hi everyone.
i have 2 dogs ted a jack russell age 8 and kelly a bassett age 2 thay were stolen 1 1/2 years ago after 2 months of serching we got a boxer alfie then 2 weeks later we found kelly 1 week after that we found ted he had had a bad time he was all bone had been beaten and looks like from the scars had to fight with other dogs for food. well he took an instant dislike to alfie wich i can understand.
ted has always been a agressive dog and a bully but since alfie got his manhood it is terrible.
alfie is a kind and gentle dog and people have said that thay cannot believe a boxer could be so well behaved but he is not without fault.
for the last 6 months ted goes out of his way to attack alfie.i had best give you a list.if alfie walks past ted wilst he is chewing somthing ted will launch at him. alfie is not aloud to sleep anywere ted will hunt him out and make him go outside then sits at the dog flap not letting alfie back in . will not let alfie eat unless im gaurding him but now alfie is so worried he is loosing weight.ted is constantly staring alfie out.and fighting all the time . alfie trys to get away but sometimes gets cornered so has to defend himself always ends in alfie bleeding. this is all on a daily basses but the last fight was realy bad and it is a good job my partner was there as i would,nt be able to stop them.
i am now scared to go out of the room there in. im constantly on edge. im realy worried as i have 2 young children and ted has bitten 1 of them. and when they fight thay are all over the house. my life is becoming misserable and am considering putting ted to sleep. but he has had a bad time of it.and i love him..
i think i do all the right things ted eats first then kelly then alfie. ted sleeps in the best spots and alfie is not bothered.
there is 1 thing i do and that is every day i take alfie to my parents farm but i darent leave him because when i do and come back alfie is a nervous reck and shaking because teds chased him outside the house in all weather.please help

Poor you, and poor dogs! It doesn't sound as though anyone's happy. :( I can see several options open to you:
1) Permanently keep Ted and Alfie apart - one lives in certain rooms of the house, and one in another, and they never meet.
2) Castrating Alfie might be an answer - when two dogs fight it's generally advised to castrate the subordinate dog to increase the difference in their status - that would only work if Ted is entire though.
3) Rehome either Ted or Alfie.

Not easy decisions - but something must be done before Alfie's temperament is ruined.

Hi 4mandy,

Can't add to JG's advice - they are the only options I can come up with :(   It's obviously a difficult situation but one which you'll need to try and resolve very quickly before it gets totally out of hand.

Sometimes dogs just cannot get on with another housemate and it's better in the long run to rehome one.  Heartbreaking though it is for owners, it's generally a huge success for the remaining dogs and the one found a new home too.  Constant tension won;t be doing any of you much good.

Hope you can work through this and don't try to be super-human if it's all too much.
best wishes, Teri  

What a horrible situation for you. To be honest though, unless you can keep them separate, it would be kinder to rehome one of them. However, if ted is such an aggressive bully (was he always this way?) you would have to be extremely careful who he was rehomed with and it might be that Alfie is the one that has to go.  You can't carry on like this because, at best, Alfie will end up a nervous wreck and it simply isn't fair on him.

How old is Alfie?

alfie is 18 months old

hi
yes but i don't think it is his fault though.
we got him at 12 weeks old the breeder is nown for lets say cruel love.
we got a dog behaviorist to see him and after 2 hours said there was nothing she could do he was just to head strong.
he used to fight with kelly before we got alfie but now leaves her alone.

PS: If you decide to rehome Alfie, please contact his breeder first, who should be more than willing to help. If for some reason they aren't helpful contact Boxer Rescue who may have the ideal person on their waiting list, who can give him a loving, permanent home. Good luck!

I had a similar problem with 2 of my dogs some years ago.  I used to have a poodle who could be quite aggressive and a flat coated retriever who was very laid back.  The poodle was the oldest.  The poodle started to dominate the flat-coat - and like Jack, tried to stop him eating etc.  We had to reverse their roles.  We separated them at meal times but made sure the less dominant dog was fed first etc.  When the poodle became aggressive he was taken to another room etc etc while the flat coat remained where he was. They never became friends, but they did learn to tolerate each other. 

Due to the Jack Russell being stolen he probably feels insecure, and needs to establish his place again.  I do not think that putting him to sleep is the answer.  Have you discussed this with your vet? 

yes i did and she said it was dominance aggresion and gave me some D.A.P. (dog appeasing pheromone). i had to spray it 15 minutes before leaving the house and when i thought ted was about to turn . needless to say it went well for the first day then back to normal.
i have a few questions if you dont mind.
WHOis top dog as when ted trys to steel off or move kelly she growls and ted leaves her (she do'snt take any messing she will walk right up to alfie or ted and take food out of there mouths)
in my mind kelly is top dog but if she is is ted trying to be dominant or do's he just hate alfie.
i used to feed alfie in a different room but it made things worse as ted would weight till alfie had finnished and try and bite his face off or just follow him round the house until alfie was sick.(nice)
do i try and feed kelly first or im i just going to make things worse
ted has changed alot since he was stolen the vet said we just don't know what mentaly this did to him.he seems alot more wired and he will attack strangers eg. the new vet but i think thats through fear.
i will try and find a new home for him but people won't be keen as he has alot of med problems but i realy want to try and sort it out ( i don't think i can though).

by the way don't get me wrong ted loves people he will try to lick you to death and is more people oriantated (can't spell) than dogs he only bites or threatens to if he feels threatened so we try to keep him away from them situations.
he likes nothing more than to snuggle up to someone.

When I've come across DAP before it has to be used continually - plugged in near the dog's sleeping area and just left for at least a week.

When I suggested keeping Ted and Alfie separately, I meant permanently - forever. I knew someone who had to do this with her two rescue dogs - one lived upstairs and the other lived downstairs. The downstairs dog was shut away when the upstairs dog went into the garden. They were walked separately - they were never allowed to meet after they started fighting. They lived like that for years. It wasn't ideal but better than fights.

You do have some difficult choices to make, mandy. Because I suspect you will have a deal of trouble rehoming an older and aggressive JRT and you'd need to find a very experienced owner who could work on his problems.  For sure he'd have to live in a home without any other dogs. The alternative is to rehome the sweeter-natured alfie unless you can be absolutely 100% certain that you can keep them apart permanently.

Hi 4mandy, I realy feel for you, this cant be easy ,  but i think unless you are in a position to keep the seperate at all times , your only chioce will be to rehome one of them, and only you can decide which one , but you need to do something soon before Alfie (Boxer)decides enough is enough, as a Boxer owner myself, they are a wonderful tolerant breed, but they will only take so much bullying, and the last thing you want is for his temperament to change, and the chances of it happening are high............. he is still  a very much a puppy, and Boxers dont mature mentally till they are about 3yrs old, so he is still very much a submissive pup.
And your poor JRT what he must have gone through, when he was away from you,   if you have aready gone down the road of behaviourists , and still no joy,and you are not in a position to seperate them, then you have a very hard choice to make, if you decide to rehome Alfie then i would get intouch with BOXER RESCUE  they are dedicated people who love their breed and will find him a wonderful home..................... good luck and god bless.

hi jackbox as you are a boxer owner you will now there is no other breed that is so full of life love and just darn right mad as a hatter a laugh a minute.
i cant get rid of him because i dont think it will solve the problem it will just move it in kellys direction as he used to bully her before alfie came i never witnest it but my friend that lives next door used to say that ted used to make her yelp and cry and once had to climb over the fence to stop him. a dog psychologist is coming on wednesday she seems realy nice.she is my last hope. after her visit then i can decide what to do.
you guys have been great and any advice is VERY WELCOME.

Hi, I know what you mean , Boxers are just "full on" I have 2 of them,............it looks like you know which way you will have to go , if the psychologist does not help, but for now  you can try and keep him away from Alfie as much as poss.