Hi all
I hope someone here will be able to offer some help with a dominance
issue. We have four dogs, three australian shepherds and a much smaller dog
(about the size of a small terrier) and recently the newest addition to the
group
(a 4 year-old aussie female) has become very dominant towards the smallest
one (also a female) The dominance consists of intense staring, stalking, and
herding. Her "victim" is now at the stage where she just goes somewhere
and turns her head away and hopes the aussie will find something else to
concentrate on.
When this doesn`t work the little one will usually decide that enough is
enough and then
lose her temper and rush at the aussie, barking and snapping. This has
little or no effect
and the aussie just retreats a little and comes back again a few minutes
later. The aussie
has also begun to show the same behaviour towards one of the other aussies
(again, a female)
and while it`s not nearly as bad as the other example I`m worried that
things will just get
worse and worse. The 4 year-old is very friendly towards humans and is
always first in
line when it comes to being petted, and she also gets jealous when the other
dogs get any
attention.
I hope someone has some ideas, and I thank you in anticipation for any help
and
suggestions.
Gerry