Dog aggression in a new home?

I live with my father and sister and we have two dogs, Rufus, a five year old male chihuahua mix and Lady, a ten year old female collie mix. Recently my dad married a woman who had a five year old male chow mix named Rusty. Since my dad's new bride and…

    Dog aggression in a new home?

    I live with my father and sister and we have two dogs, Rufus, a five year old male chihuahua mix and Lady, a ten year old female collie mix. Recently my dad married a woman who had a five year old male chow mix named Rusty. Since my dad's new bride and…...
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    • Dog aggression in a new home?

      Dog aggression in a new home? Dogs Training Discussions
      I live with my father and sister and we have two dogs, Rufus, a five year old male chihuahua mix and Lady, a ten year old female collie mix. Recently my dad married a woman who had a five year old male chow mix named Rusty. Since my dad's new bride and her dog have moved in with us, her chow mix, Rusty, keeps attacking our Chihuahua mix, Rufus. He does not bother our collie much, though on occasions he has snapped at her.I often play with Rufus and he will play back, however when I try and play with Rusty he jsut rolls over and exposes his belly. I found this quite confusing since Rusty is the aggressive one I would feel he would play back instead of rolling over.Is he acting out because he is no longer the only dog, and/or is he trying to establish dominance among my dogs?Any advice about the situation or any tips on how to go about aiding the transition would be greatly appreciated and I thank you for your time and cooperation!A concerned pet owner.

      Dog aggression in a new home?

      Dog aggression in a new home? Dogs Training Discussions
    • sounds like the chow is trying to prove to the chihuahua that he is alpha dog. seems how the chow mix moved into the house the chihuahua will not back down. this could be a recipe for disaster. your dad, and his new girlfriend need to agree who is going to be the dominate male dog of the house. whichever one they choose, when the chow goes after the chihuahua then they need to step in and place the non- dominate dog in a crate for 15 minutes to control the situation. if it the chihuahua that they decide to be dominate dog then they need to firmly tell the chow no, place him in the crate, and give the chihuahua a special treat in front of the chow to show him who the alpha male and alpha female (your dad and his girlfriend) decided was top dog. i hope it all works out you have two very stubborn breeds there and i dont think either of them will back down from the other.

    • First of all you must keep Rufus and Rusty separated. A chow can kill a chihuahua mix very quickly and easily even if you are supervising. Dog-dog aggression is very hard to solve and chows can be dog aggressive, especially if not socialized much as puppies. You can try and work with a professional trainer to try and help the situation, but Rufus will probably never be 100% safe around Rusty, especially given the disparity in size.As far as Rusty's behavior toward you - aggression toward humans is a different behavior issue than dog aggression. Some dogs are very friendly and even submissive with humans but very dog aggressive. It's not uncommon.Also, humans don't decide pack order of dogs in a household. The dogs will establish it naturally and humans have to work with it. You can train dogs to behave a certain way and follow rules, but the dominant dog will always be recognized by the other dogs as the dominant dog and humans can't change that.

    • I think I may see why he is attacking Rufus. First of all, is Rusty neutered? He may be acted aggressively toward Rufus because he is another male. Neutering Rusty and Rufus (if they aren't) may help the problem.Rusty probably knows that Lady is a senior female and doesn't need to be toiled with.If you see Rusty attacking like this have your step-mother tell him a firm "No! No growling/biting (etc.)! That's bad, Rusty."Rusty needs to know that this is NOT acceptable behavior. I would be careful of the Chihuahua mix so he doesn't get hurt too seriously.Chow's seem to have aggression problems. The breed was originally a fighting breed. We adopted a Schnauzer to a person who lives next to a Chow; he has the same problem. Their chow lunges and barks wildly when somebody walks by his run with a dog.It may be dominance towards the dogs. Does he try to put his legs over or mount Rufus? I have a puppy who is VERY dominant towards his sister, but rolls over submissively to me. This may be another thing that it is just DOG aggression. It will be easier to deal with than aggression towards humans.Also, make sure neither male is the Alpha or dominant male! The humans are the Alphas of the house and they all need to learn this.Good luck and I hope you can fix your problem!!! :) If you can't fix it yourselves you may want to try hiring a dog behaviorist. This is a hard issue to deal with.

    • Rusty is rolling over for you b/c he knows you are the dominant one but he is showing his dominance toward Rufus to try and establish his place- no male dog will be aggressive to a female dog, you know, love the ladies, ha ha - spend equal time with them all but let it be known that Rufus is the alpha male and when rusty growls etc shush him or use a water gun(only squirt 1 time and he will understand that he is not the top but he is also equally loved) Always give them all the same love - treats- etc

    • I just recently took in an adult dog with my two pomeranians. This is a very nice collie so I wasn't very concerned, although he is at present not neutered. I was concerned about aggression at first. What I decided is that I would establish pack order instead of them. I put each of my poms always first. Out the door for walks, in the door from outside (after me), for feeding and affection. The new dog is always last Maybe the Chowx is also trying to find his spot in your pack. When you play with him, he is submissive showing you that he knows you are higher in the pack. I had a collie in the past who was aggressive to a new dog ( another pom). He shook that little dog and I repremanded him right away. I didn't ever have another problem. I would say don't be aggresive to the chowx, but show him he is not correct when he is aggressive to the chihuahua. Also, try to get everyone in the house to treat everyone the same. If the new wife is putting the chow first,then that is confusing to him. He is the new comer, he is last. This is my own opinion and in the past has seemed to work for me. You should seek professional opinion in this matter as it could be a life or death situation for the small dog. Good luck to you!