my dog just attacked my min pin. suggestions?

tonisaysss

i've had this issue before but it hasn't escalated to this point. i normally feed both of my dogs across the house from each other. layla, my 5 mo golden, normally scarfs down her food in 1/10 the time it takes lola, my 4 y/o min pin, to eat. after layla is done, we have to play the "keep her the heck away from lola" game until lola is done and i can pick up her bowl -- this can last up to 15 mins.

tonight, i made both of their dinners and set layla's down in the kitchen. i put lola's bowl outside of the kitchen on the opposite wall so layla couldn't even see her. layla finished first and went around the wall and stood their for 5 minutes watching her.

she then inched closer and started in on lola's food so i went to retrieve her. she didn't growl at me, but i directed her away from lola's food. the moment she passed lola, she lunged at her. lola scurried away squealing while layla was on top of her strong-arming. she wasn't hurt, but there was spit around her neck so layla obviously tried to bite.

my boyfriend pulled layla outside for time-out.

i don't know how to correct these situations. layla gets 2 cups of food a day so she is eating enough (5 mos, 30 lbs).

if anyone could give me some advice or guidance if they've had this problem i'd appreciate it.

also, someone give me some advice on how to suggest to my boyfriend he's being too rough with layla. he's a cat person and doesn't really understand dogs so i'm going through hell trying to train and re-train against aggression. he's very obstinate when i tell him he's doing wrong. one of those.

shihtzusandwich

There will be some great training perspectives from some excellent folks..so I'll leave that to them, but my first suggestion would be a baby gate. Can you just separate them until food time is over, and then reunite them?

tonisaysss

i guess that would be the easiest solution. i was considering getting one regardless because i'm sick of the huge dog dancing under my feet when i'm cooking.

i was just curious if there were any training methods i could practice to teach her.

Criosphynx

Hi


like mentioned above, for now its best to separate them by som' sort of barrier. You'll have to prevent and manage the behavior while you install a new one. This must be 100% or the training will regress. Personally I feed the dogs in their crates, but separate rooms work equally well


time to teach a super solid leave it. Heres how.

YouTube - "It's Yer Choice"





you can use the technique in the video with Lolas bowl. Put som' food in it and Everytime layla goes for it, you simply cover it. Rewarding her when she ignores it. Eventually if you are consistant, she will stop going for it completely.

tho it is just to easy to simply split them up.

tonisaysss

hmm. i didn't think to apply 'leave it' to this situation. i will start feeding them separately and work on leave it with toys and eventually food when she grasps the concept.

thank you both.

Gone2Dogs

We crate everyone for meals. I have more than just two dogs and there are vast size differences so peace is important without bloodshed. We did it always when feeding with too many puppys and adults. That and many years ago we had a young cat get to close to a dog and nearly lose her eye and life. She lived and hated that dog to her dying day. She loved the other dogs ....himilayan are vindictive.


While I understand wanting to train through this issue to me the puppy could be worked with more safely if the min pin is a non issue. And I am sure the min pin will be able to relax and not escalate the tension. After you have more control with the puppy then you can work with them together with something less valuable. And while the min pin has some peace I would start NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) with the puppy. Puppy does something for everything.....especially for it's meals. Start learning some self control now.

tonisaysss

it just makes me feel horrible that my min-pin will submit and allow her to gobble her food. i pull the pup away from her food, and the pup still lunges at the min-pin that gave up her food.

i will start separating them as of tomorrow. thank you.

Criosphynx

dont' feel bad. I have a dog that will let the CAT take her food away. Som' dogs just don't care to put up a fight over resources.

fawkese1

yeah...totally don't feel bad... in fact, be relieved that the min pin backed down so quickly and you didn't have a fight or anything, my dog goes either way, most of the time he will just walk away if someone else wants his food, but the other day he got very guardy with his food stuff.... i feed him in his crate anyway to help him like being in there more, the easiest thing tho is to separate them...

the vid that crios posted is like the easiest training game i've ever played with a dog before, i'm sure your dog will pick up on it really quickly...

Mikey

Well it's covered and I couldn't add anything to what was said Keep us posted!!