Number of dogs: 2
Ages of dog: Kizzie ~ 3 yrs ... Huckleberry ~ 2 and 1/2 yrs
Body language escalation: Stiffening, Stand Over or Body Block, Growl, Air Snap
Frequency: Usually a Stand Over or Body block once a day. A growl and air snap every once in a while.
"Problem" child, and why you think that is the dog causing the issues:
I don't know that I view either as a "problem child". At this point they really get along extremely well and are very bonded to each other.
So here's their story:
I had Kizzie for about 6 mos before I brought Huckle home. Both were strays from the shelter. Kizzie had been stuck there 2 mos before I adopted her and it was not a good situation at the shelter. So she had a bit of a rough start in life.
In some parts of her life she's a very bold, confident lil' dog. In others, there's a level of insecurity. She's a soft dog, so I try and be very careful about correction. A verbal "uhtuh" or "enough" is the extent of it. She did have some separation anxiety, so I decided to get another dog to help with that, since she's so dog friendly.
In my selection process at the shelter, I tried to make sure I got a dog I felt would get along well with Kizzie, first and foremost. I of course had to really like and want the dog too. There was a Golden I would have gotten I think if it was just about me, but Huckleberry seemed the best fit for both of us.
When I first brought Huckle home, there was a bit of resource guarding from Kizzie. She growled if he got near her food bowl. She wouldn't share her toys. If I gave'em each a bone, she'd go grab his and try to hoard both bones. She growled about him being on the bed. When I was giving him attention, she'd get in between us. It was a precarious start no doubt, although I could tell from their play together that they really liked each other.
From my viewpoint the resource guarding stemmed from insecurity. From her not wanting this interloper to come in and take away this good life she finally had now. So I was very careful to make sure she didn't feel Huckle was in any way a threat and to even make it where she associated Huckle with even better stuff happening in her life. Higher value treats, more walks, more play and it all involved Huckle. I also never yelled or punished her for that initial resource guarding, but I didn't let her bully Huckle either. I'd manage the resources where she didn't feel threatened and if something happened I'd talk to her and redirect her.
I will say though, a huge part in it working out is Huckle is a pretty laid back guy and never challenged her on anything. Once he got confident in being a part of our lil' pack though, he did turn out to be quite the pester-y lil' brother.
So really at this point, the resource guarding is very minor. If we're giving Huckle a bunch of attention, she may come over and stand between us and him, but it never escalates, because we redirect the behavior. The only squabbles they have now are when he gets pester-y. Sometimes we'll intervene, because she's way too tolerant of it, but for the most part we just let her handle it. When she reaches her "I've had enough" level, she growls and air snaps at him, he backs off and that's the end of it. They have never actually had a real honest to god dog fight and unless Huckle had a drastic personality change over night, I can't see it ever escalating to that.