So, if my OH & I are mucking about how should we act with Roxy? Usually she comes running over & we stop because I don't want her to become stressed.

Should we then make her sit, reward her for when she is calm? Or maybe send her away (to the sofa or somewhere), reward her, then carry on? Sorrry, if it seems I'm asking silly questions, I just want to make sure I get the order of how I do things right so I am rewarding the right behaviour!

I would teach something like 'Go To Mat' or 'Bed' separately, then practise putting her on the mat/bed, and slowly building up distractions, e.g. walking away from her, walking around her, jogging on the spot, jogging in the room...then start interacting with your OH then Toby- rewarding her lavishly the whole time if she stays on the mat. Then, as a huge reward, you and your OH can go over to her and play with her. Hopefully the mat/bed behaviour will become the gateway to interactions for her, and build up her self control:

How to teach: Go to your mat, Drop on Recall + Drop at Heel - YouTube

Relaxation Protocol Day 1 - YouTube

Relaxation Protocol Day 6 8/1/11 8pm.MOV - YouTube

If she comes over to when not practising the exercise, maybe do something like walking away immediately, and then rewarding her when her attention is off you and she has increased distance away from you.

Excellent! Was feeling really down about it all last night & this morning but now have something to work on. I think she's probably feeling more frustrated than usualy as her injured paw has meant that she hasn't been out on walks for the past week

Thinking about it as well, I always give her attention when she wants it when maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should be more selective & give her this when I want to not when she demands it.

With Toby things were always so easy but with Roxy we've really had to be so much more disciplined & strict but she has been alot better when we have acted like this.

Roxy sounds like my Kali. She is mellowing but is ultra possessive of my son and if Marty or Bruce are getting attention. I keep an eye on her, know what triggers an attack and always separate her from the others when I go out. I don't think you can "cure" this kind of behabiour but you can manage it, which is what i've been doing for six years now. A baby gate on the kitchen door is great for when I can't be around to separate her from the others.

Is your behaviourist Julie Hindle by any chance?

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Flynn - Kali - Britches - Bruce - T-Bo - Marty



"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"

I think that's what we have to accept, we may never understand why she is doing this but just manage it. The dogs are fine togther now, I am happy to leave them alone together as there has been no instances prior to this for ages. Toby doesn't act scared around her at all so I have no worries when i go to work.

The triggers are our bed which in some ways maybe we shouldn't let either dog up on it but Toby loves a cuddle with us so I sort of feel it isn't fair on him. Having said that because we are vigilant that this is a potential trigger any slight sign & Roxy is off. She has been fine lately though so maybe we have relaxed too much.

Our behaviourist is Yvonne Collins who we are seeing again on Saturday. I've mailed her about this latest incident so will see what she says.

I do think though that she is a demanding dog when it comes to attention & maybe I have been reinforcing this by always cuddling her when she wants, etc even though it may not be convenient for me. I am going to try making her wait a bit more, sending her away to a mat/her bed, etc before giving her attention.

She is such hard work at times!

What exactly do you do with her when you see her getting to the trigger point of having a go at Toby?

Milo wouldn't have a go but was/can be hugely over bearing to the point that Rupert misses out a lot. Milo spent a lot of time around the house with a lead attached to his collar and if he started barging in or not backing off when Rupert was having fuss/play on his own then he got a time out. Basically an enforced break. But the difference is treat based learning in terms of rewards like you do with Roxy don't work for him. It takes a long time for him to get to grips with why things happen which is why time outs work well for him, so he can associate that with getting pushy.

I wouldn't say its really a negative enforcer because he does get praise and a short fuss a minute later when I say he can come, but in the earlier stages I wouldn't give him a verbal command to get out because it defeated the point, to him that was praise enough whereas just leading him out and telling him to wait didn't.

I think his issues are more he had very little contact/interaction with other people and dogs in his previous home as he matured and he just doesn't understand that there is him and Rupert, not just him. He still barges in a lot but he will back off if you ask him to now and Rupert's doesn't do his miserable sulky thing because he gets left out.

Glad you feel you've got something to work with from the above posts though, you're an awful lot more dedicated than a lot of dog owners who's dogs have issues

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When Kali comes up for a fuss and there's another dog with her I just ignore her and fuss the other dog, that way she stays nice and friendly but if I were to stroke her as well immediately she starts growling and will show her teeth. Even with Flynn, who she adores she can still be iffy if there's attention going round, so she gets completely ignored.

She has had full on fights with Marty many times and Bruce too, drawn blood each time, all of which she has started due to attention or possession, so now she doesn't have toys with the others, chews or attention and she lives quite happily. She does get cuddles and affection but only when she's on her own. If someone comes round and the dogs come over to see them I always put her out, so she is her own worst enemy as she gets left out of so many things but as she's a dog I can't tell her that - wish I could though!

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Flynn - Kali - Britches - Bruce - T-Bo - Marty



"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"

Thanks, tbh I feel a bit bad again. I feel guilty about getting a dog with so many issues who I can't manage at times & who is impacting on Toby's life. The idea was to get him a friend & I wonder if he really is benefitting from having Roxy there. My OH thinks I'm just having one of my many 'worrying about the dogs' phases again & he's probably right Up until Saturday I would have said that Toby & Roxy got on great - she was pushy with him but he didn't seem to mind. At times though, when she acts as she did I worry about Toby & think maybe we should have put more consideration in to getting a seocnd dog than we did

I suppose that's all very well thinking like that but Roxy is with us now & isn't going anywhere despite recent events.

Usually if we see her getting a bit 'iffy' we will do some clicker training with both the dogs & get them to work together. We haven't needed to do this for a while though. If she really looks like she is going to go for Toby though we quickly take her out of the room, no shouting or anything, just calmly remove her & put her in a room on her own for a few mins.

After every incident though the agression never continues, she appears calm & goes straight over to Toby, not in a agressive way, more in a friendly way.

I think Roxy has had a similar past to Milo, I don't think she has had any attention or interaction with other people or dogs. As I say, she has been brilliant lately but any thime we have a change to routine (such as guests) we start to have problems.

I feel alot better after getting in tonight & watching them play together. I was worried that Toby would be wary of her but not at all - they have both been tearing round the garden taking it in turns to chase each other. They seem fine togther this evening although I am going to be more vigilant when we all sit donw in the eveing as this was always the time she kicked off previously.

Roxy sounds similar in that many times it was when she was getting the attention that she went for Toby - I thought it would be when he had the fuss

With toys they are fine now, she thinks they are hers & so does Toby They have never fought over these, he's alloowed the pink frisbeee & the tennis balls which he seems happy enough with. It seems to be the triggers are us, getting on our bed or attention from another dog.

Next time my sister & her dog come to stay we will maybe have my dogs in with benson one at a time. I will also make sure Roxy gets taken out to relieve any stress she may feel & keep her leashed in the evening.

I started tonight witholding affections when I cam home from work. Usually they both charge round me pushing each other out of the way. I completely ignored them until they had both sat down. Toby got a (minimum) fuss first then Roxy. Each time either of them started getting hyper I ignored them again - I felt bad at first but I realise that I am not doing them any favours by allowing them to get hyped up. Just hope my OH sticks to 'the rules' when he gets home