Dogs Dominating with each other!!!

Chief

CrazySpringer
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#1
I have 2 springers and they are constantly trying to dominate each other. They are half brothers and they are about 9 months apart. The younger of the two (Scout) usually wins. However the older one (Chief) will egg him on. Just wondering if any body else has this problem with their Springers.

Any advise would be really appreciated.
 

lizzybeth727

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#2
IMO, the word "Dominate" means nothing, it's completely lost its meaning in the last few years and is used to describe such a wide range of behavior problems that 98% of the time it's not used correctly at all.

Instead of using words like this, I would rather know what the behavior problem is, and then we can fix it. So....

How old are your dogs?
How long have you had them?
Do you have any other dogs?
Are they neutered?
Have you done any training classes with them?
What exactly are they doing that you don't like?
Are they doing that bad behavior only when you are home or do they have the opportunity to do it when you are gone too?
 

Chief

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#3
Chief is 4 and Scout is 3. I have had Chief since he was 8 weeks and Scout since he was 1.5. Scout is well behaved most of the time, Chief is a little bugger sometimes. I have trained them, both in obedience and doing some tricks as well. They listen most of the time and the major problems are as follows:
Everytime Chief has a toy, Scout wants it even if it is the same thing.
When walking both dogs, they compete to see who gets in front, yet when walking seperatly they heal well and don't pull.
Last thing is if one is on me the other wants up as well. That starts a bit of a fight because Chief gets jeolous.

Am I missing something? When it is one on one with me and one dog, they behave, but put them together and they are trying to figure out who should be in charge.
Not sure what I am doing wrong, could you help me out.
 

lizzybeth727

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#4
Everytime Chief has a toy, Scout wants it even if it is the same thing.
This is extremely common with dogs. It's not so much that they want that toy, it's just the fact that the other dog wants the toy that makes it more appealing. There are a few things you can do to solve this:

1.) Keep all toys put away unless the dogs are separated.

2.) Keep all toys put away unless you are supervising the dogs; then you can reward the dogs for ignoring the other dog with his toy.

3.) Don't worry about it and let the dogs work it out amongst themselves. Usually they will work out a system together, where one dog gives up the toy if the other dog wants it, or they play together, or something like that. They might be a little growly/aggressive-looking in the beginning, but most of the time this won't end up in a "real" fight. Sometimes it does, though; if the dogs injure each other you should separate them immediately. You know your dogs better than I do, and if you don't feel like this will be a safe method then try one of the others above.

When walking both dogs, they compete to see who gets in front, yet when walking seperatly they heal well and don't pull.
This sounds like a training issue. They know when it's just one of them with you, that they are supposed to heel; but dogs don't generalize well so adding another dog makes the training look extremely different to them. When there's another dog they think they are allowed to walk ahead of you. So to fix it you'll have to go back to how you taught them heel in the first place, and re-teach it from the beginning with both dogs at the same time.

Last thing is if one is on me the other wants up as well.
This also is extremely common with dogs. What you can do is, when you're holding one dog, toss treats down to the other dog that's not up with you. That way he'll learn that even though he can't sit on your lap, sitting down on the floor is pretty cool too. Then after a few minutes you can switch dogs in your lap and do the same with the other dog.
 

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