Folks,
I need some advice...
Tonight I broke up a fight (not before I broke a finger,
however) between my Bonnie (10 mo old Pyr) and Sadie (8 yr old Rottweiler
mix). It started when Sadie had both the chew bones in front of her
and I reached for one of them to give to Bonnie. Sadie started to growl
(not looking at me directly but I think the growl was directed my way; I've been
having some problems with Sadie trying to challenge me for alpha
position). Bonnie, who until this point had been willing to back off and
submit to Sadie, jumped in and I had a hard time keeping them off each
other. Usually I could grab Sadie and pull her back and the fight would be
over. Tonight, however, Bonnie wouldn't let it go and kept coming at
Sadie, even after I told her to stop and back off. Finally I had to simply
let Sadie go and let them work it out for themselves. Thankfully, no one
got hurt (other than me).
I'm unsure what to do to keep Bonnie and Sadie
from getting into a fight where one or both get seriously injured or
killed. I've read that as Pyrs reach adulthood, they tend to get more
protective and less likely to back down from other animals. Thinking back
on tonight's incident, I'm not sure whether Bonnie attacked Sadie because she
wanted the bone or because Sadie growled at me. I could have caused the
whole incident, but I'm not sure.
Anyone got any ideas on how to minimize
the chances of a major fight between these two dogs, or whether I should just
let them go and duke it out between themselves? I'd appreciate any ideas
or solutions other people have tried when a young Pyr decides to no longer back
down to a dog who has always been alpha dog. And if the fighting was
caused by Sadie's threat to me, then I can try to make sure Bonnie is not in the
room when I remind Sadie who's the boss (happening more frequently than it used
to).
I'd rather not see either one get seriously hurt, but realize I
won't be able to keep them from fighting, especially when I'm not home.
Well, now that my finger is aching and I've spell-checked several times to
account for the finger splint I'll wait and hope to get some suggestions from
others.
Thanks,
Tammy (along with Bonnie, Sadie, Goose, & Little
Red) :)
tmseller@gateway.net
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