at the moment, 2 younger to keep each other company and play with and the Veteran for me alone, our special thing at this time.

It sounds like your male has decided to now become the "man of the house" and your old girl is going to let him take over. If she really was bothered by his behaviour she would pull him into line. Even without a the complication of a family bereavement, sometimes there is a change of leadership in the pack as a youngster matures and the oldie decides to relinquish the position. Part of his posturing may be to try to get her to play and wrestle but if she is ignoring him I would probably continue to let him know it is bad manners but not stress about it too much. Some serious obedience training now would help remind him that you are in fact the pack leader, even if he is now in second place. I have always had alpha bitches who have dominated my boys. My current layed back entire male BC had his aunt and mum to contend with so became bottom of the pack at the time. His aunt passed away and then last year his mum and at 7 years he was completely lost as an only dog. I aquired a little JS entire male puppy last year to keep him company and he has never been assertive at all with the JS, letting him be in charge. The now 14 month old JS did try standing over the BCs head and can appear to be very dominant but taken to a show he submits to every other dog so most of it at home is just trying to see how far he can push the boundaries and see if I react. He also grabs the BCs coat and ears trying to get him to play chasings. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. Overall they are good buddies and I do not see any sign that there will ever be any trouble between them. I have been to blame, he has been allowed inside and slowly dominated my bedroom, it's my fault I have needed both dogs close. The older dog was brought up to be so very well behaved in the house, she just minds her manners. I need to re-affirm my Alpha status here a bit, thanks for the advise from you all. I'm back on track :)

Yes she was and thankyou for your kindness.

I should add, in the past 4 months my hubby passed away. Normally the older dog would have had a go about being boss. Over the past 4 months she seems to have given up bothering with any sign of dominance or assertiveness.

The other behaviour is I know he is pushing her around a bit. She will sit up on the table at the back door till I let her in. She doesn't play with him unless I am outside with them. She has a coat for the winter, she has been outside with him with it on for this past winter with no probs but last week when I left her outside with him when I went to town for 5 hours for the day to do shopping when I got home her coat was off her and all the outside of it is ripped, him pulling it off her I am guessing then playing with it afterwards.

Magic (Ballentine Black Knight) I just entered him for Rising Star's. I couldn't put in his Baby Puppy or Minor Puppy, Group wins as I didn't know a lot about rising stars, but I entered him for his latest win, Junior In Group.

I have a 14mo male who is becoming a little too big for his boots. Since he turned 9mo he started to try and 'step' over my veteran 11yo female (spayed). I told him to stop this behaviour and constantly watch him with her, she spends a lot of time away from him as she is too old to be bothered being pulled around. Over the past month I have watched him actually walk over the top of her when she is laying down and just stand there. When I see him do this I either distract him where possible or just call him off her and say No. Anyone got any advise on how to teach him to calm it down a bit with his testosterone? They get on well together, they don't get into fights or anything, I just know my veteran can't be bothered by him being macho is all.

Yes I made a rod for my own back. He couldn't negotiate the steps to outside from the porch till he was apx 6mo and I couldn't carry him up and down to the grass, so when he was inside I would put him on the porch to do his business. I will try to dedicate time to retrain, thanks for your advise, much appreciated.

When my pup first came home he resided in a crate in my room of a night which had a plastic tray on one half with newspaper and his bedding on the other side. During the day he was confined to my enclosed porch. By the age of apx 6 months he ceased toileting in his crate and during the day he had full access to my backyard but the porch door was always left open so he and my older dog could get there in case of rain and it is there that he chooses to toilet. The door is always open, he has a half acre yard to poo in but still goes up on the porch, he is now over 8mo. I can't close the door because they need access to the porch when I am not home in case the weather turns bad. Both dogs are inside a lot, he never goes in the house. The older dog is 11 and I know it isn't her doing it on the porch. How do I stop him from going there? Any ideas greatly appreciated.