Agressive Frenchie female???

[auntlissa]

We adopted our "frogdog" in January and I'm experiencing issues much like Kriseliz referred to. I have a male and female English bulldog and a female French. All are in the 5-6 year age range.

I noticed that someone posted that two females can be deadly. My girls are frequently arguing about something. Sometimes it's over a bone, toy, food or attention and sometimes that they think that the other might have looked at them. They can be clear across the room from each other when "it" starts. Most of the time less than 15 seconds passes before they break up.

My male and female occasionally had their sibling rivalry spats, but it's gotten much worse since we adopted the Frenchie...and she's guilty of starting it 90% of the time.....any suggestions. One of them lost a tooth last week and the other went to the vet today for a rip in her eye....it's definitely gotten out of hand. I'm sure that I make it sound like it happens more than it does, but I'm getting desperate! Thanks!!!!

[Martina]

I agree with Roosje that it's probably a dog hierarchical problem. I read a really interesting book before my dogs arrived titled: The Dog Listener by Jan Fennell. The entire premise of her 'dog philosophy' is that we humans give too much power to our pets by forgetting that they are, well, animals.

I don't know if her teachings and thoughts could help you, but I've found that my Lola and Gigi are beautifully behaved here at home with me. Then we go out with my family and friends who ooh and aah over the pups and cuddle and let them chew on their hands (a huge pet peeve with me!!), thinking it's cute. Then I come home with two little girls who ignore me and engage in all sorts of bad behavior that they wouldn't have dreamt of acting on 6 hrs ago! So I go back to treating them the way Jan recommends and, within 24 - 48 hrs, they are behaving again. Shame that it only takes 6 hrs to destroy my handiwork and 48 to repair my friend's ill-thought 'kindness' toward my dogs.

There are just so many dog books out there (and by now I've read my fair share). This is the only one that I keep referring back to. Good Luck!
Martina

[auntlissa]

Thanks so much for your help!! It looks like I have some reading to do!!! I would assume that all of this will help with territorialism also? I've read that once it's clearly established who the leader is (YOU) that they no longer feel that they need to be protective as you will tell them when to be or not to be . . .any experiences with that?

[Martina]

First of all, thanks to Roosje for that very detailed description of Amichien bonding - I loved it! I hope that other people find it helpful. Not to mention that ALL of your advise in this situation has been very spot on from my perspective.

Lissa - this is really working for us. I find that NIFIL and Jan Fennell's Amichien bonding are very similar and go hand in hand. Most importantly, they work for us!! They have helped with bonding between my pups, interacting with other people and dogs (and we have a lot of dogs around!), and just generally calming them down around the house. I haven't had problems with territoriality, but all of these behavioral difficulties stem from the root problem (according to Jan) that the dog believes it is the alpha and simple doesn't know how to act or handle a situation - which results in less than desirable behavior. Once the dog knows that you're the boss, s/he will give up trying to fix all the problems and look to you in situations of stress or uncertainty to fix and or take care of the problem.

Personally, I love having an actual book to go look at and sit down and leisurely flip through while I'm watching TV, out to a lazy lunch, or on the beach (oh, to be on the beach!). Not to mention that Jan's book gives lots of example of dogs with bad behavior and how she handled each situation. And she pretty much handles each situation exactly the same! It helps, though, when you think, "She'll never have an answer for this chewing/barking/craziness!" -- but she does!

The thing to keep in mind is that dogs are animals - pack animals, to be exact, who have ONE leader ... and that leader needs to be you. It might seem harsh or cruell to us as humans to ignore them and take away their favorite toy when they're having fun, but believe me, you will be rewarded with a sweet dog who pays attention and dotes on you even more. But it's not always easy, I must admit!! You've got to stick with it and, when you 'fall of the wagon' and give in to those pleading eyes - just know that it'll be more work for you in the future. As I said earlier ... in 6hrs my friends and family can destroy work that will take me a day or two to correct. I sure hope that it gets shorter as the puppies get older and know what I want from them!!

Good luck with everything!
Martina

[GigiMcKeehan]

We have had our Frenchie since she was 6 weeks old, she is now just about 7 months and not spayed. She has always been a bit bossy with the other dog in the family, a gentle 1 1/2 yr old Skye Terrier male, neutered. Lately the female has started aggressive behavior toward the male if he takes a rawhide chew bone or any treat . He will only try to defend himself during these attacks but she is in all out, hackles up, kill mode. She is bound to get injured one day. I have tried putting her in "jail" after these outbursts but nothing short of removing the treats and rawhides keeps her from becoming aggressive to him. I hate to not allow the "good" dog rawhide bones and treats just to keep the bad one from going Tazmanian Devil on him. I had thought I may breed her at least once but that will be a long time away. My vet recommends spaying her now. Does anyone think it is a hormone issue? I am clearly the Alpha here but she is trying to make certain she is second in command. The male just wants to get along.
Any thoughts or advice would be great.
Deborah

[Martina]

I just came across a website that I had earmarked a while ago for myself that has lots of info regarding aggression between two dogs. It might help some so I'll list it here:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=C&C=112&S=1
They have lots of other info that I've also found helpful.

martina