Dog Community

New aggression behavior

Posted : 6/29/2006 6:40:50 AM

I have an 11 yr. old yorkie, a 12 yr. old cat, and for the past 6 months I have been fostering a little yorkie that just turned 1 yr. last month.

For the past 2 weeks I brought my 4 yr. old pomeranian to stay with me. She was with my parents, but there were some health issues that I needed to concentrate on with her, so I brought her back here with me.

My problem is with the 1 yr. old yorkie and her new aggressive behavior. Sometimes it happens when we are all lying on the couch together. The cat will then want to come up on the couch and the 1 yr. old goes crazy. She lunges, does a very deep growl and seems to want to attack the cat. I stop her in time. I thought she was just protecting me so I wasn't overly concerned.

Well, last Sunday her owners picked her up for a few days and stopped by yesterday for a visit. My pom was playing fetch with me. The little yorkie jumped off the couch and began biting and attacking my pom. I pulled her off and put her in the crate for 5 minutes. She was vicious and it concerns me.

I'm thinking since my pom is relatively new here, perhaps the 1 yr. old thinks this is her territory. She also bites at their feet, but this is just playful behavior. I'm not as concerned about that.

What do I do about her aggressive behavior? My friends will be keeping her more now since they found a place to live that accepts pets. But for the times she's here, how do I handle her outbursts?

Amanda R

Posted : 6/29/2006 11:32:27 AM

be sure not to get overly excited when things like that happen, i wouldnt move the pup COMPLETELY AWAY from your dog, leave a little temptation and use voice corrections and stand in between the two of them, also try focusing the dog on something else once it calms down. this is one of those problems you have to induce to correct it which is why i said leave a little bit of temptation

pumaward

Posted : 6/29/2006 11:42:45 AM

I'm not much help, but I can say that I wouldn't be letting the dog up any place "special" (like the couch, bed, etc) It's been theorized that dogs view height with status.

I might be all wet though... I'm sure Mic or Anne will be along with some good advice [

].

Mic

Posted : 6/29/2006 12:50:58 PM

If they are going to be spending a lot of time together I would get some professional help with the situation.

In the mean time I would not use the flooding technique as suggested above. If not done carfully it can make the problem worse.

I would start:
1. a strict regimen of NILIF with BOTH dogs.
2. daily obedience
3. 1.5 hours of exercise per day
4. implement the "5 minute rule"
5. a strictly regimented feeding schedule
6. being very careful how you coddle the yorkie.

The yorkie seems to be displaying some confidence problems. Don't confuse that with dominance.

Let me know if you need explanations of the above items.