Bailey Is So Nasty

[Dane Chick]

Ok, Bailey and Malcom are out of the same litter, but they were raised apart, due to Mally needing to be bottle fed.

Every time I tried to put him back into the litter, his body temp would rapidly drop, so back in front of the heater and back onto the bottle he would go.

Now at 11 weeks, Mally and Bailey are the only ones left here, as we are keeping both.

Our problem is that Bailey is such a dominant bitch that at feeding time, I have to literally stand between their bowls, as Bailey guts' hers down, then tries to bash Mally for his dinner too. This isn't too big an issue, as I'm in the puppy pen with them, so I can stop her from eating his meal on him.

The problem is when I leave them in the puppy pen so I can feed the adults. Bailey waits until I have put the dinner bowls down for the adults, gets pissed off that she's locked away and can't help them eat theirs, so she then turn around to go find Mally in the pen, to bash him up instead.

Yesterday she bit a small hole in his head, now he's on anti~biotics to make sure there it's not going to get infected, and tonight she pierced his ear.

Is this dominance because Mally is the runt of the litter, and Bailey was one of the biggest (She's nearly double his size now), or is it because I waited so long to re~introduce him back to the litter?

It's not only dinner time that she bashes him. If he's standing or sitting where she wants to be, she bashes him then too, to make him move out of her way.

Dinner time is just when she bashes him to cause injury, as she is aware that I can't help him when I'm feeding the adults, because if left unattended whilst eating, they swap bowls, and then fight if some one finishes before the other.

Any one got any ideas on how to stop Bailey bashing Malcom up?

She's just so nasty to him at the moment. :cool:

[Rusky]

feed one inside the pen and one outside the pen. The runt is being bullied.

[Dane Chick]

Can't because the adults are standing outside the pen.

I guess at worst, I can feed Malcom in the Laundry, and leave him there until the adults are finished eating.

But that doesn't stop her from bashing him in the yard during the day. :cool:

Bailey is just such a little Turd Burger. :D

[Rusky]

Is malcolm going to a new home at all? could you find him a pet home?

I feel for you this is very difficult, if the situation is not sorted soon then malcolm will be fearful and that spells trouble.

I don't know anything about sibling litters. I just don't want the small pup beaten up anymore than you do which is why I suggested separation. If the beatings are happening in the yard it is time for you to do some training with them both, separately and together. How will you manage 4 huge dogs? Do you live in a castle :cool:

Have you taken them to puppy class? dane puppy class maybe?

[sidoney]

I'd be separating them overall unless you are supervising. Being bullied won't help him. Stop her when she does it - suggest by removing her and penning her.

What is the girl like with older dogs?

BTW using language like "nasty" and "turd burger" is making judgements based on human interaction behaviours and motivations. Dogs don't operate under the same rules. She is simply being a dog - a successful dog. It's your responsibility to prevent problems and teach her the way you would like her to interact, by allowing desired interactions and removing her when she interacts in an undesired way.

Edited April 26, 2006 by sidoney

[Dane Chick]

Bailey is fine with the adults, and the only time the adults fight is when left unsupervised to eat (which happens so rarely it's really not worth mentioning), so I know it's not behaviour being learnt off them.

I have tried locking Mally in the puppy pen, but he then spends the day screaming to get out. I think Mally's problem also comes from believing that he is a human, not a dog, as this is the way we raised him, at the time not realising it as we do now!!!!

Mally is learning just to stay out of Baileys way during the day, but I would prefer that she loose some of her dominance, so she will be able to interact with other dogs at shows etc... without feeling the need to be boss.

I guess I need to know how to nip this severe dominance in the bud, before she is a 60 something kilo dog agressive beast.

I can and will teach her basic manners like drop, stay, sit etc.

Hopefully this will help.

[sidoney]

I more asked what the girl was like with the adults to see if it was just behaviour directed at the smaller one or if it was more generalised. What are the adults like with the pups? The girl maintaining regular interaction with the adults (in addition to training) will help to remind her that she's not top dog. The boy would also benefit from regular contact with adult dogs, training and being treated like a dog. It's possible that his dog/dog language needs refining if he's spent a lot of time interacting with humans and this might be a part of the reason the girl attacks him.

It would be a good idea for both of them to be neutralised to all different kinds of dogs - look up the "socialisation and neutralisation" thread on the training forum. It's here.

[Dane Chick]

I bred the 2 adults as well Sidoney, and they were never anything like Bailey.

Dominance is something i've never had a problem with. I stop it before it gets to this stage, but Bailey just seems to have more determination than her mother and uncle ever did.

Thanks for the link, I'll look at it now. :cool:

[Dane Chick]

Ok. I've solved the imediate problem. I now feed Mally in the laundry so Bailey wont attempt murder.

Now I only need to catch her as she's attacking him in the yard, It's not happening as frequently now.

Progress, in small steps???

[haven]

I think it is important at this stage to ask how you react when Bailey beats up on Malcom as your reaction could have a very strong affect on this behaviour and not necessarily in a good way. For example, if you were to scold Bailey and cuddle Mally you are far more likely to cause Bailey to try and assert herself over Malcom more often and possibly with more intensity. The term dominance is sadly very misunderstood. The term 'dominant' is simply based on the predicted outcome of an altercation between two or more (dogs, humans etc). The purpose of a dominance hierarchy is to avoid altercations rather than induce them. The sitiation you derscribe suggests to me that its possible your heirarchy is unballanced, hence Baileys need to constantly assert herself.

Aside from that I tend to agree with Rusky, I think consideration of finding one of the two a new home for the benefit of both would be wise.

[Dane Chick]

I can see what your saying about dominance Haven.

Bailey tends to draw blood when she attacks Mally. So after I tell her off, I generally pick Mally up to check where he's bleeding and how bad. Also checking to see if it's a surface wound that I can patch up, or one that requires Vet attention.

She's getting better with him now. Not attacking him as much.

I have started feeding them their dinner seperately, with him in the Laundry and her in the puppy pen, and they now no longer sleep together, as these are the times when she's at her worst.