Is this Jealousy?

[DRAGO78]

Hi This is my first time posting and I was wondering if anyone could help me. My parents have been living with me for about 2 months (there house is going through escrow) They brought along there 2 yr old female golden retreiver named Sadie. I have a 1yr old male boxer named Drago, I wish I could show you a pic but it says my pictures are too big to put on the site. Drago and Sadie are very much bestfriends. They get along great until someone new comes home. For example when I got home today they both came running up and Drago starts trying to attack Sadie. Ive never seen him act so violent. At first Sadie was the dominant one but now it seems like the tables are turning. Is this a behavior I should be worried about? If anyone could give me any advice it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Paul

 

[marvie]

same here.. sounds like jealousy... maybe you guys should pay more attention to the original dogs than to the new comers... i have read on here alot about this sort of thing and from what i gather.. feed the first one first pet it first let is out first... just do everything for them first and maybe that will help them to feel like they arent left out of the pack.. hope it works out for both cases.. good luck

 

[gmacleod]

You could think of it as jealousy, or (probably more correctly) as a competition and dominance issue. Dogs 'think' and behave in hierarchical terms - always. And that hierarchy is variable, especially when a new pack member appears or returns. That's quite logical if you think in dog-evolutionary terms. Dogs lived and hunted in packs - and very often not all pack members would return from the hunt. So dogs go through a ritual of re-negotiating or reaffirming pack hierarchy after every single separation, or whenever a new member joins. That is, in fact, why your dog is always so excited to see you when you get home

What you need to do here is make it *very* clear to both dogs that the alpha or leader of this pack is you and that pack in-fighting at the lower levels (LOL) isn't going to be tolerated. You're the leader here, and they need to know it. What do you currently do when they rush to greet you? Do you acknowledge the exhuberant behaviour? If so, I'd suggest you try a different tack of ignoring both dogs (absolutely ignoring) until they settle down. That gives them affirmation that you are still the leader, greeting takes place on your terms only, and that there is no vacant spot at the top of the hierarchy for them to fight for. Once they're calm, you can acknowledge them in turn (ensure that you acknowledge the more dominant dog first - that reaffirms pack structure).

There are a couple of books that could really help you out here in understanding what's going on with your pets. I'd strongly suggest getting a copy of 'The Dog Listener' by Jan Fenell, and possibly 'The Culture Clash' by Jean Donaldson. Both are definitely worth a read

 

[DRAGO78]

ThankYou for all the advice. When I get home I usually try to pet both of them so I give equal attention. That used to work until the last time when Drago attacked Sadie. I Think ingnoring them might be a good idea. Thanks again.
Paul

 

[Alidog]

I definitely agree with the last post. You need to pay the same amount of attention to EACH dog and not concentrate on one animal at a time. This is when you see this jealous behaviour, regardless of which one is the established alpha within their hierarchy. You need to be fair in the sense that they are both animals and niether of them exceeds the other in any way. If you can do this you will see that they respect each other more in your presence and any hierarchy testing will not involve you