Growling at other Family Members (Dogs) but on ly in House

[CarolK]

Hi all, I am hoping that someone can help us... First a bit of background information - We live in Koh Samui in Thailand we now have 4 dogs - the first, Lucie - our black lab is 6 years old and we brought her over with us from the UK back in April 2006 - she is fine and we have no problems with her.

Then in May 2006 we found a 7 week old black puppy - Otis - who had been abandoned at the side of the road - he was very poorly - mainly skin problems very bad case of mange and very thin, his teeth were transparent from lack of calcium - he seems to be a lab x Alsatian x Thai dog and is now a very healthy big black dog who weighs 74lbs (He does have some hip dysplacia in his right hip and we give him a joint supplement in his food 2 x daily for this) He is very lovable and attentive BUT he is causing us problems.....

Our third family member - Benni - is a little blond - miniature retriever type male - uncertain of age - whom we have now had for 2 years - we rescued him from the beach/building site in a bad way - he had been run over with a truck and had a broken front right leg and a toe missing off his left front foot, we had had him 2 weeks when he started with a nose bleed - this turned out to be a TVT (Transmissible Venereal Tumor - he'd been a sniffing where he shouldn't have been a sniffing!!) this was sorted with 5 sessions of Chemotherapy - he has a fabulous nature - just loves to be cuddled and loves soft toys and lots of love and sitting on my knee - a fabulous little dog.

Then just 6 weeks ago we took in - Jemma - she was roaming around a supermarket car park - homeless and extremely thin, bones sticking out , very dirty - thing is here with these street dogs is that from time to time the supermarkets put down poisoned meat to cull them. I just couldn't bear to see this happening to this little girl whom we reckon is approx 6 month old - she deserves a good crack at life - so I put her in our car - we took her straight to our vets for a check over - she had worms and a slight temp but all sorted now and she is fabulous too. Again, very lovable and very vocal too - she makes us laugh with her vocalisations. She has been very easy to house train - not had one problem with her and she loves her food.... she is very gradually putting weight on and 'blossoming'

Jemma and Benni have become very close and just love to play together, even sleep in Benni's bed together and wherever they are in the house they are always together and will have a paw touching the other - and I love to see them play.

Problem is - Otis - he hates to see them playing and growls and bears his teeth at them - but ONLY in the house - when they are all outside they all play together with NO problems at all. All 4 of them integrate and race about and chase each other, tails all wagging - wonderful!!! All outside activities are supervised as we have snakes out here (some dangerous) and we do not want problems so they are NEVER outside unaccompanied

Indoors when Jemma and Benni are playing that is when Otis gets grumpy and starts growling and bearing his teeth, so, in at attempt to stop unacceptable behavior we have tried putting him in the 'sin-bin' (sending him into the bathroom - to cool down) WE DO NOT HIT OUR DOGS - made no difference - so we tried putting a soft fabric muzzle on him - but still no improvement in his behavior and we are at a loss as to what to do next.

It is as though he is controlling them (Jemma and Benni) - 'keeping the children in their place' - but of course this is not the way it should be - we are the bosses - not him - and we can see that this behavior is making him unhappy and more grumpy. I really do not think that he will bite any one of them but as with all dogs - you just never know.

Therefore - Can anyone please suggest what we can do to regain peace in our household and for all 4 of them to get on and be happy, not only in the garden but in the house too. Any suggestion would be most welcome - Many many thanks in advance - Carol Kaczor

[jude09]

Hello CarolK

Is Otis and Benni neutered?

Otis may simply want to establish to the 2 dogs that he is

top dog in the house. Also, since you have a female dog

around the house Otis and Benni may have aggression

towards each other.

[CarolK]

Hi Jude - thanks for your reply - both Otis and Benni have been neutered and both Jemma and Lucie have been spayed I don't think there is any actual aggression between Otis and Benni as such cos they play together outside - it's just when they are all in the house Otis seems to want to keep them all 'in line' but we need him to stop doing this.......... any thoughts anyone??? Thanks in advance of a possible solution.......

[Sarah]

Hi Carol. Lets talk about Otis and his hip dysplasia. It's great that you are giving him supplements for this, but you can also add swimming for 30 minutes total time a day. You can break up the 30 minutes in 15 minute increments if you want. The benefit of swimming is that it strengthens the muscles around the hip compensating for the weakness of the hip dysplasia.

When Otis and the others are in the house, Otis is displaying alpa towards the other dogs. all you need to do is remind him that you are the Alpha and its ok with you that they cuddles and play together.

When you feed the dogs, who eats first? Do you give the bowl to Otis first? What is your ritual for feeding them? Before you feed, make sure that each dog [especially Otis] is calm and submissive. Feed the one who is the calmest and the most submissive. [more than likely the girls.] Feed them first, then Benni then Otis.

Do you know how to put Otis on his side with his head on the floor to show submission to the other 2 dogs? If so, when he growls at them, it would be a good idea that you do this for awhile. Otis will get that he is not the Alpha you are, and will begin to leave the others alone.

Otis is trying to take the position of Alpha from you, don't let him do it.

Hope this helps, and let me know how you are doing with this.