Agression towards other dogs

[shimita]

Hi
I have a 8 month yorkie I(Aoki) that lately is fighting with my 2 years old cocker( Nikita).
they are great friends and when im not around they play wonderful together, but when im with them, aoki wants to fight with nikita.
She already had to take stiches, twice. I dont know what to do anymore. Im even consider giving aoki to someone else so she dont get badly injured one day, but that will break my into pieces as i love her so much.
My dogs sleep inside of the house althought we have a garden. Aoki and my other dog (biju, cocker spaniel)sleep in my room and nikita sleeps in my office (she loves to sleep there). But now with this situation when I go to bed, i have to close nikita in the office so no fighting can occur. the rest of the time, aoki is on my lap or on the leash so she cannot run and go fight with the other one. And i do turns in playing time in the garden or put the cocker outside and stay with the yorkie inside when i have thing to do and cannot be with here in the lap.
im exhausted and i do not think that my dogs are happy with this situation, neither do I.
My boyfriend says its my fault, cause i spoiled them a lot but they are my babies they should be given all my love.
PLEASE HELP ME.

[Sarah]

Your boyfriend is correct. It is your fault. I'm all for spoiling, but only once they know the boundaries, which they learn from obedience.
It's never to late though I would suggest you enroll the yorkie in obedience class. The cocker will learn from the yorkie as you continue the instructions at home and while at play.....

[shimita]

the problem Sarah that where i live there is no one to teach obedience classes for my yorkie. There is a lady but she is only qualified for puppies until 6 months and she refused when i approach her.
Im starting tomorrow some training classes myself and see the results and I was going to esterilize her, but with the riots here in mozambique that had to be postponed so im think next week and see if it helps. Because my other two dogs are and did help a lot, special the male that was marking all the house and stopped completely.

[Sarah]

I understand it may be difficult, to find someone to teach you obedience, but you are here now in this forum and if you look around, there is a ton of information that has been so kindly written out by various people regarding obedience. I think you are on the right track by getting her spayed, this may help. But you do need to teach her how to sit, stay, come and lie down, and perhaps some other things to keep them safe.

We will help you!

[MaryAnn]

Shimita.... Below are some rules to consider.......

10 Rules for Raising & Training a Dog:

1. THINK DOG....Understand how dogs learn and what makes them tick as a species. Dogs are not humans, but so many people tend to treat them like they are their babies.

2. TALK DOG....Learn how to communicate with them effectively in "dog" language. Dogs can't speak English, or any other human language. You, however, can learn to talk "dog".

3. TOP DOG....Who's in charge? You are. You have to be a confident leader. Your dog will be much happier if he/she has an effective leader to follow.

4. ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE....Reward good behavior. Good things happen when your dog does well!. Ignore or correct behavior you don't want to encourage. Sounds simple, but so many people do exactly the opposite without meaning to. Never, ever use harsh punishment.

5. PERFECT TIMING....Get the timing right when rewarding or correcting. Dogs won't associate a reward or correction with an action if you leave it too long to respond. You need to give feedback within "one second" of the behavior. (If you choose to "Clicker" train...you must be precise.)

6. HE SAYS, SHE SAYS....Be consistent at all times - - and that goes for everyone in the family. Use the same commands and agree on your house rules. Can the dog sit on the sofa or not? Mixed messages confuse dogs and make them anxious because they can't work out what they're supposed to do.

7. KNOW YOUR DOG....Your dog is an individual with his own strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Whether he/she's a purebred or a mixed breed, their are breed characteristics to take into account, too. Go with the flow.

8. VARY THE PICTURE....Offer a variety of different experiences to stimulate your dog's brain and senses. Dogs like to play and they get bored, just like we do. Don't just train in the same place or using the same posture. Teach your dog to respond to you in every situation.

9. LIFELONG LEARNING....Start training early and keep reinforcing the learning all through the dog's life. You can, and should, teach an old dog new tricks. Never stop training.

10. EASY DOES IT....Make it easy for your dog to do well and succeed. Manage his environment. Put the shoes or whatever away so he/she can't chew them. Hide the trash can so he/she can't get into it. When you're training your dog, accept failure as part of the learning process. Successful training requires patience. Always end each training session on a "high" note when your dog is successful.


A lot of what I said here you heard me say over and over again in some of my other posts. I thought it would be easier if I summarized into one new post.


AND like Sarah mentioned above.....there are a lot of people here to help.

[shimita]

things are a looking a bit better, i took her off my lap, i still use the leash as a way to catch her if she storms to the other one, as all yorkie owner know they are fast... and we can all be in the tv room together without any fighting.
I try to be less time at home as well, to give them some space to play and get along. In the end of the month Aoki is going to sterilizate and we are going after that start the training.
I have hope that soon we will be in peace.
Tks everyone for the fantastic advice.

[Sarah]

Very good shimita!