Hi all,

I have a 3 year old female GR and a male youngster of 8 months. Since we brought Alfie home at 12 weeks the older female has let him get away with murder, she lets him take every toy she ever has in her mouth and the same goes for treats, he can just walk up and take them from her and she just looks up at us and lets him get on with it, she is such a big softie and such a gentle, quiet girl. On the rare occasion when she is busily chewing something and he tries to take it she will give out the slightest grumble or even just a certain 'look' and he totally backs off with his ears down and sits with the nearest human for reassurance, so he has always been very sensitive to her reactions even though he IS a cheeky bugger with her.

BUT this evening I gave them both a raw marrow bone (which they have had many times before) and Alfie had got bored of his and went straight up to Amber to pull her bone from under her, now at first she lifted her head and wagged her tail as if she was going to let him but then all of a sudden she let rip on him and there was a horrible few seconds where there was a lot of noise and snapping at each other (they didnt grab hold of each other, I thought they had at first, but it was just some very agressive sounding barking) I managed to run over and call Alfie away, but he really had a go back at her, of which I was very suprised at. He was shaking after it, I think he had shocked himself, nothing like this had ever happened like this between them it has always been so lovely, my heart was in my mouth!

Sooo my question is...is this a normal thing to occur when a adolescent pushes it too far? Should he know now to keep away from her in this situation (or because he actually had a go back at her could that happen again?) Should I avoid giving them raw bones as that is the only thing it has ever happened over...I think I may be over analysing this, buy Ive never owned 2 dogs before so not sure if this is a normal thing to happen? any reassurence from some much more doggy experienced folk?!

Sounds quite normal to me - he hasn't sorted doggy etiquette yet :D :D My two had the odd spat over bones, but now have it sussed - possession is 100% of the law :D :D However, any bone left unattended is fair game :) If you are worried about it happening again, just give them the bones in different rooms :)

Daisy

Sounds quite normal to me - he hasn't sorted doggy etiquette yet
He is a boy after all :D :D

Or keep a good eye out when they are chomping so you can step in if things get out of order :)

Typical! I write an essay and you get straight to the point! :rolleyes: :D :D :D

Aah - but you are far more eloquent and (usually) far more knowledgeable :D :D :D

Daisy

:p :D

This sort of thing is very common when puppies start growing up. Adult dogs are generally very tolerant of pups, allowing them to take extraordinary liberties ... until they approach adolescence. Then the discipline really starts, as the dogs decide their status between them. Nine times out of ten a bitch will rule the roost and most dogs will allow this without too much protest.

Normal harmony can easily be disrupted when something of particularly high value - such as a juicy bone - is introduced, and serious words are spoken between them. Your boy went over the boundary and got a severe ticking off. Whether or not he'll try his luck again, and what the outcome is, remains to be seen.

You might prefer to give them their bones in separate rooms in future, so that they can enjoy them without stress. :)

Thank you for your replies everyone, so this is all quite normal then? I thought as much, infact Im quite glad she has EVENTUALLY told off the cheeky swine, so many times he just barges past her to get to a treat first, and even when I hold him back while she takes it he will do his best to steal it from her, even out of her mouth! I can definitely put more distance between them when getting their next bones, but due to our open plan living area its hard to keep them in totally separate rooms...to be honest I normally keep them in the same area as I put down an old dustsheet to stop the dead cow getting on the carpet! I think 2 dustsheets maybe in order from now on!

So you say that it is normal for a bitch to be top dog then, is now the time they will sort this out between them, (now he is getting older?)

If he does keep having a go back when she tries to tell him off is it likely that there will be disagreements in other areas (other than just with high value treats?) and what happens if they dont sort it out will 'arguments' pop up all the time? Im not sure why Im asking all this, they are both complete softies and Alfie is not a dominant type of dog at all, at training class he constantly crawls along the floor when meeting other dogs and is always flipping on to his back, he is definitely the most submissive dog I have ever seen when meeting new dogs (thats why it shocked me so much tonight)  I think he is just so used to getting away with everything with Amber so thats why he pushes it so much, he may think twice now!

I have an adult GSD dog & adult female terrier. The GSD(Zak)  lets Tilly the terrier walk all over him with everything except bones. She got quite a shock when he growled at her, but she new he meant it! I have also had the same since I started feeding raw. Zak wasn't that fussed over his dried kibble, Tilly learned that if she went up & barked at him while he was eating he would back off & return to his basket.She would then scoff his food. He won't with raw food or bones, Tilly now knows the boundaries that she can't pass. As long as your youngster backs down you won't have a problem, but don't leave them alone until you are sure. I gave both of them bones the other day, Zak's had gone quite quickly, but I got a phone call while they were eating them. When I returned half an hour later Tilly was still eating her's, but Zak is very good & had left het to eat her own, he just won't let her take his!

i sort of have the same thing in my house chas is just coming up to 8 months old and lucy nearly but i have the problem of chas growling at lucy is shes goes near him when he has a bone they are fine when they eat their dinner and make them both sit and give liver cake at the same time but if its something like bones even if i stick him in the crate and leave her out if she dares go anywhere near him he will have a right go hes ok with us taking the bones but lucy is so soppy she will not tell him off for this and just gets up and walks away so if they do have a bone she is in the crate in my room and he is in the living room so the simple thing to do in this house is seperate them or they just dont get one