mantra wrote on Jan 29^th, 2017 at 5:22am:

Yes  quite so.

Both my dogs, who are well on the way to being 100% again, since the fight last weekend, were both taken on by me roughly 3 yrs apart..

The older dog was a stray, although microchipped , after being found she was in the 'Adopt"prog for close to six months.
She was a mature animal when I took her home, and I don't know her history, but she was obviously on the scrounge for quite a while, and is always food-obsessed.

The younger dog was owned by a person who got her as a gift ..  a 6 week old pup, andwho failed to provide for her in any real sense, before I accepted her , at his request, when she was close to 18 mths old.
She had been starved, basically, and will, even now , eat just about anything.

Both my dogs are well fed and looked after, but it seems they find it hard to override the imperatives of their puppyhood.

Something it behoves me well to keep in mind.

Thanks Mantra. Both dogs are good dogs, and it has been a bit of a bummer for me.

It is a dynamic which includes the chance that more discord may follow. It is down to me.. I must be less complacent about the drive to dominance. I AM top dog, but I have been lazy in my role as such.
I surely don't want it to happen again, and must be mindful of my own responsibility.

I never had to use physical discipline on my dogs. When you get them as puppies - they learn very quickly how to behave by the tone of your voice - and they can also read your mind.

However I used a rolled up newspaper a few times on the legs of my children.  I always tried to aim for their rump, but they moved faster than me.

Most dogs are very smart. If you treat them with patience - they'll try hard to please you.

Lord Herbert wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2017 at 8:52am:



Cats do understand no if you mean it - at least until they get out of your sight.

I might say no to the cat when he makes a jump for a low flying bird. He immediately looks contrite and skulks away. An hour later - I'll see him trying the same thing again, but in another part of the garden where he thinks I can't see him.

I've never physically punished my dogs.

I might wave a stick at them I picked up from the ground, and growl at them, but have never flogged a dog in my life and never would.

I hope those of you who have no experience with dog aggression and dogs fighting never get that experience.

Anyway, we are all pretty well over it now. I know I am.

Bobby. wrote on Jan 26^th, 2017 at 7:31am:

Agreed. I would shoot both dogs in this case.

All dogs are instinctually pack animals. They ultimately decide through natural dominance which is the Alpha. Fighting over bones is a dominance/natural instinct brought on when prey drive takes hold and which naturally decides in what order a member of the pack takes preference when feeding on a kill, usually the Alpha first.

Allowing dogs to sit on furniture takes them up to your level which then confuses the animal, and is anthropomorphic.

mantra wrote on Feb 25^th, 2017 at 8:21am:
You are so wrong. Most major issues with dogs occur  because they are treated as equal to humans,  as previously stated dogs are pack animals and must know their place in the pack. If you treat them as equal they will attack humans to assert their dominance.