Battle for Alpha Dog....

[Chris & Boys]

Well, we brought Boomer home last night, he is our 14 yr old GR. Um, not so good. Fozzy immediately started mounting him and growling at him. Every time Boomer would lay down, which with his health is constantly, Fozzy would stand over Boomers head, with him privates right over Boomer's face. Ugh, this kinda pissed me off. My poor dear GD doesn't deserve this type of behavior. He is old, weak and could possibly have cancer. I am taking it kinda personally, I know. So, Fozzy and Boomer were at it most of the night. Nothing vicious, just a lot of barking and snapping.

But here is the other thing. Today is day 2 of Fozzy Bear not coming to the office with me. I decided that I would leave the two of them in my master bedroom and bathroom. I figured this would give them enough room and since they like to sleep together, they could keep eachother company. I am afraid maybe that wasn't a good idea.

Has anyone ever had to deal with this alpha battle ??

[Chris & Boys]

Well, yesterday went ok. When I came home, they were buddies. Boomer doesn't play much - too old and riddled with arthritis. But they do lay side by side when sleeping. Boomer has been giving right back to Fozzy with barking and snapping, but when Fozzy mounts him, quite often, Boomers rear legs give way, and he falls. Not much he can do to defend himself. I then admonish Fozzy for being so disrespectful to my first born. How dare he?? lol I think this is where Fozzy is getting mixed signals from Boomer.

I am lucky, as long as they each have the same treat, they don't fight for eachothers. At feeding time, I put their food in different places at the exact same time to avoid any problems. Fozzy is much more protective of his food than Boomer. But then again, Fozzy is a real pig and would weigh 200 lbs if I let him eat what he wanted.

[Jeri]

Our older dog is the Alpha. Although he is only 5, they play hard together; Jaeger will only allow so much and than puts Sam in his place with a lot of noise. I have to feed them separately as Jaeger will not allow Sam to eat until he is done and Jaeger was getting to heavy. Jaeger used to be free fed and never got to heavy until we added Sam to the picture. So now I control the amount and time. So far it is working; but when they are eating I stand guard so Jaeger stays at his bowl. The other day Jaeger just layed at his bowl of food , but did not eat it. He was guarding it. I feed Sam twice a day, but since Jaeger does not get up as early as Sam(he stays in bed with Tom) I now am feeding Jaeger in the evening. Seems to be working. Otherwise they are good buddies and play well together, although people who do not know them think they are not playing.

[Kyoko]

Chris, if you look at the Forum section today, there is one titled " Am I doing the right thing?"
We have been talking about the very issue....
I bought 2 filled hoof for my 2 dogs today. They both seems to think that the one the other dog got taste better or something. They keep stealing from each other and chewing on the one that is NOT theirs!

[Phoebe's Mom]

I was thinking about you and how they both handled the change today. I hope that it all worked out. Given this new found testosterone infusion of Fozzy's, would you consider having your older dog still have run of the house but confine Fozzy to the master bedroom (or would that staert a doggy riot with Fozzy clamboring to get out?)

[Chris & Boys]

No, that is the problem. I cannot bring either one to the office. I guess I will see how today goes and if they haven't maimed eachother while I am gone, I will leave it as is for a while. I hope that Fozzy will do well with holding "it" during the day so they can have the run of the house, which Boomer has had since he was a puppy. I wanted them to be together, so they are not so lonely. I have only crated Fozzy for the first month I had him, and that was only overnight until he was able to hold it til morning. Otherwise, he was with me all the time, so he didn't need to be crated, and I hate to start at 5 months old.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

I posted a similar post last night but with me its the old dog being too mean to the young dog - who for the most part avoids him and minds her own business.

In your case with the young dog being Alpha on the old dog I am sure the old guy will put him in his place if her gets too carried away.

But if it worries you can you bring them both to the office, with the crate, that way you can keep an eye and if Boomer gets carried away on the old guy you can give him a time out. ?