Gotty goes right to the kennel lays down and goes to sleep. Kinzyl and Sammy are in bed with me. No problems. My question is, Should this be the norm or how should I try to see if they can both coexist.
So please don't flame me when I say I am also looking at a rescue that could help me find Gotty a loving home where he can receive all the attention he deserves.
Demo and Michelle, I am very interested in your thoughts. I know that my two are no where near trained like yours but maybe you could give me some pointers on how to start slowly. I just keep picturing their Christmas picture in my head and I would love to have Kinzyl and Gotty lay in the house next to each other like that.
I am not scared of them if a scuffle breaks out. Ya'll have taught me what to do and I have had to use it before when they got into their scuffles before. I go for the closet collar first (which is usually Kinzyl) and pull up. That has always worked in each case. Gotty does back down and stop and has never kept coming after her.
They do have a blanket that they play tug of war with on the porch.
Ok, I know there's a lot of things that I "should" know, (and probably do already) - but it's easiest to have everything all in the same place especially since someone may reference this thread in the future and not have all of the background on all of the dogs involved, so - can you give for all three dogs: approximate birthdate, age you got them, any training, age neutured, breed In the meantime, I'll look at some of the stuff already posted:
There is nothing wrong with having one dog sleep in a crate and the other two sleep loose. The hardest part about having dogs that need a little more supervision out at night is that it is night. If there is any sort of spat, not only do you have to wake up but you have to orient to the problem, etc, and that takes time. If you have a larger crate, or have a room that you can use for him that he can’t get into anything that’s good too.
As for starting slowly, I’d remove all toys, food, and anything else obvious that they might decide to argue over. Of course, they might decide to get into it over air, but you can’t stop that. When they behave with nothing around, you can try having “boring” stuff around.
madremissy wrote:
I make sure that everything is put away. I recently learned that it can't be just up on the counter, it has to be out of view and they can't see where I put it.
airwalk wrote:Without having met the dogs Missy, I can say that unless Gotty decides to be a complete knothead, you will probably get farther faster if he is a part of the family and every day life and routine than if he were upstairs by himself.
However, something Erin talked to me about with my ADD Poodle, remember to watch his stimulation level. Magic cannot self control his stimulation level (at least he hasn't been able to to date). So he jacks way up and stays there. When I started controlling what he did and how stimulated he gets he doesn't jack as high and stays at a lower level; which makes him infintely more manageable. For instance, I used to bring Magic to work almost every day and then spent the entire day correcting him for barking and acting out. Erin suggested I not bring him every day to reduce the stimulation level and viola...a much easier to live with dog.
madremissy wrote:Sammy: Shih tzu DOB 2/8/2002 neutered 2002 Came home when he was 8 weeks old. No Training He is just Sammy, he is a good dog and my baby. I have been working with him the past year to sit and wait for his food. He can do that. He comes when called. He plays with Kinzyl and Gotty like he is one of them and they play with him very well. He does have a thing he does when they play, he runs after and barks. Kinzyl just thinks it is a game.
In the past couple of days I have taught him to sit when leashed, sit before he goes outside. I have been walking him and practicing sit when I say or as another car comes by. I have also been working on his basic commands again. He is very hardheaded little dude but will do anything for a treat. Very food driven. Ball driven to. He gets where he will drool and shake and wimper while sitting and waiting.
When he was younger he did have prong but it was not used properly. He has a flat no buckle style collar and I am trying to use positive reinforcement for the walking. Stop when he starts to pull, stop and get his attention with sit and stay when he sees a squirrel or another animal.
TheRedQueen wrote:Really quick here...a book recommendation for ya:
Feeling Outnumbered by Dr. Patricia McConnell...not a long book, and I think it'll help!
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/produc ... utnumbered
Boot camp time for Sammy. You can't expect any more from the Pit Bulls than you expect from Sammy. At some point, "Sammy chasing and being annoying" may not seem like "just a game" to one of the others if they are already keyed up about something. They may not get snappy with Sammy, but they may decide to get snappy with each other. I'm not saying he's not a good dog, but he has to be held to the same standard. Sorry Sammy!
TheRedQueen wrote:I'm gonna stir the pot a bit, sorry! I'm wondering what the reasoning behind this is, Michelle...Boot camp time for Sammy. You can't expect any more from the Pit Bulls than you expect from Sammy. At some point, "Sammy chasing and being annoying" may not seem like "just a game" to one of the others if they are already keyed up about something. They may not get snappy with Sammy, but they may decide to get snappy with each other. I'm not saying he's not a good dog, but he has to be held to the same standard. Sorry Sammy!
I agree that some manners training/obedience can never HURT...but I don't agree that all the dogs have to be held to the same standard. If it's okay for some dogs to have different rules about where they sleep and are allowed to be in the house, why do they have to be trained to the same degree?
I HAVE NOTTAFew people have that level of experience.
dogtvcom wrote:I'm just gonna give some quick thoughts here... Gotty looks like a happy guy.
I have lived in muliple large dog households for the past 14 years or so. Seen many fights and scuffles and showdowns. I am of the opinion that crating and barriers only exacerbate the problem. They make it a ticking time bomb. Eventually the issue has to be dealt with. However, not everyone is capable of breaking up a dog fight between strong dogs if one occurs, so it's reasonable to be afraid and rely on cages and barriers.
That's okay for a time, but is not a long term solution.
But here's the thing. A family who walks together and runs together and plays together becomes a pack and will be much less likely to fight in the house and have the need to be separated in the house.
With fighting dogs, get them to get along on walks, *outside* the house first. Preferably long walks. This is where they become a pack. On the hunt. And to a dog, a walk is a hunt. The more you segregate dogs, the less familiar they are with each other, and the more testy they will be if they come in contact.
That being said, you also have to be ready and have the tools ready to break up fights and you should expect them to occur if you decide to move away from the segregation angle. I use basketballs, tennis rackets (I like sports equipment!). But it's not so much breaking up fights that is important. What is important is breaking up the thoughts which lead to fighting.
So I'm just going to give you one step for starters. More walks or yard play together with the antagonistic dogs.
michael
http://dogtv.com
So I'm just going to give you one step for starters. More walks or yard play together with the antagonistic dogs.
With fighting dogs, get them to get along on walks, *outside* the house first. Preferably long walks. This is where they become a pack. On the hunt. And to a dog, a walk is a hunt. The more you segregate dogs, the less familiar they are with each other, and the more testy they will be if they come in contact.
DemoDick wrote:I think I know where Michelle's head is at here, though I have been known to misinterpret her communication before. When an owner of multiple dogs has to transition their household from a casual one in which dogs get free reign to a more structured environment, it is usually easier for the owner to just tighten everyone up equally at first instead of trying to figure out which rules apply to which dog in different situations. Also, when the general expectation of behavior is and always has been relatively low, it can be difficult to maintain consistency of expectations for different dogs as the transition occurs, and scraps can break out as a result. It's kind of like playing favorites with kids...they tend to take it out on each other.
madremissy wrote:I should have said his collar is a 1 1/2 inch Collarmania which has the big D ring on it. Kinzyl has the same thing. It is not buckle. The kind that slides over his head and then tightened so I don't have to worry about them slipping out.
madremissy wrote:Working on that to but haven't found anything that works yet. Still contimplating the cintronilla collar.
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