Dominate tendencies?

MonaLisa

Hi everyone!
I'm new to this forum but I am so happy to have found it because a bunch of my questions have been answered through you guys! I had a question about the behavior. I am a new EBT owner and have 1 male Enzo (5 months) and 1 girl Coco(7 months). I have noticed a lot of rough play that can turn into a fight in like 1.5 seconds from Coco. I don't think she's an agressive dog at all but I think she has dominate tendencies. I am getting her fixed next week and The vet said it will help some but not completely. I am scheduled to see a dog behaviorist from bark busters in 2 weeks but it seems to be with any dog she gets dominate. She is always trying to hump the other dogs and bite them when they try to run. Right now we are doing the pinning method which has helped to get her into a calmer submissive state but Enzo is now trying to hide when she comes out (we keep them seperate when we are not able to supervise them). She is a good dog and very lovable but I was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem and what they did.

BulliesofNC

Welcome to the Forum Monalisa!

From what you've described it's evident she does have a dominance issue. Many don't realize humping is a form of dominance. Another form of dominance is standing over another dog when they are laying down. These practices should be stopped when you notice them.
Every Veternarians answer to behavior problems is spaying and neutering. I guarantee this isn't the answer and I would recommend researching a little on the effects of desexing a dog at such a young age. All I'm going to say is, don't be rushed into that decision.
At her age she is at her worst behavior. She is just now transforming from a puppy into an adult. She is just now learning what dominance and aggression is and quite honestly she doesn't know how to use those emotions yet. She needs training and she needs to understand that her negative reactions in regard to dominance and aggression aren't going to be accepted by You. The Pin Method works very well and will send an instant message to her.  the more stern you are about it the better it will work.
Please keep us posted with her progress.
PS - We'd all love to see photos of her!

Stoges_mom

Welcome!! I'm sorry I'm no help with the topic but I'd LOVE to see pics of your babies!

MonaLisa

You guys are going to laugh but I have no clue how to post pictures ) so maybe hold off on spaying her? We actually brought her into our family on accident, a friend of ours didn't want to keep her because he thought she was aggressive so we offered to foster her (because I don't think puppies can be aggressive at that age) and then i fell in love with her and named her and now we have 2 which can get crazy at times. She TOTALLY does the standing over the other dog and doesn't let him up!! I didn't think it was a dominance thing until you mentioned it... You guys are so much help! Yes the pinning has been working but she still stays fixated on Enzo, and we had a bad experience already with her and another puppy her age (a lab). My goal is to keep exercising her and try to cut out that behavior so when she gets older we can let them play without always being right there to supervise them. Fingers crossed!

DianeWright

Stay on top of her training MonaLisa.  You need to send her the message that you are the ONLY Afla in the family.  My female displayed the same aggression at 7 mos.  Seems to be their lucky age.  Best advise I could give you is to be firm, and be sure you are getting your message accross.  That's the age to break her of it.  Especially since you now have two.  When she gets older, it may be too late.  Once you break her of that she will live a much happier life, as well as the other dogs around her.  Good luck. 

philsergeant

MonaLisa, Coco and Enzo.... there must be some Italian in your heritage...  I mean it kindly when I say "DON'T PANIC".... They are both babies and need to be taught, and can be taught the right way. If you foster Enzo to be afraid of CoCo he will be. Rather keep them separate in crates right next to each other when you are not home but don't keep them out of sight of one another, they need to grow up together. Do not let CoCo dominate Enzo for a split second... you can teach her and she will learn. It is a pity you now need to make up for not nipping the challenge in the bud at first sign, but you still can. Unless Enzo is humping CoCo (unlikely for a while by the looks of it) and you are worried about babies before wedlock :-) I wouldn't have CoCo fixed at all (unless medical conditions demand it). Remember you are the only alpha dog and the other two come equally behind you, no imbalance.  Any more advise will cost you pictures.... when you post a comment go to "attach a file" below the text box and it's easy.  Good luck, be strong and all will be fine.

Boyda

Please don't get her fixed! I know that Steve and Phil touched on the subject, but it WILL NOT fix her behavior. The only thing that will fix that is proper training, but the good news is there is no age limit on training this behavior out. I highly suggest the pin as well, and as soon as she displays any type of behavior your not happy with, pin pin pin. When your dogs are out playing together, stick her in a prong collar with a just a short lead, that way as soon as she is displaying negative behavior, give it a quick pop and it should correct her, if she continues another quick pop and pin. I do agree with your separation if not supervised, but only if it's minimal. BT's do not do good on their own, and keeping her separate from the others for prolong periods will make it worse, she will become jealous of the other dogs and can become possessive for attention when let out, which is just asking for a fight.

MonaLisa

Thank you guys for your advise! And I will be moving their crates together tonight to try it out. I now understand I may have been doing more harm then good by separating them.

Boyda

@Monalisa, here's an article you might find interesting, we've touched on it in another thread before but here's the link about spaying/neutering. http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/09/30/neutering-health-risks.aspx

MonaLisa

Thanks for the information and I think my picture was to big because the rest of my comment didn't post but I will not be spaying her anymore. I really was convinced what the vet had told me, which was her estrogen levels are high and that's why she is so dominating and by spaying her it will lower her levels. But it was my fault for not completely doing my homework on it. I am really going to stay on top of her training and now that I know the standing over one another when they are down is a sign of dominance I will nip that out of the equation as well.

philsergeant

I can tell two things about your vet without having met her/him. She knows nothing about dogs; and increasing her bank balance increases her own estrogen levels, ( or his, no difference).

philsergeant

Second, now that you are not spaying CoCo, when you are ready for her to have a litter I can send Marco over, he is nearly as pretty as she is.... (Better keep that little Italian Pizza guy away meanwhile )

philsergeant

Especially with the age difference I am sure CoCo is mostly just jealous. With time they will be the best of friends. Lots of group hugs