Hello all, I am new here so if i do something wrong would someone please tell me.. thanx
Anyway I have 2 dogs 1 a cross boarder collie/staff who is 13months and the other is a boardercollie/greyhound, 6months, they are both lovely and i love them dearly... the eldest one we had from a rescue center at 9months old as the family that had her didnt want her anymore cos she is to boisterous...the younger one we had from the dogs home at 10weeks old...the problem we have is 1, when we leave them they chew up the settee and stuff...i leave them plenty of things to chew when we aint around...and the other problem is the eldest one is very dominant over the younger one...whenever they play she takes her things off her and growls at her and it leads to little scraps... I know it doesnt sound like much but it can be very tiering and i feel as though i dont want to go out cos i dont know what i will come back to....The dog we had sadly passed away at 11years old who we had from 8weeks did nothing to the extrem that these pair of rasculs do...i do not at all want to give these dogs up even though at times i do wonder what i have let myself in for...every one tells me they will grow out of it..but to be fair they are not here 24hours a day dealing with it...i tell the dogs NO, but it isnt getting me anywhere, the little one is also getting a barking habit...i dont have a kennel as the area i live in, as soon as i went out i could imagine kids climbing the fence tormenting them, I really do love these dogs and would appreciate any advice possibe...i watch all these dog programms and they make it look so easy....Thankyou

Hi Val100! Providing you don't go out for long (and as you mention living with them 24/7 I assume you're home most of the day) have you considered crating them? That would prevent them damaging your home.

Also it's normal for one dog to be higher ranking than the other - they don't 'do' equality. So personally I'd reinforce the position of the older one (putting her bowl down first when you feed them etc) and take her side when the younger one gets bolshy!

Is either of them spayed?

Thankyou i will try that, yes the eldest one is sprayed and i will be getting the younger one done within the next couple of months. Also i am sorry i think i have posted this on showing instead of behaviour will check properly next time lol

Hello!

We got two young crosses at the same time, a staffy cross and a parsons jack russell cross and were concerned about them chewing furniture etc.  Which is why for the first 18-24 months of their life, we got two crates!  The crates where big enough to house a GSD but a crate should be able to allow a dog to stand up, sit down, turn round, lay down and stretch out in. My two had one each and we gave up our breakfast room to house these crates!  They went in there at night and during the day when we weren't around to supervise, but we never left them for more than four hours.  That way our house was safe!  We could also watch them and as soon as they went to chew anything they shouldn't, I would take the item from them and give them a nylonbone.  These are very good for excessive chewers and it keeps their teeth and gums clean.  They started to understand what they should be chewing when they felt the urge!  I also left them with a selection of hardy toys and these balls you can put treats in.  this helped to relieve any boredom but before we put them in their crates (especially during the day) I always walked them first to burn off any excess energy!  A few months on my dogs have calmed down and are more mature and can be left at home unattended and I know I will come home to a house intact!

Growling....sounds as if the is a struggle for who will be top dog.  Again, my two went through a similiar process.  I did intervene when one was becoming more aggressive than the other and there were times when they had enough of each other they would go and sit in their crate for 'time out'. They will have scraps but as long as you are there to supervise such moments and make sure things do not get out of control, I would let them try to settle it themselves.  But if one is over powering another, split them up for a bit.  My girl, still takes toys off my boy and growls at him if he dares to take them back.  Needless to say, I buy two of everything and play with them on equal terms. If my girl take my boys toy I will go and get it back off of her and give it to my boy!  I give her her toy and tell her thats hers.

For the first two years it did feel like all my Husband and I were saying to our dogs were, 'No, don't do that, get down from there, no barking, give him back his toy, no, sit down, in your bed, bad dog, etc, etc'.  I can honestly say, the training (we went to classes and had a behaviourlist round for some pointers) and the firm stance on commands really has paid off.  I did have to give up one of my rooms in my house for a while, but the crates were  a god send!

Go to classes get some help, you are not alone and things can and will get better!

Thankyou...I will have to invest in some of these crates, they sound brill...also with christmas coming up i can imagin my tree torn apart lol apart from that everything you have said is everything we are going through..the only thing thats slightly different is the elder dog out of the 2 has lived a life with someone else for 8 months and with the woman who rescued her for a month...I have alot of time for the girls and i really was going to go back to work when our dog sadly passed away...but i have so much love for dogs i couldnt come home to the empty house it was without him....my mother-in-law reckons i should give one of the girls up but i could never do that..these girls havent replaced my boy they have filled the empty loss and we do have plenty to laugh about with them aswell as the learning times because thats what they are...the girls are young one has been passed around and this is now her forever home ...both of them...i will not turn my back on these little ones...so thats why i searched the web for advice...Thanks alot it's much appreciated...oh and please excuse the spelling lol xx