hiya all im having a problem with my staffy ive got two kacey who is about 10 months old and bailey who is 12 weeks old
the problem is with bailey she seems to think that she is the more dominant one. i mean i always feed kacey first and so on but bailey is really pushy and always demands to be first and wen im stroking or playin with kacey, bailey wil come over and push her out the way.
now kacey is the softest staffy and she lets bailey do what she wants.
now my mum has read that if you lie a dog on their back and gently push down on their ribs and growl your showin them whos boss but all bailey does it growl back at her more louder and shes gettin aggresive anyone know how i can get this out of her ill be really gratefull

Please stop what you're doing - 'alpha rolls' have been thoroughly discredited, even by the people who first advocated them. As you're discovering, they actually encourage aggression. Forcibly turning a dog over is an aggressive act - it's the precursor to a kill. A submissive dog will roll over of its own accord - a whole world of difference.

Make sure you give both dogs individual time with you - even the older one is still a puppy, and needs plenty of one-to-one time with you. It could well be that Bailey will end up as higher-ranking then Kasey.

jesus!  Yeah, I'm with Jeangenie on this one. ..don't do the alpha rolls!

individual time definitely, one to one time too... feed at the same time but separately.  (ie separate rooms)...it ispossible..
You're the one in charge - not them....
but I think I'm right in saying that they will find their pecking order (my two certainly have, but that might change with age?)
also I'd say, certainly at 12 weeks old, Bailey needs to be told gently but firmly what he can and cannot do, as does Kacey.....

Your puppy is simply being a puppy & the older bitch is acting the adult by letting her take liberties

In the wild the young are allowed to do many things that wouldn't be allowed in an adult, your older dog will allow the behaviour to continue until the time that she wishes it to end & will then put the youngster in her place

There is no need for you to intervene unless there is real aggression & TBH I doubt that there will be

You don't have to show the dogs you are in charge they know you are not a dog nor part of their pack, but you are a supplier of food & a source of enjoyable interaction

You don't have to feed in separate rooms, feed one in a crate(the puppy as she will be having more meals than the older dog) & the other free I would give a few treats to the adult when you feed the extra meals to the puppy

Agree - ditch the alpha rolls,

Really not a good idea. One of the books that suggested doing this was written by the Monks of New Skete and they have since done  U turn on this idea.
Don't do it!!!

Lindsay
x

lol dont worry my mum has tried it only once with bailey and ill tell her its a really bad idea.
ive already started to introduce bailey to other dogs as she can get a bit carried away when playin with kacey and my uncles staffy she can get abit aggressive.
so do you think that she will be put in her place by kacey and that she will grow out of this i mean i treat both my dogs equally as im not about to give them anything to fight over and i wont stand for aggression with either of my dogs.
thank you for all your replies im very gratefull

one more thing jeangenie what do you mean by higher ranking?

A group or pair of dogs is most settled when they recognise their difference in ranking. Owners generally like the ranking to be in terms of age (big sister, little sister) but it doesn't always work out like that! Conflict often arises when ranking is being decided between similar individuals, which is why getting two puppies at the same time is often a huge mistake; and there are no 'equals' in a settled group.

Just to add, I always feed puppies first and that's entirely natural -and puppies are usually allowed by adults to steal their food given half a chance, once they get a bit older the adult will set the boundaries, but not as early as 12 weeks. My 3 ½ month old pup can do whatever she wants still, none of the other dogs will tell her off for anything, but give it a few weeks and they WILL.

TBH your encouraging the pup to demand food first.  Give at the same time.  Our dogs are all fed in one room (5 of them) and the only problems we have are two of them growl when another sticks their heads in the bowle, the guilty dog for stealing soon stops!  The other time I've know a problem was when our pup was about 12 months and she's trying t o find her way in the pecking order.  Only happend twice (youngster with each of the older bitches)  They were fine straight away after are still are now.

Don't try to challenge your dog.

Hiya Kerrie,
I have two staffies, Ruby and we kept one of her litter, Coco. When Coco came along she was a little madam and was always trying it on with her mum and being very aggressive. At one point i was that concerned i thought we had made a big mistake and things would not get any better, but over time it did and i realised that it was all fairly normal behaviour. Ruby was forever telling her off and biting her legs trying to make her fall down but Coco wasnt having that and would lunge at her neck and jump on her back nipping her. Coco, being the puppy, wanted all the attention and hated Ruby having strokes so would too come over and push her out of way. Ruby too being a softie would let her and go and lie down with a sad look in her eye :( We kept calling Ruby back over and made a big fuss of her and would say NO in quite a firm voice to puppy if she tried pushing her away again and encouraged them both to sit next to each other and both get strokes etc. It seemed to work and although Coco can look like top dog to outsiders, its definately Ruby who still wears the pants in the relationship :) Your situation sounds similiar to what we had but they are brilliant together now. Hopefully Bailey will, in time, calm down and order will be restored :)  Good luck!

now my mum has read that if you lie a dog on their back and gently push down on their ribs and growl your showin them whos boss but all bailey does it growl back at her more louder and shes gettin aggresive

Arghhhhhh....... (holding shaking head in hands) No, No, No.

I agree with others this is outdated and they are but pups, what you are being advised to do is wrong and harmful, this is a 12 week old pup who is doing what all pups do, pups do play aggressively, they play fight all the time it is how they learn, they pull bite, drag and growl and adult dogs know this, which is why they are tolerant to pups behaviour, hierarchy status, dominance and pecking orders do not even come into it at this young age it is all about play and learning.

Your 10 monther is not even an adult herself, you have two pups here so she is being very good about her younger family member, you should not interfere only to give your 10 monther some alone time if pup gets too much.

You have two bitches with a not perfect, (as ideally an older bitch would have been even better) but at least with enough of an age gap to hopefully not need to worry about making an alpha yourself here, the older one should naturally be the alpha, if not there may be problems a good few months ahead from now, and if so your techniques of feeding, grooming first a chosen Alpha may work then but with Staffies of the same size, weight and character it may well not! That we shall have to wait and see in the future and hope that the once fully grown pup you have is not equal to your older bitch in mind and body, if she is and both wish to be alpha's you will not be able to control the outcome with this breed.

This is why a good age gap is needed to avoid these issues from mostly happening.

In the meantime, leave them to it, your older bitch will let your younger know in a few months time that playtime is well and truely over, the pup will either have a big sister to look up to (and I have my fingers crossed that this will be so :-) )  or will try to become lead bitch herself.

or maybe the pup'll grow up with guidance and they'll learn to have fun and read each others body language and will have a fluid hierarchy like so many multiple dog familys actually do and aren't actually as obsessed about who the Alpha is as we are!!  The feeding first etc is outdated with any age dog not just a pup.  Good luck with your pup, let them have fun.