[PyrNet-L] Care, Behavior: aggression btw male sibs update/??'s

["J Benson" <jonbob@earthlink.net>]

Thanks for sending me advice and lots to think about!!!  Update since last
post:
I have started downing the dogs to feed them and will not allow them to
check out another bowl other than the one I give.  If the dogs are in a
downed position where they can stare at the other than I put the trashcan
btw them so there will be staring.  So far so good!!!  Also I have taken
away the chew toys that they fight over.  They can't seem to handle being
together with these around so they aren't getting them.  They still have
toys but unfortunately the ones I left them are the ones they could care
less about.  Only play fighting now btw them.
I am hoping this will continue to work with them but time will tell.  I am
working on the boot camp for alpha's  now and the 30 minute downstays.  It
is physically exhausting for me right now but I am fighting a cold/flu and
hopefully as we go it will get easier for me to maintain control over them.
 Unfortunately I do not naturally exude an alpha type aura.  I can be firm
and downright rough with them if need be but I just don't have that alpha
personality so I am working on this and hard!!!   Bear is my big marshmello
and the instigator of these fights which by the way I am quite sure they
are fights because they are always ' about ' something and I know I would
get bitten if I stuck my hand in there and when I have to separate ( of
late- it wasn't like this initially) I have to hold them off their front
feet to keep the strength from them going right back at it.  I hate doing
that because I think about their windpipes but if I let their feet down
they would be going at each other again and I may fall in the middle of it.
  It has been hard to write back because they are keeping me so busy --
they were totally untrained, had no name and no clue about any sort of
verbal directions when I got them and not housebroken either so I have been
busy busy busy from the get go trying to teach them.
Other Concern:  Wolf is mouthy and I hate mouthy.  I despise it when a dog
mouths me for putting it onleash, getting him off the couch when he doesn't
want to listen to my OFF or for anything else he doesn't like me doing ( in
Wolf's case this includes trimming nails and grooming!!).  I need advice on
dealing with this.  I have tried rolling him at times when I pull him off
the couch and he  mouths but he does fight me at times and I am afraid that
he may not find this as threatening and intimidating as I would like him
too.  Also as they grow he will surely find it a joke if he doesn't take it
seriously now.  I only attempt rolling when he falls off the couch as I
pull and it is an easy try but then Bear gets in my way and I am not sure
when to release Wolf .  I usually grab his throat or hold his mouth shut
because he would continue to mouth or even snap if I don't.  He snaps at
Bear and he has snapped at me where he does this to make a sound with his
jaws and I get mad about that too.  Wolf has also nipped me before (
sometimes when I pick up in his kennel and have to stoop over he has nipped
my legs butt and back.)  He will jump on me in this instance and seems
playful and I try to shove him off his feet but not always successfully
depending on how much crap I happenned to have just scooped up in a bag and
if it will 'fly' when I move.
These boys are giving me such a run for my money 
I really am trying to work hard on them.  Any insights on their behavior
and advice to deal with it????   sincerely michelle  jonbob@earthlinnk.net