Fighting

[TiffMc]

I have a 5 year old Chihuahua, Ebony, and up until a few years ago, I also had a Maltese. They were really good friends and got a long really well.. however the Maltese passed away a few years ago and ever since, Ebony has seemed very lonely. So my parents got me a Lhasa Apso puppy, Oscar, for my birthday. He is now 4 months old and we have had him for about 2 months. They both seem to get along a lot of the time.. but they fight quite a bit. It's hard to tell if it's serious or if they are just playing. They do play together a lot but sometimes they seem to get very aggressive.. especially Ebony. If Oscar comes near her when she is chewing on a bone etc, she will growl and lash out at him and he yelps so I assume they aren't just playing. She's never seriously hurt him, just a nip here and there. I think the problem is he wants to play all the time and he won't leave her alone. Everywhere she goes, he goes. If she has a drink, he will have a drink etc. I also wonder if it could be jealousy on Ebony's behalf.

She also doesn't seem to be eating as much. Oscar is a little pig and he will try and take food out of her mouth. We've tried separating them.. but Ebony just won't eat (as long as we are around, anyway). She isn't losing weight or anything, I just worry that she might not be eating enough. She's very fussy when it comes to food.

Anyway, thank you for reading and any help or advice would be much appreciated!

Tiff.

[huski]

Re: Ebony growling at Oscar over the bone, she is doing this because she is the older dog and is warning Oscar to get away from her possession (the bone). Being the older dog in the household she is placed higher in the pack than Oscar. If he is approaching her when she is chewing on her bone, she may be seeing this as a challenge i.e. he is trying to take away her position in the pack.

If you can, try reading Cesar Millan's book "Cesar's Way" or any of the other dog behaviour books recommended here at DOL.

[sas]

That don't seem to be well matched dogs in terms of energy levels.

The older dog will repremand annoying behaviours from this younger dog and it will continue until the younger dog learns some manners.

[haven]

Re: Ebony growling at Oscar over the bone, she is doing this because she is the older dog and is warning Oscar to get away from her possession (the bone). Being the older dog in the household she is placed higher in the pack than Oscar. If he is approaching her when she is chewing on her bone, she may be seeing this as a challenge i.e. he is trying to take away her position in the pack.

If you can, try reading Cesar Millan's book "Cesar's Way" or any of the other dog behaviour books recommended here at DOL.

Food aggression is not always reliant on pack status, dogs are much like humans in the respect that 'possession is nine tenths of the law.' Lower ranking members and even pups can and do successfully guard resources like food.

[cavNrott]

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Edited May 29, 2009 by cavNrott

[TiffMc]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I will try to track down that book.