Need some advise, as some of you know, i got a collie (think she is more border collie than welsh collie) last night, friendly as anything and really well trained. Now, my Yorkshire Terrier Sparky is getting along with her ok, but it could be better! She wont bat an eyelid when Sparky grumbles, but im worried she is going to feel left out and think the reason Sparky is being like this is because he is scared of losing his top dog status maybe?

Sparky used to live in a house with 2 German Shepherds, 1 Golden Retriever (that sadly passed away) and 2 other Yorkies, so he is used to dogs around him, however this morning for example, Alan left for work and Tessa got all upset, as she is his dog really, not mine, and she came up to me on the bed and Sparky started grumbling and growling a little bit, and Tessa ran off downstairs... how do i help stop this behaviour

I gave him a sharp smack (not hard!!) and he went in a sulk downstairs then, however should i just ignore the behaviour, or should i tell him when he is bad? I dont want him to get left out, as he is like a top dog, so should i re-inforce his top dog status - feed him first, make him the top dog? Or what?

Any help i would really appriciate! Just to add, when food is around, strangely enough, sparky is fine, its mainly when they want to come on the settee and the bed....

>I gave him a sharp smack (not hard!!) and he went in a sulk downstairs then,

Smacking him is not going to help the situation atall. If he feels he is not allowed to growl at the other dog when it has annoyed him (even if you don't want him to be annoyed in the first place, but thats a different issue) there is a chance he wont bother to give a growl next time, he could go for a bite instead. Other than that, the smack is confusing, it makes you appear unpredictable & confontational  and it makes you seem not very trustworthy.

I don't know why your dog is growling at the other dog, it could be competition for your attention, guarding the bed/sofa  (it could be that these places are thought of by Sparky as his bed/safe space and he's uncomfortable with the new dog being on them).

Rewarding him for positive (non confrontational) behaviour around the other dog is going to have a much better effect than a smack, that way he can learn the other dog is a GOOD thing, not something that gets him a wallop.

Personally, if my dogs (I only have one now :( ) were having issues with each other over the sofa/my bed, neither of them would be allowed freely on it untill I had resolved the issue.

I'm sure somebody will have some more constructive advice.

I had a Jack Russell a few years ago. He was the only dog and my only baby for 10 years. I was concerned when we introduced our German Shepherd into the house that he would feel threatened. The way I dealt with it was to make sure Monty (the Jack Russell) got his food first, got fuss and attention first and generally came first with everything. We ended up having two lovely dogs who got on great. When Monty died, we got a rescue Beagle as Rebel (the GSD) seemed lonely. We did the same thing there. Rebel always got his treats first and became top dog with Hendrix knowing his place. We didn't ever have problems with aggression between the dogs. Maybe we were just lucky but it seemed to work.

i think it is the competition thing, the fact its his teratory and he doesnt want the bitch in it, which does make total sense, however i just hope that one day soon this wont be an issue anymore and they will play and get on really well

So when he is bad and he does growel, what should i do there then? Instead of a smack (hate that word, it sounds so mean and aggressive, its not, its only a tap really on his nose) to say he has done bad, what can i replace it with, just my voice tone?? and when he behaves well, praise him

I think making Sparky the top dog and feeding him first etc would make sense and i think that is going to have to be done

I mean dont get me wrong, once sparky and tessa had settled last night, both slept on the bed, however is tessa came up top, sparky would want to be where she is! Even if he was already settled... like he is fighting for attention, typical of a yorkie!

Twinny, i think that makes sense, i think i knew thats what i would have to do,however wasnt sure it would be so effective, so to see it working for you is a really positive good sign! :-) so thank you, gives me hope, i know its only been 1 night so far, but i dont want to make any mistakes early on and want to get it right for both of them

> So when he is bad and he does growel, what should i do there then?

Just remember he's not being 'bad' when he growls, he's just being a dog and communicating in the only way he knows how, it just happens to be a dog behaviour you don't want ;)

You know what triggers the growling (new dog getting on sofa/bed), so don't leave them unatended where this could happen. Keep your eye on them, if Sparky is allready on the bed/sofa & it looks like new dog wants to come up - get her to wait on the floor and ask Sparky to get down (praise both dogs for doing as told :) ), you could distract further by giving them something to do (trip into the garden/ a short trainng session each). At least this will help stop the behaviour becoming a habbit by avoiding it happening.

How long have you had the 'new' dog ?

I'm not very experienced in a multi-dog household, I'm sure somebody else can give you some more advice as to best resovle the whole situation, but until then pre-emp & avoid the situation :)

ETA, getting Sparky off the sofa/bed is not a punishment, it is simply to avoid an unwanted situation. To help stop Sparky relating the presence of the new dog = getting off the sofa/bed, you could get up & call them both to follow you to another room for a game/treat.

Thank you :-), you might not of had much experience, but your advice makes total sense :-)

We got her last night! So last night was the first night together... and i know its only soon, but i dont want as you said for it to get into habit as it will be harder to break it, if we start early, it nips it in the bud.

She is really friendly and she is the big one, and sparky being the size of a cat, actually smaller is the hardest one to deal with, big dogs in little bodies!!!

Ill give that a go on the sofas today then and see how it goes and do the same with the bed later tonight and see how it goes from there, thank you :-)

Give it time - she's only been with you 5 minutes :)  We have quite a lot of visiting dogs here and even with dogs they know, they all need a little adjustment time.

I'd put all thoughts of top dog out of your head.  Dog dynamics can be difficult to read and tricky to meddle with, they will sort themselves out soon enough and it's often better to let them find their natural level rather than create one.  Just because he was there first does not give him status and chances are, she'll take over anyway - girls often do!!

Do take steps for now to ensure that both dogs are treated in a similar way and that you do not 'favour' one over the other.  With that in mind it's sensible not to have 'my dog' and 'his dog' for a while at least.

As someone has already said if mine were arguing over who was on the bed or sofa they'd both get tipped off - I don't tolerate them squabbling over my things :)  I wouldn't 'smack' (never do) but I'll growl at them sometimes to let them know certain behaviours are not acceptable.  When we have visiting dogs, or I need to introduce a new one, a lot of normal privileges get suspended for a while.  It's just not worth having any areas of competition.  You'll probably find that yours will settle much faster if you don't interfere too much and give them room to make their own choices - swapping beds will be quite common and stealing each others toys.  

With regards to food I'd attempt to get their food down at a similar time but if they eat on command you will be able to release both to start at the same time.  Give them some distance between bowls and stay in the room whilst they eat so you can stop any threatening behaviours by standing between them.

Finally give them plenty of one-to-one time.  In this way they'll know they're loved and appreciated and will have less reason to feel anxious about being left out.  Walk them together for bonding and seperately to reinforce training.  Good luck - it'll be a busy few weeks but fun

Thank you dogs a babe, thats most helpful :-)

Maybe ill try growling at them! Might wonder what the heck i am doing and that will probably shut him up to be honest!!!

Food wise, we put both bowls down at the same time each morning and they seem fine together, sparky is the cheeky one and goes to eat her food, but she doesnt bother... he is so mischeiveous! Part of the fun though eh!

They walk together and get on well, so that was a good sign last night, will just have to keep at it, im sure in a couple of weeks everyone will be settled! Thank you!!

I feed all five of my dogs together, but when there is a new puppy who doesn't know the rules(no-one is allowed to touch another ones bowl until it is empty), then I stand in the middle as referee.  The bowls are probably at least 3 feet apart.

The oldest gets hers by the water bowl as sometimes she needs a drink before she has finished, then the others have their bowls in various corners so that they pretty well have their backs to each other.

I put their bowls down in age order, but they were all born here, and are all the same sex.

I agree with the others, with a dog and a a bitch there may be no hierarchy issues at all, or the bitch will be top.

If it were me and my dog started growling when on the sofa i would remove myself from the situation. Calmly stand up and leave the room, it will defuse any aggression that is building. Its what i did when my new jrt growled at my dogs, i clamly(without saying a word) left the room- of course they all followed, but the issue before was forgotten about.
Personally, i would teach your current dog that the new dogs food bowl is out of bounds. My dogs all eat from their own bowls, my collie is a very slow eater and the others hover in the kitchen waiting for her to finish so they can lick the bowl clean but they never ever share bowls when there is food in them. I have always taught them this way, as one day there may be a tastier snack in that bowl which said dog wants to defend fiercly.

You should continue with your routine, ignore any unwanted behaviour. Im sure after a few days they will settle together in harmony :)

A while back I had a similar situation with 2 of my dogs, now neither of them are allowed on the bed. They would sometimes square up to one another if one or the other of them were sitting on my lap on the sofa even to the point of them fighting. It was easily recognisible when this was going to happen and  at first we would pick one of them up to remove them from the situation but the minute we touched them it escalated the situation. We soon found that the easiest way was to remove ourselves or provide a distraction it worked really well and actually they seemed to get on much better once they realised that they would all be treated the same.

Mine are fed together and not allowed to touch each others bowls until they are empty, they also know that as soon as they have finished eating they are expected to go outside so if I leave the back door open once they have finished they will go out usually without being told.
jane