[labman]

I have a concern about my black lab. I am new to this website and did not want to get alot of negative feedback about this matter. I have a male rat terrier that is gonna be 6 six years old and my baby a 1.5 male black lab. They have never really paid attention to eachother but the other night we had a bad situation. My lab and terrier got into a nasty fight and my lab did a number on my terrier. Jake, my lab, is NOt aggressive and I am very confused by this. Right now Bo, my terrier is at my moms. Jake is awesome with other dogs and people of all ages. Could it be because they are both males? Jakes best friend is my husbands 6lb male chihuaha so im very confused. All my dogs get along great (i have 4 a female rat terrier and Bo my male rat terrier, a male chihuaha, and my baby jake a male lab). Please help with this i Dont no what do. It feels like my family is torn apart because my mom has my terriers right now.

As much negative feedback as I have given those that would hide their answers in a PM or email, it would be very hypocritical for me not to copy this to the public forum. It is part of my job to limit negative feedback in general. I can't do much about bad answers. The public forum also gives others such as Rubypitbull a chance to add their ideas. She may have more experience is a case like this than I do. Unfortunately, it does allow those with less experience to chime in.

I think the problem is that Jake is maturing and is challenging Bo for pack rank. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete For more on being top dog, see Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position The Chihuahua may be accepting its bottom rank and not be a problem. Jake may have been as big or bigger than it when you got him. It is quite common for 2 younger dogs to enjoy playing together with no problems. Bo may have been beyond that age when you got Jake, and stayed aloft as top dog.

What you need to do is to firmly establish yourself as top dog applying the top dog rules to both Bo and Jake. In your other question, you indicate Jake is neutered. Neuter Bo too if not all ready. Keep them separated for now. Obedience train them if not already and apply the top dog rules to both, and perhaps to the Chihuahua too. You don't want it deciding it outranks Jake. This may or may not be enough to solve the problem. Sometimes if 2 dogs of the same sex both have high dominance drives, even the best dog trainers can't maintain peace. It is more frequent with females, but happens with males too. There are some doggy ''Your mother wears combat boots.'' things you may have missed. It is possible Bo has been lording it over Jake, taking the best sleeping spots, eye contact, standing stiff legged, putting his chin on his neck, and all the things in the top dog rules. Perhaps Bo has been limiting how much Jake is allowed to eat. Jake may have decided he is a big boy now and doesn't have to put up with nonsense from Bo any more. I would keep them apart until both acknowledge the 2 legged dogs are in charge. Then keep a close eye on them, stepping in if you see either challenging the other. The top dog has the right and duty to keep peace in the pack.

[RubyPitbull]

Thanks for your confidence in me labman, but I don't think I can add any more to what you have written here. It does sound like Jake is maturing and LL needs to work with both dogs in establishing herself as the pack leader.

Lab Lover, after you try the suggestions labman has posted here, if you are still experiencing problems, please post back with the specific issues that you cannot seem to resolve. We will try our best to be of help.