Female terriers fighting for top dog - 2009-03-09

Question

I have 2 small female terriers, both fixed (a silky x Maltese and an Australian terrier x silky). The former is 3 and the latter is 2, and we've had them both since they were 8-10 weeks old. The younger one is slightly bigger than the older, and much stronger, but the older one seems to be top dog personality-wise. However, if my husband or I give loving attention to the younger, stronger one, the older dog stands over her or attacks her, leading to a brawl that we have to break up. This problem has increased in frequency lately. The only significant changes are that we have recently moved across the country and our new lifestyle means we're home a lot more with them. I don't know if they're still trying to sort out who's top dog, now that the younger one is bigger and out of puppy stage, but I worry so much about them getting hurt. Sometimes I wonder if it's just natural dog behaviour and I should let them work it out instead of stepping in and grabbing one. What should I do?

Answer

This sort of rivalry often comes about due to lack of clear leadership and leadership pretentions between the dogs. This often occurs with same sex packs, which is what you have with both of them being females (even if fixed). The older one is not ready to relinquish the role, and the younger one is vying for it! This can be through jealousy, lack of transparency who their leader is etc. The best way to tackle this is to seriously increase your leadership to the dogs, less attention, only interaction when you want to and above all remove any reason for jealousy – eg feed them apart, when you pat them, pat both at the same time, NO FAVOURITISM, when they come for attention ignore them etc. Using this approach you will reduce the tension dramatically. If persists, call on qualified trainer to assist as this can develop in rather serious fights if not addressed properly.