Gypsy my parson russell does not seem to get on with my friends parson russell Edna. They are both unspayed and the same age. Gypsy has had two litters and is a bossy little madam; Edna is more submissive. They have both been on leads in the back of the car when we took them to a game fair and were fine. on walks they are mostly fine, but have the occasional spat. Last night we visited my friends house and EDna jumped in the car where gypsy was on her lead in the back. She went for Edna. they were separated Gyp got told off, but kept coming back and stalking edna. She bit her again and was shaken by the scruff and growled at, and put in the car. When she was let out again, she started following poor edna again. Gyp was unrepentant even after being "alpha rolled" several times and being shut away in the car.all in all they had at least 4 scraps- Edna has a hole in her face and a bruised eye. I naively hoped they would play nicely when they met up! I have had gyp about 8 weeks and she is 4.When they visited before and Edna was in season Gyp tried to sh*g Edna who meekly curled her tail to one side and put up with it with a resigned expression. Should I leave gyp behind? I am great friends with Kate and really wanted to go on dogwalks together and to take gyp to visit as she has a large wooded garden, ideal for dogs, and I am very fond of Edna too, even though she isnt mine, I have seen her since she was tiny and when she comes to stay she comes into my bedroom and greets me in the mornings. No chance of that now! I searched the boards here and it looks like I have not much chance in getting them to get along. Any advice welcomed - sorry about the long post!

Sounds to me as if Gypsy does not like Edna.   I would not expect them to ever get along.  If you need to take Gypsy when you see your friend, keep her on the lead at all times.

Also, you say that you've only had Gypsy for four weeks?  Do you know if she has a history of attacking other dogs?

Stacey

Only Gypsy knows why she went for Edna but that scenario - Gypsy in car on lead (was she tied up?) and Edna jumping in is likely to spark something I reckon.  Your best bet would be to take them for a walk and stay calm if they 'have words'. If you put a trailing line on Gypsy that you can stand on if necessary so that Edna can get away the chances are they will be fine.  I do not recommend that you join in the fighting.  The scruffing, growling and alpha rolling will not only have made the situation between the two dogs a lot worse, it will also not do your relationship with your dog any favours.  If they are okay going on a walk together with just the occasional spat then I would be content with that and probably not risk them in the car or in each other's home for a while a least.

I am a bit confused, I thought if I told Gyspy off each time she went for Edna and put her in the car to cool off a bit she would get the message and stop. Why should I not tell her off? According to the dog behaviour books you should shake them and growl at them to let them know they have done something wrong. Is it that she will think she it is the other dogs fault that she is being isolated in the car, not her. I love her very much and really want them to get along, and for Gyp to not bite Edna. Both of them are happy friendly little dogs on their own. Gyp doesnt normally react to other dogs much;she plays with most, ignores some, and barks at a few. she has been attacked by a large lurcher, a terrier cross and a cairn there was also something collieish that went for both her and edna whilst we were walking along the canal towpath. She yipped and ran away in fright. She plays with spaniels, old english sheepdogs yorkshire terriers and my friends rottweiler. she is always pleased to see me and tries to kiss me in the mornings. If I pat Edna in front of her will that make things worse?
thank you for your help

Well I got the impression from your first post that the telling off didn't do the trick.  Even if it had of done it wouldn't have helped the dogs get on next time.  Please feel free to email me Mrs Trellis by clicking on my name and I will gladly give you more info on aggression in dogs.

A couple of links for you to read.  Sorry you'll have to cut and paste unless a kind person who can do links is here right now.

http://www.dogwhisper.com/book_review-alpha.html

http://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html

http://www.dogwhisper.com/book_review-alpha.html
http://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html

Thank you sonny.  Can you tell me how to do it or how to find the link to how to do it.

sally
All you do is type [link] then put address in this area then type [/link] but no spaces.

If you punish Gypsy she will associate the punishment with the presence of Edna, not for her actions, and is so is less likely to enjoy Edna's company and it is possible she will do her best to drive her away: no Edna = no nastiness (possible perceived by her as aggression) from you. I don't think my dogs would appreciate someone else's dog jumping into 'their' car, and they certainly aren't very keen on me fussing another dog!

thanks genie, will try and stop ed getting in the car before we release gyp. Ed has been in our car so often before we had gyp that she just gets in to say hello when we arrive. I have loads of pictures of her, my husband would not let me have a dog before he started working from home so edna was my "dog once removed"  until we got gyp on the 4th april this year. this is a steep learning curve for me, thats for sure.Again thanks for all the help

You sound as if you love your dog very much and i suspect that with time they *may* be OK if you watch things such as Edna jumping in the back; that can be quite a big thing for a dog.

Good luck!

Lindsay
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