[stanimal]

Hello everyone,

We own 2 boxers, a six year old female and a two year old male, both have been spayed/neutered. About two weeks ago, they got into a fight, the male initiated the fight, resulting in the female having scratches on her nose. The next day, the female went after the male, but it was broken up before either one got to the other. Later that same night, the female tried to go to him again when we took them outside. Finally, the male went after the female a third time, again, in a different setting than the others. Food (rawhide) was involved in the first one, but not the subsequent attacks.

Our vet thinks that this is a struggle to be the alpha. The wife and I apparently were not doing our part in taking the lead of the pack. Since then we have begun kenneling them at night, when we are at work, and if we are not able to directly supervise them. We have stopped free feeding and they now eat on a schedule. We have been keepink collars and leashes (for better control) on them while they are in the house, and have assigned them spots to lay down when they are both out and in the living room with us (they each have a bed that is their own little area). We are also doing the whole we walk out of the door before they do thing.

I am just wanting to get some opinions on if what we are doing is the right direction, and what are some other ideas we can use in setting ourselves up as the leaders of the pack.


Also, the female is being kenneled for the first time in her six years. She whines a lot while in there, we generally ignore her (not wanting to get into the manipulation game). We're hoping that after a month or so this will go away. Are we even almost correct in thinking that?


Thanks in advance for any advice that you offer.

[valinors_sorrow]

I agree with your vet, it is a pecking order thing. The female is confused for two reasons I can see here: 1. she was there first and got used to that 2. she is suddenly kenneled. You have undermined her authority inadvertently perhaps and/or the male (who would naturally be the dominant one) has simply developed to the point where he feels capable of challenging her authority and so he is. If you back off to let them work it out, the potentional for serious harm is very real which is why I would continue to intervene, if I were you. I think you need to back one of them consistently in the pecking order and make arrangements that support that. Did your vet elaborate along those lines at all? You are, of course, top dog (or you better be and it sounds like you are working on that which is good... is it making an effect?) but who comes second and third is what's at stake here. In our house, my husband is alpha. The rest of the line up is then me, the big cat (although he tries pulling alpha stunts sometimes LOL), then the dog, and last the little cat. Animals need to know where they are, it is a big instinct in them, and to confuse them about that is asking for a neurotic pet, in my humble opinion. Watch for which human the dogs mind the fastest, watch which dog is minding better or faster... these are important clues about how it is now you will need to understand before you can effectively change it. I hope that helps you to understand more of the context and supports you deciding what specific actions to take or modify to correct the problem.

[labman]

It is unusual for a male to attack a female like that. Usually a spay/neutered female/male pair the least likely to have such problems. Usually they settle in as the top female and male, and do well together. Until they are mature at 3 years old, dogs tend to decide from time to time to challenge any others for pack status. However a male properly socialized by other dogs at a young age should never attack a female. Do you know if he remained with his mother and litter until at least 6-7 weeks? Even then, continued contact with other dogs is important. You can also expect such problems from dogs that were dominant in their litter.

As for what to do now? I think continue to do what you are, not leaving them alone together, and intervening as needed. You will find some good ideas on being top dog at http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm I haven't looked at much on that site, but the top dog rules are good. There are tons of nonsense about dogs to be found on the net.

[stanimal]

Thanks for the replies.

Labman - We don't know much about either one of their early histories. Both are rescue dogs, we got the female 4 years ago and the male 8 months ago. They were fine together until that night. More recently, they have shown an interest in playing again, however we have been hesitant to let them get too close to each other until we have been firmly established as the dominants in the household.

Thanks for the link. I'll be sure to check it out.