Cattle Dog Pup

[judith]

Hi

i was just wondeing if anyone can help i have a 7 month old pure breed cattle pup and everytime me or my family goes outside he tries to be very dominent over our 4.5 year old cattle female and they get into big fights the last fight they had it was hard to seperate then i am very worried about them as i have 3 children under 3 and i dont want to get rid of him but i might have to does anyone have any advise that could help my situation also he is not desexed would it help if i got him done ???????????????

please help me i love this dog and will not get rid of our female

[Christina77]

When you say , everytime you outside he gets dominant over the 4.5 year old female , do you mean that the female dog is indoors with you and this problem occurs when she goes outside with you ?

Has the pup grown up with the female ? Have you had this problem for a long time or as the male matures ? Is the female desexed ?

Does the male start the fight ? Could he be jealous ?

Just let us know a bit more so that there is a clearer picture of how things are at your place , ie where do both dogs live and sleep , have you recently got the pup ? etc

[Kelpie-i]

The problem here is unfortunately you!

With limited information, allow me to explain what may be happening....

It's quite evident that you've had your female dog for much longer and have not changed the way you interact with her even with the addition of a new dog. Therefore you are treating your female as thought she were top dog ie. perhaps letting her come in more, getting pats first, feeding first etc. If this is the case then you are encouraging the squabbles to occur, unintentionally of course.

It's also quite evident that your new dog feels he should be top dog (and perhaps rightly so) so you need to start recognising that your male dog is probably top dog and therefore should be treated as such. At 7 months he is now coming into sexual maturity and is no longer a pup.

As humans, we always favour the dog we've owned the longest or the weakling etc. In dog's world, this is not the case as only the stronger, more dominant dog should be favoured.

Go with the flow and start patting your male dog first, feed him first etc and I bet you'll start seeing changes in the behaviour.

What you'll also need to do is sharpen up your leadership skills so that your male dog starts to respect you as a leader of the pack. I suggest you start a NILIF program asap with both dogs.

[judith]

HI

sorry for not filling in the full detail we have had the male since he was 16 weeks old and since we got him the female has been outside with him all the time she never comes inside anymore it seems that the fights happen when we go out the back to spend time with the dogs i go out there and play ball with them when i through the ball the male always get it and brings it back the female has become lazy and doesnt want to play anymore so they both sleep outside and eat outside and i do feed the female first and i must not pay attention to the fact that i pat her first as well so now i know how to make him the dominent one what do i do when they do figh i have tried to hose them it doesnt work so i have had to pull them apart by had and when i know who started the fight i go off at them and not the other but i could hardly get them apart the last time i am worried my female has not been hurt bad but she put a hole in his head i am very concurned what do i do i have placed an add in the trading post to sell him as i dont think i can afford my kids getting hurt but any advice would help till then

PS i have put him on a chain run to be safe when the family goes outside only is that ok ?????

[Kelpie-i]

Hi Judith

First things first, do a google search for NILIF and commence following the program with both dogs immediately.

Secondly, get your boy into obedience asap!

Keeping him chained up is not going to solve your problem, in fact it will make it worse as his frustrations become pent up and he will be like an explosion when unchained.

Until you're leadership is sorted out, I suggest that he is fed, patted, given attention etc, first but ONLY if he is made to work for it first. This is where NILIF (Nothing In LIfe Is Free) comes into it.

He is obviously a lot of dog with a lot of attitude who needs a firm owner who is not going to take his rubbish. I strongly suggest regular professional obedience training and upkeep of NILIF to bring him down the pack. Have you thought about doing a dog sport with him ie. agility, flyball etc, something that will burn up that hard wired instinct to work. Some dogs are just not meant to be back yard dogs. They need to work and when not given an outlet, can become quite aggressive and destructive.

Unfortunately, there is no quick miracle fix Judith, if this is what you are looking for. It's a whole lot of hard work and commitment. You were obviously lucky with the female but this is the mistake people make in thinking that all dogs of the same breed will have the same temperament.

Good Luck!

[judith]

thank you for your advice and i am very lucky with our female she loves to please and is very smart she does a lot of tricks and you are right about assuming all breedsa will be the same he is very naughty digging and taking the clothes off the line and chewing everything in site i my self know i dont have the time to do all this with him as i will be having twins on friday so clearly i have made a mistake in getting him in the first place and it is now my job to find him a great home and owner that will love him and have time for him he deserves that much and like i said thank you for your advice andhelp you make sence

Thank you

judith

[Nekhbet]

sounds like a typical working breed puppy to me. His destructive behaviour stems from boredome and since he is a male dog and reaching his 6-8 months tantrum stage you have lost control sheerly through not enforcing obedience.

Try the rescue forum here on DOL, put up a post and which are you are in and someone may be able to take him for you. Good luck with the twins

sounds like a typical working breed puppy to me. His destructive behaviour stems from boredome and since he is a male dog and reaching his 6-8 months tantrum stage you have lost control sheerly through not enforcing obedience.

Try the rescue forum here on DOL, put up a post and which are you are in and someone may be able to take him for you. Good luck with the twins :rofl:

[Rozzie]

I hope if you get someone responding to your Trading Post ad, that you will be honest with them about his 'issues'. Would you sell him to someone with children?

Can your partner take him to obedience?

Get him desexed.

[juice]

hi, i would also post on the rescue site, you could always try cattle dog rescue aswell, but get him desexed , it will calm him a bit. i have a 7 month old cattle pup, so i know where you are comming from, he too trys to be dominant sometimes over one of my dogs, but will still back down when they tell him. i make sure i treat him as the bottom of the pack, but i'm sure one day he will move up.there are lots of people on the rescue forum to help.

[Dol_sam]

What a tough situation, but i hope you find someone who will treasure him and put in the work he needs. Definitely desex though. We all know what testosterone does to teenage human males, so just add sharp teeth and it's a worry. Unless you planned on showing or breeding with him i see no need to maintain an entire male if you're concerned he might be influenced by his boy's bits!

Good luck!