Hi Sandra--I am NOT an expert but I wonder if things have changed because of Faith's age? She is getting closer to maturity (puberty) and they might all be trying to figure out the pack order?

(I know that adult dogs aren't nearly as patient with other adults as they are with puppies...) Just a guess.

Trish and Honey

Hey Sandra,

Giving bones to dogs is a tricky thing. I can tell you when I give them to Sir Gordon & Lady Antonia I have to split the dogs up. Both are very bone possesive. Sir Gordon has his bone in the garden & Antonia has hers in the house & I watch her like a hawk, because if the cats pass by her too close she'll snap at the them. When I need the dogs in because it's nightime or whatever , I pick the bones up & chuck them in the bin regardless of how much they've chewed them. It's not worth a fight.
I think Faith got a bit shocked over the first incident & that's why she may have fought with Juno over the toy. From now onwards may I suggest no toys or bones between them in the future.

Hope this helps.

Annie, VA.

I am no expert. I do have a food aggresive foster dog now and am careful to feed him separate. It is amazing how quickly something can come up.

I think part of this could be pack order. I have heard that sometimes we break things up too fast before the hierarchy can be established. But I worry so I alway interrupt because I worry about the dogs getting hurt.

My nephew's retriever and the foster golden got into it a couple of time. It got so that they would just look at each other and sparks would fly. Finally had to keep them separated.

Wish I had advice to give.

We have had a similar experience with Cookie. Twinkie is very possessive of bones if Cookie is anywhere in the house at the same time.

We had an instance 5 days after we brought Cookie home that resulted in an emergency trip to the vet. Twinkie snapped at Cookie because she was sleeping in the same room. Twinkie did make contact with Cookie. When Cookie reacted, it caused one of her canine teeth to get hooked into the inside of her mouth. She was screaming in pain. Luckily the vet was able to numb the area, and gently lift Cookie's gowl off the tooth. A week of antibiotics just in case, and $64 later, we no longer give bones if they are in the house together.

Cookie does not seem to have been affected by the confrontation. Just easier to not take the chance anymore.

I'm definitely no expert either, but I know Penny is very alpha. When I give new toys, I have to make it clear that the toys are mine, not Penny's so she can't fight over them because they aren't hers. I give new toys to them a little bit at a time, then take them back because they are mine. I do that over a few days, then they can have them. I've read that bones can cause an instinct in some dogs that make them possessive and/or aggressive.

When I had two males, Reno & Josh, they occasionally had fights. It sounded & looked awful but they never broke the skin on each other. Like already mentioned, unless they are intending to hurt each other, they need to work it out themselves to develop their pack hierachy. It's harder on us than on them, I think.

Maybe talk to the doggie day care person & get some advice there too. They know Faith & should have good experience in that area, maybe being able to give you definite body language to look for.

I would put my bets on the bones as the problem. Murphy was the most gentle soul in the wonderful, but, in foster care (before she came to our home), she got in a fight that necessitated a vet visit and stitches over a RAWHIDE. She just would not give her rawhide to another dog who tried to take it from her.

She had a lightning-bolt shaped patch of white fur on top of her head where the stitches were. It was about three inches long. Coincidentally (??) it was the same spot that she had the scar from her surgery for the MLO.

I say, take the bones away when there is company!

Regards,

PJ

I think you're right PJ, the bone in combination with some other dynamics at play....it was Teva's first time she'd ever spent a night away from home and she was out of sorts sensing her owner's nervousness about upcoming surgery. It didn't surprise me that Faith held her ground when Teva attacked her. In addition to 'Taz', I've also nicknamed her Fearless Faith. She has never cowered....vacuum cleaners are to be checked out...one time when we were walking by a truck that backfired (that sent me three feet into the air), she merely wanted to investigate the cause. It's no wonder she wouldn't back away from Teva.

I was just so afraid that the sweetness that I so love in her might have been jeopardized. Her 'Taz' reputation refers to her high energy and ability to get into everything in sight!!

I know that she and Teva will never be great friends like Faith and Juno - and as Molly said, the tiff between Faith and Juno was just the spill-over tension.

I've learned many lessons from my first multiple dog household experience and the first is......

NO BONES!

Sandra

We've had a bit of that here with the new baby Sophie on the scene. Belle & Copper seem to have achieved an understanding regarding bones. They just steer clear of each other when chewing.

Sophie however had not acquired the sense of when not to intrude. She and Belle have scuffled over a chewie and over their stuffed woobies. Belle has always had her elephant, Abby her hippo, and Sophie has a camel. Belle is a little possessive over the woobies.. I'm not sure she knows the difference between the elephant and the camel.. thus the problem.

Belle has had to let Sophie know who is older, bigger, and was here first! Belle is so sweet and mild mannered that we have had to tell her to let Sophie know when she's had enough.. Sophie is learning that she can't push Copper AT ALL, and that Belle will take a lot, but there are limits.

I agree with whoever said they need to work it out. It is hard to watch though. I think little Sophie is going to be a bossy little girl.. time will tell

Woobies were somethng we set the ground rules on from minute 1. Munchie's dolphin is definitely paws off to Cookie. Took some re-inforcement, but she has the idea now. In exchange, Cookie's squeeky penguin is off limits to Munchie. Twinkie wouldn't look at a woobie no matter what! lol

By the way, does anyone else buy the $5 stuffed toys that Kohl's sells? I usually have to remove the plastic eyes before I give them to the goldens, but they sure love them. Spoiled girls always run to me when they see the Kohl's bag now. LOL

Sandra, I am sure the circumstances of why everyone is at your house has a lot to do with it. The dogs do sense that something is going on - afterall Teva/Juno's mom is staying with you as well. This will add to the stress level for everyone, 2 legged and 4. As everyone has mentioned, bones do bring out a different reaction in the dogs. At our house when they get bones all 3 scatter to different parts. But if one looks sideways at the other, I hear the growl. Even though it is natural for them, I still tell them "no growl". Since Faith is a very confident young lady, I am sure she would not back down if attacked. Lacey has gotten into it over a tennis ball with one of her best dog buddies. We called our dogs off, and then both dogs acted as though they knew they had done something they shouldn't have. A minute later they were romping and playing again (this time without the ball). I think the incident with Juno was just part of the stress level in the house, and a reaction from the previous incident the day before. Going from 2 to 3 dogs most certainly changes the dynamics of things.

I am sure things will calm down.

Cheers,
Phyllis L.
Logan & Lacey the Golden's, Ralphie the Corgi

Sandra,

You have had some great insight from both forums! I just wanted to tell you that I was in your shoes last February. I had never had an issue with Chelsea and Duchess... Dutchie corrected Chelsea maybe 3 times in 10 years, and we visited their "boyfriend" goldens in PA and even shared cabin space with all 4 dogs. No problem. Making me overly-confident of course

When Emma Rose came here as a foster, she had issues with both Dutchie and Reggie the first couple days. She is a dominant girl... and she had been given up by long-time owners, taken to a shelter, moved to our rescue's vet, spayed, picked up by us [strangers of course] all within a week. What was a girl to do???

We are fine now, but I've got to tell you that I was ready to give her back to the vet or trade fosters!! I still have to watch if another dog runs at her, she will not tolerate other dogs in her face. But she is NOT agressive. I'm sure your Faith is a confident youngster and as everyone has said, the situation in your house was different.

I bet day care will be exactly the same as before!!

Hugs to you both,
Carol, Reggie the submissive, and EMMA ROSE

As Carol said, I have indeed had some great insight from both forums and I'm feeling much better about the situation now. I was so afraid that Faith was going to be scarred by this and not be the sweet girl that she's been all along. I dropped her off at doggy day care this morning and when I left, she was happily playing with about 7 or 8 other dogs without incidence. I made a big mistake leaving bones around - I've removed all of them, even with just Faith and Juno in the house. They used to chew on them all the time and although they've never had a problem together, Juno will sometimes let out a little snarl when Faith approaches - her tail is still wagging and there has never been a problem, but why take a chance. So while I have Juno at my house - which I will for some time as her owner convalesces - there are NO bones anywhere in sight.

Thanks again for all the great input! It's reassuring to hear that others have had similar problems and they've sorted them out.

Sandra