[RBark]

Originally Posted by Laurelin

She'd probably have fun with that though imagining a 5 lb dog hanging off a sleeve is well....

I saw a vid of a JRT doing Schutzhund work. It was amusing.

[lizziedog1]

Some dogs are just asking for it.

One of my foster dogs was a JRT. At time I had a built-in pool. My oldest female dog and I would spend hours playing in and around it in the summer. She would run around the pool and then dive in. she would land half way across the pool to get a ball.

I was in the pool and my dog was getting in and out and running around. The JRT was following her and nipping on her rear. She would occasionally turn and snap at the little dog. He would back away for a minute and then resume tormenting my dog. Finaly she snapped. She flipped the JRT on his back, bared every tooth in her jaw, and place those teeth inches from his face. Her teeth were showing wolf-style. I didn't know she had that many teeth in her mouth. I never, ever saw my dog react that way. The JRT was frozen with fear. He never went near my girl again. I was happy he learned his lesson, cause I don't know what my female would have done next.

[Dog_Shrink]

Originally Posted by Nargle

Oh goodness! I hope Summer and Mia get back to getting along soon!

So... are dog fights typically just inevadable in multi-dog houses? My boyfriend and I are seriously considering getting our second dog soon, but I'm worried about fighting. I really want to avoid it...

NOPE... I always have at least 6-7 dogs in my house and never have fights. It all depends on how good a leader YOU are and the rest of the pack should respect that and mind their place. Even with multipul intact male dogs I have never had an issue.

[lizziedog1]

NOPE... I always have at least 6-7 dogs in my house and never have fights. It all depends on how good a leader YOU are and the rest of the pack should respect that and mind their place. Even with multipul intact male dogs I have never had an issue.

Have you ever had problems when foster dogs were brought into the picture?

[Twinney]

That's too bad Laurelin! The way I've always veiwed it is it's bound to happen some time, and hopefully it doesn't happen again after that.

Fights were rather uncommon at our house. Kola's been a brat since coming home...and the fights her and Shunka get into are not just posturing, they draw blood, and need to be split up immediatly. Fang and Bob have to be kept apart because of Fang's DA although it has improved immensely as of lately (they can be walked together without a problem). I'm very cautious though. The dogs are separate when eating, walked separatly, and are not trained together. When they have bones to chew on, they are in their crates (part of that is because RMBs and carpet don't go well together).

Last week when Bob and Marko were introduced there was some intial growling and they were immediatly split up to be reintroduced else where. This continued until Bob realized that the proper way to greet another dog is NOT humping. Because of Bob's breed, I do not feel it is safe to let him get into a fight, and due to his past experience in dog fights, I do not feel it would be just posturing.

[Kay Weber]

We have no trouble with 5 of our dogs fighting - very few arguments at all. It's all minor - growl here and there. They know the boundaries.

Add Avie, our GSD, in with the girls though and there will be a fight and there will be blood. I don't understand that. Avie gets over the top of them and all "in charge" and the girls will react and the fight is on. I've hear female GSD have this issue. Anyone else??

BTW - the girls and Avie are no longer allowed to be outside together!

Avie and the boys are totally different. Avie still likes to stand over the top of them and give a little nudge and the boy may react but there will be no fight.

[Dog_Shrink]

Originally Posted by lizziedog1

Have you ever had problems when foster dogs were brought into the picture?

Generally no I haven't ever had any real issues bringing in foster dogs. They generally seem to be comforted by the stability of the pack and if they start to get a little squirrley one of my guys will go up and step between the foster and the pack member they are trying to intimidate and break it up before it comes to blows. I'm lucky that I have such a well balanced pack and that they are ALL responsive to me being the ultimate leader. They act text book when it comes to pack dynamics. Things have been a little off kilter here since losing my Dane and my alpha female but order is slowly coming back to center. We take introductions slow with new fosters. They are allowed to meet and greet each member individually before they're thrown into the deep end with the entire pack, but at times I think it's the intensity of the entire pack that makes them more submissive because they seem to know ya mess with one ya mess with them all and no one wants that kind of potential disaster on their head so they tend to really mind their manners until they feel everyone out and by that time they're already settled in and don't want to be bad.

[HyperFerret]

I never have any fights with my 7 dogs. Way back when, when I only had Dutchess, Camillia, and Moomoo - Dutchess always considered herself to be "top dog". As Moomoo started getting older I guess he thought, "Well, hey, I"M the male so I should be 'top dog'!" His first, and only, attempt at that Dutchess quickly, painlessly, showed him he was wrong. Never again did I have a problem.

Now that Dutchess is older and surrounded by youngsters there's a stern snarl every now and then. Lol, I think it's kinda funny. Someone will playfully bump into her and at first she's like, "Hey watch it, will ya?" But then immediately she's playing with them. However, with her age she can handle only so much. So as she tires out while the others are full of energy, you see Dutchess's stages of: "Lol, this is Fun! .... Ha, ha, okay - okay, that's enough. .... Alright, seriously, time to stop. .... HEY!! I said enough is ENOUGH!"

I guess it really depends on the dog though because I DID have a problem between Dutchess and Destiny (not my dog). Those two did NOT get along. If left together, a huge fight with a lot of will and a lot of blood would happen. And then when a fight would break out, suddenly, Camillia felt it to be her duty to join in and help Dutchess - so I had to break up a 3 dog - dog fight. So when ever Destiny was outside, my 2 were inside, and visa versa.