Suprman Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 Well, Maisie is almost (1) year now. She's been great. She loves playing frisbee and tug-o-war. One great thing about her is that can keep herself busy when my wife and I can not play with her. We've been thinking about getting another BC as another companion for us and a play-mate for Maisie. She loves playing with other dogs... chasing (herding) them and being chased. Well, we found a stray 2-3 year old BC male at a shelter about 2.5 hrs away. After talking to the shelter we thought it would be a great match for Maisie. She's very shy around new people and won't let anyone pet her until she's ready... which can take quite a long time. This BC male was very friendly, and would come up to you right away. He hoped Maisie would 'learn' from him... learn that she doesn't need to be so cautious around new people. The only time Maisie will let a stranger pet her is when that person is petting another dog. She thinks she's the only dog that should get any attention. She'll squeeze between the dog and the person she normally wouldn't get within arms distance from. Anyways, back to the male. Maisie, my wife and I drove out (I did all the driving btw) to visit this male (and to hopefully take him home with us). Once we got there Maisie stayed in the car (out of sight) as we met the male to see how he was. He was very friendly and very happy to get out of the kennel. He loved being pet and loved to run around with a tennis ball. (The shelter had (2) 50' x 20' x 10' high fenced in pens side-by-side.) We decided to take Maisie over to the other pen to have them get a little familiar with each other. They sniffed noses some, but Maisie was more concerned with 'mommy' who was in the other pen. After a few minutes we decided to see how they'd do in the same pen on leaches. Well, as soon as we entered the male came over and tried to mount Maisie. She didn't like that at all. There was a little scuffle... but it was over quick. To make an already long story short, they had some scuffles over the next 30mins or so. That stuff is expected while they sort out who's going to be boss. During this time we noticed how protective Maisie was being of mommy. When the male approached my wife in a forceful manner (like running toward her, etc.), Maisie would get between them and show her teeth. All of this ended when the male ran around the one side of the pen (with a tennis ball in his mouth, he was playing) towards my wife. Maisie chased him and stopped him near the back of the pen. She showed her teeth, which triggered him to shows his... then BAM! They both jumped on each other growling, biting, etc. Maisie cried and ran towards me, etc. Both dogs were fine, but we decided this wasn't going to work. I felt bad because the male (named Brody) was a real nice dog. He was also very skinny and you can tell he didn't have a good life up until the shelter found him. I wanted to give him a good home... I think we're going to have to get a puppy for Maisie. She is the dominant one and she needs the new dog to be very submissive from the get go. Brody wasn't. If they were closer we could take a week or two to get them more familiar with each other... that would probably work. Oh well, we tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 Hi there, Don't give up yet on a rescue dog. I tried meeting several then found the perfect one to not dominant my older cranky dog. It takes time for adjustment too. There are many dogs out there that might work out. This one might also given more opportunities. Please don't give up after one shot. Thanks, Caroline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 Originally posted by Suprman:During this time we noticed how protective Maisie was being of mommy. When the male approached my wife in a forceful manner (like running toward her, etc.), Maisie would get between them and show her teeth. That's not dominance, that's just bad bossy behaviour It's not really your dog's place to tell you who can and cannot approach you. I don't know that getting a puppy will make any difference, because Maisie is being bossy whereas you should be calling those shots! She may be even bossier with a puppy because they command a LOT of attention. You may need to work on Maisie before you consider a second. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kailyn's Mom Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 We are having the same issue with Kailyn. She is now almost 10 months old and has exhibited the very same "bossy" behaviour when a dog tries to approach me, or tries to take her ball. (I think she is more possessive of her beloved ball!) We are also considering getting a rescue playmate for Kailyn, we love to take her on organized hikes with other dogs and we are planning on pursuing agility training for her as well. This bossiness is getting in the way of all her fun. Are there any suggestions how to deal with it? We have tried telling her off etc., but it seems to be getting worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kailyn's Mom Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Just bumping this up, could really use some advice. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SincereArtisan Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 One way to help with that bad bossy behavior is when another dog approaches you, the moment teeth or any aggressive behavior is shown, turn and run the other way. This helps when the dog is off leash, only. The dog was 'protecting' or 'guarding' you from the other dog, and suddenly find itself with NOTHING to guard. Ignore her for the next few minutes, turning your back on her, not looking at her, etc...then try standing still again and keep it up. Praise her profusely whenever another dog comes close and she doesn't do anything but greet it. As for guarding the ball, when the dog growls at any dog trying to get his/her ball, swoop in with a harsh NO! and snatch up the ball. She'll soon learn that guarding it gets her no ball at all. Praise her any time another dog gets the ball, or takes it from her without her putting up any fuss. You can even start with giving her treats when that happens. I praise my dogs whenever another dog dives in and snatches up something that was theirs, and they don't put up a fight. Idolon in particular was getting realy snotty about it, and this worked wonders with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheri McDonald Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 I agree with RDM, I have a super pushy bossy dog and the only thing that works is a steady daily routine of "Nothing in Life is Free". Rob is a much happier easy going dog these last few years because now he realizes I'm in charge and not him. Best advise is training, training and more training. Make them work for everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Lady Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Our BC always wants the attention if any is going to the other dog, we ingore her (BC) or push her away, but she's a good girl. Can this be a really bad thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetlander Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Originally posted by Dog Lady:Our BC always wants the attention if any is going to the other dog, we ingore her (BC) or push her away, but she's a good girl. Can this be a really bad thing? Are you questioning whether your BC wanting attention is a bad thing? Wanting attention is normal. It doesn't need to be bad. All my dogs come in for pats if they see another dog being fussed over. The important thing is that your dog understands that she does NOT get to say who approaches you, who gets on your furniture, who plays with you or who gets petted by you. You control those things not the dog. The problem comes when people feel flattered or pleased that the dog "loves me so much" or is "being protective" or worst of all when they think it is cute. Resource guarding has a nasty potential to escalate into very ugly behaviors. My goals is to convince my dogs that resource guarding will result in the loss of exactly what they are trying to hold on to. So if a dog is on the sofa and growls at another dog who approaches or gets on the sofa, the growler finds himself on the floor. Same if I am handing out treats -- any sign of resource guarding results in no treats for that dog. I could see my dogs scuffling over food they found on their own, but there is never so much as a hard look when the treats are coming from me. They are shoulder to shoulder, nose to nose and all they concentrate on are me and the cookies. Back to your question. Is your dog actually resource guarding you? If yes, does pushing her away and ignoring her deprive her of what she wants? An effective correction would cause her resource guarding behavior to diminish over time. If the other dog also moves away, that might well make the push and being ignored worth it to your dog. The most important thing might be that the other dog stay away from you. In that case, her behavior may stay the same or get worse. Do you think she understands that you are in charge of who you pet? I'm not saying that she has to like you petting other dogs or that she won't want you to pet her too, but that she is behaving within the parameters you set for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tucker05 Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Hello, I agree with giving them more time. My GF has a Boston Terrier/Corgie Cross dog which is 2 years old (just turned) and i decided that I wanted to adopt my first BC (after waiting YEARS to be ready for one). As soon as we got back from our 1 1/2 hour trip and let tucker in the door Tanker (the boston) and him scrapped which i had to get between. It took a couple hours for them to get used to each other and for the Boston to realize that he isn?t that big The next day they fought again for their treats and toys which i just took away from both of them. This happened a couple more times and that last time they fought over food/toys was when my hand got the worst of the fight (bloody hands not so good)....they both were put in solitude for 30min or so and both felt very bad sucking up to me for a few days and have never fought since. Note i didn?t hit either of them i just told them NO and put them away for some alone time. Tucker always licks the hand that was bitten (of course after it was healed) as to show he?s sorry. Well that was a long story but in short give it some more time...maybe play with both of them in the same room and see if they begin to get used to one another. Hope things work out! EDIT: Oh i forgot to add, now they are both best buds...they like there own treats but if one growls just a bit the other leaves and finds another toy. If any teeth are shown then the toy is removed from that dog (havent had to do that) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Originally posted by Suprman:(The shelter had (2) 50' x 20' x 10' high fenced in pens side-by-side.) We decided to take Maisie over to the other pen to have them get a little familiar with each other. They sniffed noses some, but Maisie was more concerned with 'mommy' who was in the other pen. Possibly, that may have been what triggered the behavior? Perhaps Mom should have been in the opposite pen with Maisie to start out with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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