SIBLING RIVALRY

Sibling rivalry is the term used to describe situations in, which 2 dogs (siblings or not), living in the same household fight repeatedly. These fights may start out with snarling and growling, but usually progress to vicious, prolonged fights if steps are not taken to correct the problem. The dogs are usually both males, and many are littermates.

The fighting occurs because the dogs are not allowed to establish a dominance hierarchy or “pecking order”. In the wild, an individual dog occupies a strictly defined position within the pack. No 2 dogs share the same level of dominance, so in any confrontation the more submissive pack member will defer to the more dominant one. Some dogs have a strong drive to establish dominance, and will constantly challenge more dominant animals to fight. The winner of the fight moves up the dominance ladder with respect to the loser. Very dominant dogs do not fight with very submissive dogs, because the submissive animal defer to them. Fights only occur between dogs of nearly equal dominance.

Fighting often starts in situations in the wild dog pack; the social status would normally change. For example, fighting may begin when a younger dog reaches puberty, and his drive for dominance is activated. Problems may also occur when an older pet gets sick, and is unable to maintain his position with respect to the younger animal.

Problems arise in human households when the family pets are not allowed to establish a dominance hierarchy. This occurs because the human members of the family intervene by punishing the winner (the dog who should be dominant) and comforting the loser. Unfortunately, in doing so, the submissive dog’s social status is elevated, and that of the dominant dog is lowered. The dog’s dominance levels remain nearly equal, ensuring that fighting to establish a stable dominance hierarchy continues. The fighting will only end when a social order is established, with one dog clearly dominant and the other one submissive.

The fights are usually triggered by competition for something the dominant dog takes as his right, but which the other dog refuses to give up. Many dogs coexist happily until the owner comes home, but then fight for the owner’s attention. Often, the owner’s presence makes the submissive dog more confident and willing to challenge the other dog’s position. The dogs may also fight over valued resources like food, toys or sleeping area.

Treatment of sibling rivalry: You should discuss your pets’ specific history with your veterinarian before attempting any treatment, as some interventions can cause some pets to exhibit worse behavior if the cause is misdiagnosed and/or your pets’ responces are not monitored. This could include your pet reacting in an unexpected manner and causing serious physical damage to you, your family, or other pets. The following information is of general nature only to inform pet owners how some cases are treated.

Do not follow any of the suggestions below without a specific behavioral diagnosis and behavioral modification “prescription” from your family veterinarian!

The 1st step in treating sibling rivalry is to determine which of the dogs is dominant. This decision should be based on the age, sex, size, health, tenacity, and behavior of the dogs. Young puppies are seldom dominant, but may challenge an older dog for dominance when they reach puberty. Often the dog that is consistently the aggressor is more dominant.

Because the fighting can be serious, it is important not to stimulate aggression between the dogs. For this reason, toys and food should be removed. One may leave the dogs alone together while they are away, because without food, toys, or your presence, there is little to stimulate fighting. If the dogs do fight in one’s presence one must reassure the aggressor and reprimand (or do “time out”) the submissive dog. One’s praise (of the naturally dominant dog) will make the dog more dominant, which will contribute to the rapid establishment of a stable social structure.

**It is vitally important that the dogs both recognize the human members of the family as dominant members of their pack. If a pet owner has trouble with either of the dogs growling or snapping at them, resisting grooming or nail trimming, or other signs of dominance, these problems will have to be treated before one attempts to establish a dominance hierarchy for the dogs.

Once a pet owner has determined which dog will be dominant, everything the owner does should reinforce that animal’s status. The dominant dog should be fed, exercised, praised and given attention before the other dog. Initially, it may be wise to ignore the submissive animal, while paying a great deal of attention to the other dog, until the dominant animal is secure with his status. If this causes aggression, one may try caging or tying up the submissive dog so that people can interact freely with the dominant dog, in front of the submissive dog, without causing a fight. One must continue to recognize the dominance status, once it has been established, by always dealing with the dominant dog 1st.

A pet owner should set up situations in that the person pets and praises the dominant dog, and allows the submissive dog to watch from a safe distance. It may be necessary to start dominance training in the park or some other neutral territory. Once dominance has been established on neutral territory, one can repeat the training at home.

Castration of both dogs is rarely helpful, but neutering only one dog is useless. If the above training is not successful, it is possible for one’s veterinarian to prescribe a temporary course of medication for the submissive and/or dominant dog. This may alter the relationship between the dogs enough to make dominance training proceed more smoothly.

We realize that it is extremely distressing to have dogfights in ones’ home. However, sibling rivalry is one of the easier problems to solve if caught very early, once one realizes that dogs do not expect to live as equals, and that both dogs will be happier and more secure with a stable social order. We are here to help pet owners in whatever way we can. Working together, we are sure we can treat this unwanted behavior and that people and their pets dogs will have many problem- free years together.

This information is provided with permission by the courtesy of Dr N. Dodman, Tufts University and Drs D. McKeown & U. Leuscher, Ontario Veterinary College, Canada.

HOUSEBREAKING PROCEDURES FOR PUPS

UNDERSTANDING PUP “BATHROOM” BEHAVIOR:

Most pup “accidents” come from poor communication between owner and pet. As pups, they do not instinctively know the difference between outside and indoors for going to the bathroom. Left to themselves, they will pick a spot away from their eating/sleeping area to urinate/defecate and return to that area by its’ scent. Most homes are big enough that if a pup is left to roam it will find a “workable” location(s) and soon begin soiling the house. Confining to one room often fails because the pup establishes a “den” area for feeding and sleeping with all other areas fair game for eliminations. Problems arise for modern pups- whose “parents” are gone for long hours. They will only learn where not to go if “caught in the act” and shown where it is proper to go; even if “caught” a minute or two later may be too late! If punished when you get home, they will only learn to fear the circumstances of your arrival with punishment. This is why some people think that after several nights of punishment upon their arrival home their pup acts “guilty” when subsequently greeting them; the pup is actually putting two and two together and anticipating a punishment! We can help you solve or prevent this common problem, all it takes is your time, effort, and patience! The following suggestions on crate training are not meant as a permanent lifestyle for your pet, rather they are means to safely surviving the first few months of puppyhood!

THE RULES:
1. Anytime you cannot physically watch your pup it must be confined to a crate.(See crate instructions later)
2. The pup must be taken on a leash to the same spot outdoors it used last time and every time to go to the bathroom.
3. Paper training should be avoided; most pups take longer to learn both inside the house on papers and outdoors are o.k. than if solely trained for outdoor duties.
4. THE PUP MUST BE TAKEN OUT FIRST THING EVERY MORNING, NOT 5 MINUTES LATER; THIS INCLUDES SAT. AND SUN. MORNINGS!
5. THE PUP MUST BE TAKEN OUT LAST THING BEFORE GOING TO BED.
6. THE PUP MUST BE TAKEN OUT WITHIN 5 MINUTES AFTER EACH MEAL.
7. THE PUP MUST BE TAKEN OUT AFTER A DRINK OF WATER OR PLAY.
8. THE PUP MUST BE TAKEN OUT WHEN WAKING FROM A NAP.
9. THE PUP SHOULD ALWAYS RECEIVE PRAISE EVERY TIME IT GOES TO THE BATHROOM OUTSIDE.
10. When you are home you must keep your pup within eyesight. Prevent it from roaming the house without your watching it.
11. If you catch it making a mistake immediately take it outside and when it finishes eliminating praise it!
12. Expect 2-3 months time before it consistently will do the right thing on its own.

CRATE INSTRUCTIONS:
Since we know pups sleep most of the daytime when no one is home, confinement to a crate for training purposes is not inhumane if done correctly. This is why they have so much energy when we come home in the evening! With correct introduction, pups will enjoy their crate time and associate it with a safe and secure place when they eat and sleep without worry of predators, just as they use a den in nature. An added benefit to crate training is control of destructive and dangerous chewing. That habit likewise needs correction during the actual act; keeping them away from furniture and electric cords saves their lives in more than one way! All pups will chew; it is a natural act that cannot be stopped. Only by showing them proper things to chew will chew control ever work. This means when you catch them chewing on an inappropriate object immediately remove it from their mouth and give a chew toy instead and praise it for chewing the toy! We have very bitter “anti-chewing” sprays that can be used on specific objects to help in training. Relying on the crate to safeguard your furniture is the best option. Crate training also allows you to bring their “den” with them on vacations and prevents accidents from happening.

INTRODUCTION OF THE CRATE:

1. Feed your pup in the crate with the door open. Do not disturb or distract your pup while it is eating and learning to experience being in the crate.
2. After it has eaten confidently with the door open for a few meals, quietly close the door while it eats.
3. Once you are sure the pup is confident eating in the crate, try placing him in it at non-feeding times for a few minutes with a safe chew toy, gradually increasing the time in the crate. Never let the pup out when it is crying or barking. Only let it out when it has been quiet for at least one minute. This is critical so it will not associate acting “bad” with being let out of the crate! You may use pieces of dry puppy food as reward for being in and around the crate when it is quiet. CAUTION: Never give your pet a treat when it is begging; it should learn that it ONLY gets a treat whenever it is sitting or laying down and is quietly adoring you!
4. Time in the crate should be gradually increased; of course pups less than 3 months can only “hold it” for a few hours while pups older than 6 months can often go 6-8 hours if given the chance to eliminate before going into crate. How many times you feed your pup depends on its age and size - ask the veterinarian for advice. Specific and consistent “meal times” will help you anticipate your pups’ elimination needs as well as keep their teeth cleaner as opposed to “free choice” feeding.
5. Never feed table scraps unless it is “safe” and is mixed in well with the puppy food. Do not feed anything in between meals except pieces of puppy food for training purposes. If your pup has not finished his measured amount of food within 15 minutes take the bowl up. Eventually the appetite will develop and your pup will eat more consistently; if it does not then you may be feeding too much or illness could be present. Healthy pups will instinctively eat to meet their energy requirements, so do not give in to your pup and create a finicky begging monster!
6. It always saves money to feed an exactly measured amount of premium puppy growth food, since they are much more digestible 1/4 to 1/3 less food is needed per meal as compared to grocery store foods; this makes for smaller stools to “hold” inside the pup and if accidents occur, clean up will be much easier! We recommend diets such as Eukanuba, Science Diet, Iams, or ProPlan Puppy food; the slightly higher cost per bag is more than made up for since you will feed less - each bag lasts much longer and stool problems will be easier to control! Large breed pups should be fed food specifically formulated for large breeds to help prevent hip and elbow dysplasia and obesity.
7. Once your pups’ growth slows down you will need to change over to an adult maintenance diet. Mother Nature has designed the eating habits of your pup to gorge on food whenever possible. Since food is usually scarce in the wild and it takes much energy to hunt it down, wild pups never get obese. We are the greatest hunters on earth in the minds of our pets! We are responsible that they get plenty of daily exercise and get measured amounts of food. Otherwise obesity sets in and is an all too common problem for house pups

OUR VOCATION IS HELPING PETS LIVE LONG AND HEALTHY LIVES SO PLEASE CONTACT US ANYTIME YOUR PET NEEDS SOME FRIENDLY ADVICE!