Puppy Personality vs Mood

[psuek2007]

I am a "little" concerned with one of our two toy poodle pups (age 18 wks). Their personalities are totally opposite one another. One (Maggie) is laid back, quiet, very patient and smaller. "Star" is hyperactive, dominating, intimidating to her sister, a little bigger... a barker... harder to work with.

I am having a hard time deciding if Maggie is depressed or if it is just her timid personality. She will often find a quiet place to lay. She doesn't seem to like her sister pestering her so much. It doesn't help with her having such a sad looking face as it is. She acts withdrawn quite often.

Her sister "Star" bullies her moost of the time so Maggie will go hide somewhere which makes Star bark even more. Star however is doing much better with the house training (outdoors) with little to no accidents where as Maggie has an accident almost daily.

Hubby bought two pups thinking it would be a great thing for them to have a playmate but I am not thinking it was a great idea at all.

I know that Star has become their pack leader so I understand that Maggie will be submissive (even though Maggie does on occassion say: "Hey! I have had enough!!" and she'll tear right in to Star.
How do I tell if Maggie is depressed and withdrawn or if it is just her personality?

Thanks for your help!
Pam

[Sarah]

In a pack, there is the Alpha [boss] which is Star and then there is Maggie, you, and your husband in Star's pack. This is why Star is the way she is. You described Star as being hyperactive, dominating, and intimidating. Star is being a perfect Alpha [Boss] to her pack. Maggie who is smart, and balanced knows better, and when she says enough, the conversation is like this. Maggie says to Star "Hey enough is enough, you're not boss here". and Star says, "Yes I am, they [the humans] dont' want the job and as long as I can get away with it, I'm Boss. Maggie who isn't depressed, but flabbergasted goes off and stays away from Star, because she doesn't want anything to do with such behaviour. Make sense to you psuek?

You can have a pack of 6 dogs, and as long as the dogs know that there is a human that is Alpha, and they know they cannot get away with bad behaviour, you will have harmony with those 6 dogs, or a pack of 2 or 1 dog.

The remedy to this is: Obedience training for Star. look for a puppy class if she has all her shots. Obedience class is not only for Star but its for you and your husband as well. It trains you, to be Alpha so you can stop Stars bad behavior.

So Maggie is not depressed, she is just fed up and exasperated with her sister. I also think it was a good decision on your husband's part to get 2 dogs, so they can play. Star is going to need a lot of walking or exercise. If you have a treadmill, you can train her to go on the treadmill and walk on that for exercise, if you can't get them both outside. Maggie can also walk on the treadmill.

You may wonder why I said Star [not Maggie] should be in obedience training, it's because you only have to train one dog the other dog will pick up the commands, tricks and so forth at home as you are giving them to Star.

Take care

[mia]

Great advice Sarah, as always. I was responding and lost my internet for a couple of hours. I was saying the same thing but you said it better. That Treadmill really works very well, in the winter or in a blizzard or when it is so cold I put my Golden on it. They learn that so fast and think it is fun.

First time I put Holly on the Tredmill my husband couldn't believe it. Had Holly in the lake today but those days are getting numbered, soon I will not be able to let her run loose when the lake starts freezing over, I certainly don't want her to break through.

Good luck to you Pam, keep us posted.

Mia

[psuek2007]

Sarah,

You are correct in Star being the alpha dog. We have no doubts about that. We do have Star signed up for an obedience class but it doesn't start for 2 more weeks. We are currently training them at home using an awesome DVD training program that walks you through each command step by step using 3 different dogs (trained, wild like & semi trained).
As far as exercise goes... we have 3 acres with trails. Our girls get walked 4 times every single day... even today in the light misty rain.
We also allow them free play time in the house for a few hrs at a time multiple times per day.... in between their crate nap times.
They are wonderful in the crate. No fighting or even playing. They just sleep or relax. They now go in their crate on their own at times just to rest.
Thanks for the reply. It is always nice to hear others input.
Pam

[Sarah]

Hi Mia, it's getting cold here too, for the last week. It is certainly fall weather already... Just 2 weeks ago we were humid weather. The sun was out today for the first time in a while due to the rain and high winds. Still good weather though and I hope it holds out at least until Halloween before snow comes. I understand about letting her go out on the frozen lake, I wouldn't let Buddy when he was alive.

Psuek, I'm glad to hear all the good things you said. Now I'm thinking that Star is probably not as bad as what she sound like, in the first post.