Any one have any tips for a smooth way to stop my bitch being a bully?

We are walking her first, petting, feeding and giving treats first. She gets more attention too. But today after the walk when I came back with her, I took him to the garden to do some training (to tire him out as he has been castrated and is bored!) but when I bought him in the living room, after stroking her first all she has done is show her teeth at him today and bark at him. He usually hides behind me then finds his voice and barks back. After this she got put in the hall and him back in the play pen.

I need to let him out though as he is so bored after not walking since monday!

I'm wondering if also because they aren't getting the two walks together everyday she may not be getting used to him as much as she was before.

I need to let him out though as he is so bored after not walking since monday!

Why not try filling some toys with peanut butter which will take him a while to get through, or big bones? or entertaining him with games of hide and seek? Great fun!!

It doesnt sound like you are walking the dogs enough, a dog should go out at least twice a day a board dog is a distructive dog

It doesnt sound like you are walking the dogs enough, a dog should go out at least twice a day a board dog is a distructive dog

I believe the reason one dog isn't being walked much at the moment is because he has just been neutered - or that's how I read the original post.

Thanks for the replies, we would have had him 2 weeks this Saturday. Before he was neutered (this Monday) I was walking them both together in the morningfor 40 mins, then coming back and taking just her on her normal walk with friends, coming back and taking him to town and local tennis court for socialisation and recall training. Then after school another 20/30 min walk together, then he got another 30 min walk in the evening - my birch has never liked the dark. In between both were in the garden seperatly playing ball with me.

They are both in seperate rooms to eat and for kongs/bottles etc. Then 2 to 3 times a day they were let in the garden together or living room under supervision - him on lead so as I could control him. He has on a few occasions rested his head on her neck and tried to hump her once - she was quite happy to put him in his place. Play was kept very short as he got over excited, her tail was wagging as was his but I stopped play when icould see it was getting too much for her.

Up until today she had shown her teeth a few times (she does this to other dogs too if they bug her) but was happy to have him in the room.

Like I say though today all she has done is bark and show teeth at him all day. I have kept calming them down and teaching at the same time watch me, apart from when she wouldn't let him do anything so I seperated them and ignored them.

Is there anything I am doing wrong, or is it just my bitch has realised he is here to stay?

The only other thing i can think was earlier, just before her walk I gave her a small piece of tripe, I put some in a box to keep him happy while I was gone. When I returned he hadn't touched the box (has to wear a lampshade while I'm gone) in his pen so I wiggled it to get his attention. Could it be she has the hump about this?!

Sorry for the long post, don't want to leave anything out. Just want it to work as he is a brilliant dog :)

It doesn't sound to me as if she is being a bully, just letting him know that this is her home and that she is the boss (as bitches do ;-) ) So long as she isn't actually attacking him then I would carry on as you were. Just keep a close eye on them both.

Thanks lindylou for the positive words :) As I say I just want to make sure I do everything right! She calmed down again after that whole day of growling and lip curling which is good. She will still quite happily put him in his place though but also sniffs him and wags her tail.

I do wonder though if positions will change, there is marking wars going on now lol, where ever he pees she will too, then he goes and pees over the top of hers again!

When he learns to play with manners though I have a feeling they will be just fine :)

Am I right in assuming that the male dog is adult and you've brought him into your home with your resident bitch? If so, the urine marking is a sign that they both want to be top dog in my experience.

It could be that by splitting them up all the time could be why they are taking longer to be settled together. As long as you're there to supervise, I wouldn't allow any rough play at all, if they start, try to distract attention back to you. I also think that the more you can walk them together, the quicker the bond will form between them. They will be taking strength from each other when coming across situations outside the house.

As long as your bitch isn't actually attacking the dog, then I would say it's ok for her to establish herself as top dog. Watch for his reaction to her tellings off, is he backing off and taking notice or being defensive?

We recently had a 10 month old pup returned to us, just castrated - I thought his mum was going to hurt him when he tried to mount her...twice... when they first met!! This behaviour to a dominant bitch is extremely bad manners and won't be tolerated! It appeared at first that she wouldn't let him encroach into her personal space at all without snarling and snapping. Very slowly over a couple of days she became more tolerant of him and after 3 nights they were all sleeping together (I have a castrated male & the bitch), and after a week she was playing with him and generally great. The growling and "putting in place" had stopped altogether and peace was restored, along with a previously juvenile delinquent now towing the line.

I took advice at the time on how to handle the situation and am really pleased to report that it ended up being great, but if I had kept them separately and not walked them together, I'm sure this would have taken MUCH longer. I felt a bit sorry for the bitch and him, but letting them sort it out really worked for us, and in pretty quick time.

I would also say that we don't particularly do anything with my girl first, she has taken it upon herself to be the top dog, but never forget that they should always be underneath your leadership. I have a fairly large breed gundog which is generally good natured, so I don't know if other breeds should be introduced together with more caution.

I was just wondering why you don't let them out in your garden together? If they're in separate rooms in your house also, then they are both going to be confused. Depending on what breed they are, I would be tempted to let them get on with it. As long as they don't actually fight, the growling and showing of teeth is a normal communication. It sounds quite vicious really, I had never seen this side of my bitch, but she was letting the pup know in no uncertain terms she was the boss. As soon as he realised and started behaving around her, she relaxed.

If you always intervene, they will never sort it out. Two weeks and they're still apart tells me they need more "together" time.

Hope it goes well.

Thanks for the long reply itsadogslife :)

The resident bitch is 4 and 1/2 years old, the male is (they think) a year old. I do think he has the potential to challenge her being top dog though. They are  allowed in the garden together but I keep him on a long line - I can tell the bitch to stop but he hasn't learnt this yet. She is neutered and he was castrated last week.

She will start to initiate play with him, then he gets way over excited and lunges and jumps on her, both tails are wagging at this point and they are quite loud. She then (from what I can tell) starts to get slightly stressed as he jumps on her and boxes when they play (she boxes back too) but when he tries to jump on her back she comes in with full force showing teeth and barking, but high pitched barking, almost telling him to back off. He doesn't seem to pick up on this signal and he barks back and carries on literally trying to jump on her back. This is when I split it up. The first time this happened I called her off and made her sit while holding her collar, he kept on circling her (until I got the lead) while barking. It's quite hard to see if it's just very rough play or if something could kick off!

I think you are right, maybe I will make sure there is no playing at the moment but just getting used to each other. In the living room she will lie down tired while he wanders about sniffing everything, a few things she isn't impressed with and she shows her teeth and barks/growls. He starts barking then and lunging which is when I step in and make them both sit, watch me, lie down and then they both get a treat and a belly rub to calm them down again.

He is also slightly wary coming into the room behind me if she is already there, I guess he has learnt that sometimes she tells him off.

They are walked twice a day together for about 40 mins each time, they then also both go out separately once each for another 40 mins to an hour. They both come in the garden with me in the morning while I drink my tea, and then later in the day after walks they both sit in the front room for about an hour.

I haven't seen any raised hackles from either, but I have caught him resting his head on her neck, when she notices she isn't too pleased lol.

I do wonder if he just needs to learn some doggy manners when playing.

Oh also, they are only in separate rooms when they eat - if he isn't with me on a long line he is in his play pen in the living room while she is also in the living room. They will quite happily have a kong each (him in the pen and her in the same room). And also she is quite happy to sit next to him and have me treat them both, which is good as sometimes she has been known to want to 'protect' my treats from other dogs.

I will definitely get them together more then in the house - I suppose I thought it best to do it gradually. Thanks for the helpful suggestions :)

>but when he tries to jump on her back she comes in with full force showing teeth and barking, but high pitched barking, almost telling him to back off. He doesn't seem to pick up on this signal and he barks back and carries on literally trying to jump on her back. This is when I split it up.

This is her telling him off for going too far, and if he won't back off by himself then you must step in and calm the situation - she's doing nothing wrong so you must support her; control the dog and leave her loose. In the vast majority of mixed-sex dog families the bitch will be in charge, and this is likely to be the case with yours, as soon as the new boy stops being an oik!

Thanks Jeangenie - it does appear to be that way. I'll try leaving her loose now then and just controlling him and calming him down.

Oik is a perfect word to use for him when he goes over the top! :D

Just wondering what breeds they both are? Are they a similar size?

If the dog keeps trying to jump her bones, she's entitled to put him in his place. He's also pumped with hormones still, as he's only just been castrated. It'll take him a while for his testosterone levels to settle.

I must say I was shocked when I first heard my girl putting the pup in his place. She will probably do this until he relents. By the sounds of it he is having a little trouble in letting go of the top dog role. I would suggest if it just won't settle, that you get in contact with a behaviourist to help you out.

I hope it works out eventually...

The bitch is a GSD with a small amount of rottie, and he is a full rottie  male :) She plays quite rough with her friends on our walk and quite happily puts them all in their place! I think it's too much for her though as he plays in a similar way to her. He is as tall as her but no where near as long or stocky.... yet at least lol.

Will be booking him into obediance classes over the next few weeks, I've found somewhere that trains 2 dogs as well, so when I have him under a bit more control I'll take them both along.

I'm not too concerned at present, he is pretty intelligent and has learnt quite a few things over the last few weeks. As I say though I'd just like to do it all right :D

The obediance place has something to do with dog borstal I think and they also have behaviourists on board, so by the time I have him booked up I can speak to someone if it hasn't settled by then.

Just got back from walking them both and they seem quite happy, all be it very tired!

Thanks :)

Just a bit of an update, they are getting on so well now :D

He will still at least once a day try and put his neck over hers, or try and grab her with his front paws, but she told him off the other day and pinned him. Looking at it now after this it's much more like he is just playing to get her going, they are fine sharing toys and also water, they both growl if the other watches while eating but that's fine and they are kept seperated. But the rest of the time they are both loose pretty much all of they day.

I'm pretty happy it's going so well, he is a great addition to the family!

It sounds like it's going well. Fingers crossed once they've established some order between themselves they'll be joined at the hip in no time. It sounds like it'll do your girl good to learn to share things like treats too. It's never nice when you see one pinning the other down, but at least he's letting her do it, shows he's realising she's to be respected. It'll do him no harm at all, if anything will teach him some boundaries.

I will never have a single dog ever again, two is so much a better number...lol! As you've found out though it's not always so easy bringing the second dog in. Well done for getting some advice, I hope you'll all have a long and happy life together (in harmony:)).

> I will never have a single dog ever again, two is so much a better number...

Only two, what about three four or five, tee hee ;)