Dog Training & Health

[laurah5107]

I adopted a shelter dog yesterday. She is about 1 yr old, looks like a sheltie with short hair and quite small (35 lbs and knee high). In the shelter she seemed totally submissive and when she met my other dogs (both females, a 7yr old Great Dane and a 6 year old Pitbull) she was fine though spent alot of time licking their lips and following them around.

Within 5 hours of bringing her home she began to show signs of resource guarding - with regard to my husband and me. She would follow us anywhere we went, sit on our feet when we sat down etc. But when either of the older dogs walked up to us for a pat or any attention, the new girl growled and froze, staring at them. She also started nipping at the Dane's feet whenever the Dane tried to walk past the new dog.

At one point the Pit responded with a snarl and flashing teeth, though she did not bite. The new girl dropped to the floor submissively. Leading me to think that she doesn't actually intend to get into a major dog fight over the resource whereas the pitbull does not mind responding to a challenge with all out warfare.

Does this sound like a reaction to being alone as a stray and then a month in the shelter? Is there a way to get it to stop?
Some people, including the vet, have advised to let the dogs work it out themselves. I'm afraid the new girl will get killed. The Dane and the Pit had a couple fights for alpha and the Dane got "demolished" - 35 staples, 2 drain tubes. A pitbull may not initiate a fight but they don't back down.

I'm pretty sure the new dog is also food aggressive but I know how to handle that as we've had a number of rescued strays that were food aggressive.

[Jasmer]

Being a stray can reinforce to a dog that all resources must be guarded. This can probably go so far as to include affection. It sounds like she's a naturally submissive dog but isn't sure of her place in the pack yet. She challenged your pit bull, who did not back down, and realized she was not going to win that one and submitted. Since your dane and pit have both had dominance fights in the past (many dogs do and they generally CAN work it out) then both dogs may show no reluctance claiming their authority over the newest addition. The fact that your dane got ripped up is likely more due to the pit's powerful bite than an actual intent to inflict serious injury. Remember, you're talking about a dog that can hang from a tree branch for several minutes with its jaws. You're also talking about a breed where dog aggression is more the rule than the exception, and a deeply bred instinct to fight back tooth and nail due to a history of being bred to bait bulls and fight dogs.

Google NILIF and put it fully into effect in your home to help reinforce to all three dogs that YOU are alpha, YOU are the resource master. Correcting resource guarding as far as affection goes similar to correcting food aggression. Remove the resource completely if the dog is showing guarding behavior. If she sits on your feet, stand up and walk away and completely ignore her presence. Repeat until she gets the hint and stops laying on your feet. If she growls at another dog that approaches you then sharply growl the word "no" to her.

A pack dynamic can be more difficult to maintain than just one or two dogs. The dogs start trying to work out dominance positions amongst themselves, even if all dogs recognize you as the overall pack leader. However, establishing yourself as the pack leader makes it easier to deal with these occasional snits since your word is law. Put NILIF into effect and consider obedience training all three dogs or at the very least your newest dog. A dog can claim dominance aggressively or nonaggressively. Your new dog may be dominant aggressive but still unsure of the other two dogs so is not pushing it yet until she's more comfortable. Nip it in the bud to be safe.

[laurah5107]

Jasmer - Very good advice. We are trying the NILIF with her and she is doing much better with the resource guarding to the point where almost all the growling is gone. Now she just tries to insert herself between me and the other dog that is getting attention. She's a smart little thing.

However - now she is showing what in a person would be called "passive aggressive" behavior toward the pitbull though the pitbull has not responded nor does she seem particularly bothered by it.

The new dog seems to go out of her way to lean against the pitbull in passing, lies across the front legs of both other dogs if they are lying down, endlessly seems to try and get the pitbull involved in what appears to be play fighting, with lots of funny yodels, trills and mini howls from the new girl who occasionally throws herself to the floor so the pitbull can pin her down. If the pitbull gets annoyed and snarls like she means it the new pup, Daisy, cringes and proceeds to slink away or lie on her back looking foolish.

Does this sound like a new young dog trying to fit in (but lacking social skills) or a dog that is trying to dominate the pitbull?

If the pitbull actually gets mad Daisy is dead. I don't think the pitbull finds any challenge to worry about in Daisy's behavior.

[Jasmer]

It sounds like Daisy is just being a pest. If she's quick to back down then things are going smooth so far. Leaning on your pit bull or lying directly on their feet seems to be an attempt to claim some sort of dominance over them. Typically, the dog that ignores such obstinate behavior is the one who walks away the "bigger person" in these instances, but if it starts to annoy the dog they may growl or snap their teeth, and even bite. Daisy may just have poor social skills, and if that's the case she's on her way to learning what will and won't be tolerated. Just be sure you aren't tolerating the behavior when she does it to you. When you see her behaving this way you can intervene by distracting her or having her move away.