[Olie]

Olie recently has taken his pawing to another level. We are taking correction measures but I am curious...His playfulness has gotten really rough and it seems more so with Coco - 11lb Pomeranian.

I hope I can explain but Olie once outside he will just pester the hell out of Coco and one thing he does is come up on his back legs and pound down with his front paws and lately it's becoming rough and hard. He will also slap at him with his paws, like a bear.

Yesterday he did it to Coco and hit Coco in the face and leg. Coco's eye now had busted blood vessels - very red on the inner corner

This morning Coco was peeing and Olie positions him self to where he is standing on top of Coco. I corrected, but not entirely sure why he doing this.

Luckily we are outside when all dogs are let out together, I don't take the chance of what rough play can do. But I am wondering why he might be doing this. I see the possibility of dominance but then I see him trying to be playful but rough, it's like a switch goes off between the dominance and play.

Coco is snapping back at him too, he is defending himself and I am afraid Olie may push Coco to bite. That would not be good.

NOTE: Interesting thing is Coco and Olie have seemed to have similar characteristics, very laid back - go with the flow silly goofballs.

 

[BFF]

I have no clue when it comes to animal behavior, so take that into consideration on my next comments. I'll throw them out there anyway. You never know what might actually stir up some ideas.

Has Coco usually been the dominant dog? Seems to me she would be. Isn't she older?

I was wondering if something might be wrong with her and Olie can smell and otherwise sense it. He is taking the opportunity to exert himself and become pack leader.

I know dog's go to great lengths to hide their pain, so they will not get picked on by the pack. Have the other dog's acted different around her? Maybe not the aggressive/play thing, but something out of the ordinary?

I don't want to cause any undue concern for Coco, but I would check to make sure she is healthy. This could explain the sudden change in behavior on Olie's part. The other dog's may not be interested in challenging their pack order.

This extreme dominance behavior of standing over her while she is vulnerable (peeing) would definitely cause me to be concerned. I'm sure others will have some other ideas for you.

 

[Rockporters]

I've had a similar problem between Jasper and Nat recently, and actually thought about posting myself this morning. For us there's occasionally a dominance issue, but other times it's just the dumb big puppy thing. The worst is when he jumps at Nat with all 4 feet off the ground trying to initiate play. Nat is 7 pounds and 15 years old so I have to be cautious that he doesn't get hurt. Once upon a time he would have totally kicked puppy butt, but he's not quite as feisty as he used to be. In bed the two get along swimmingly, and Nat snuggles in tight to Jas to absorb his heat LOL.

It's a pain but they're rarely in the same room together anymore and they're never alone together. I have gates up to block in the kitchen, and gates to block off the living room. It's a bit of a bummer for Nat that the puppy usually gets the room with me, but it's the way it needs to be for now.

Nat gets fed first, no exceptions. When giving treats, Jasper is put into a sit/wait so that he can't try to snatch Nat's treat. A lot of times I'll keep Jas tethered to me with the leash when I have them in the same room. When going outside, or coming inside, Jasper goes in a sit/wait so Nat doesn't get hassled. Nat leaves and comes in first. With any luck we'll train out, or grow out, of this stage at some point!

Good luck!

 

[Fluffyspoos]

I'm having similiar problems, though Vegas will full out tackle Precious (boxer mix) when he wants to play. She doesn't want to play often, but when he runs at her he doesn't veer off to the side, he'll collide with her and it'll be hard enough that SHE'LL yelp. He can't be more than 25 pounds and she's over 50. =/

So I got a 50 foot nylon rope, cut it in half, attached a collar hook, and made a long check cord out of it. He's going to wear it when we go outside with her out there because me yelling 'Leave it!' doesn't register to him when he's running at her.

Maybe you could try a check cord with Olie?

 

[bigpoodleperson]

I think that the problem stems from they are all (all the dogs that have posted) growing up and becoming more mature dogs. They are not babies anymore that will go with the flow and not challange anyone. They are like teenagers now and are starting to puch buttons to see how far they can go. I have seen this many times. I knew someone who had 3 labs. Two were littermate boys. They got along great as babies, but once they started growing up got into many fights.

I would continue to monitor interactions, and remind them that YOU are the boss. Not them. I let dogs be dogs and interact on their own to a point. Then i step in if i dont like it.
I think having them on a long line is a great idea to reinforce the issue. To quote Carol, dont give a command that you cant treat or inforce!

 

[Marian]

To quote Carol, dont give a command that you cant treat or inforce!

This should be our mantra, along with My dogs are not the boss of me!

 

[Olie]

I'm having similiar problems, though Vegas will full out tackle Precious (boxer mix) when he wants to play. She doesn't want to play often, but when he runs at her he doesn't veer off to the side, he'll collide with her and it'll be hard enough that SHE'LL yelp. He can't be more than 25 pounds and she's over 50. =/

So I got a 50 foot nylon rope, cut it in half, attached a collar hook, and made a long check cord out of it. He's going to wear it when we go outside with her out there because me yelling 'Leave it!' doesn't register to him when he's running at her.
Maybe you could try a check cord with Olie?

Thanks FS - we set this back up this morning.

And I agree my Leave it command was not working well this morning when this incident happened.

BPP - Agree this probably is some growing pains. Olie is the youngest. I do think it's him trying to position himself like BFF stated, I am just hoping its nothing health related but I am going to keep my eye out on this one as well. Dominance in dogs is inevitable, just getting in front is key........so thats what I need to do.

BFF - Coco is a boy, my daughter named him Not sure if that changes things any.

Thanks All

 

[Olie]

This should be our mantra, along with My dogs are not the boss of me!

I know right!!! We tested all of them this morning with come and a few other commands and my daughter failed......so we need to tighten up a bit.

 

[BFF]

"BFF - Coco is a boy, my daughter named him Not sure if that changes things any."

D'OH! Sorry about that. I'm sure he is the sweetest thing and that is why your daughter named him as such. Who could possibly live without Coco? Sounds like she is one smart cookie!

I wouldn't know about the male interaction. I knew you would get some good comments. It's really nice to get a variety of ideas on the forum.