HELP! Dog aggression.

Posted by Cathie
Dec 26, 2009
When you have two dogs if one does not stand out as the dominant dog are you supposed to make one of them more dominant? My two female dogs are sometimes disobedient and both are aggressive with other dogs if they come too close, one of them is more agressive. She sees another dog and lowers her body and stares at the dog, if the other dog reacts or comes too close she will run at it and bark. Because she is more agressive will it help if I feed her last etc and try to make the other the more dominant? I do understand that I am supposed to be the alpha and I continue to try and reinforce this.
Cathie
Posted by kjd
Dec 26, 2009
Cathie,

Unless you have a problem with the pack structure your two girls have established, I wouldn't worry about which was dominant. Make sure you are the leader. As I mentioned in reply to your other post, work on their obedience to you both when they are alone and when they are together.

As for the aggression towards other dogs, work on this first with only one dog at a time. When Matilda is perfect with other dogs when out alone with you, and Isabella is perfect with other dogs when out alone with you, then work on them being equally good when out together. If you've ever watched the Dog Whisperer on TV, you may have noticed even he works with only one dog at a time. He doesn't introduce them together until they are working well alone.

Let us know how things work out,
kjd