Project: get Seren and Dekka to coexist

[Dekka]

No idea if anyone is interested in this. But if people are I will post updates on how this goes, so just let me know.

The background. I got Seren just over a year ago (a young adult JRT from another breeder) Initially she and Dekka got along very well. I even suspect Dekka liked her (not normal for my dog lol, normally she tolerates other dogs. She has a couple she seems to actively like)

As Seren got used to her knew non kennel life style she began to get a bit edgy with Dekka. She still gets along fantastically with all other dogs, just not Dekka.

Here is a question for the forum: Seren seems to really want to be 'MY' dog. She loves all people but listens far far better to me and always watnts to be in my pocket. But that is where Dekka is, Dekka is my shadow. Is it possible that she has issues with Dekka precisely because she is MY dog?

Anyway, while Dekka does not want to eat Seren, Seren seems nervous and edgy around Dekka and snarks at her. Seren also obsesses over Dekka. If Dekka is in a crate she will stare at her and try to get to her. Also is Seren is in a crate and sees Dekka she goes batsh!t crazy. Loose they have gotten into a few good fights.. no vet visits required but blood and needing to be choked off each other.

I am working now getting them to be ok with each other again. Obviously going to wait till after the puppies go to new homes before we really get going. But today we started. I muzzled both so I could take them for a walk. I drove down to the trail and once there took the muzzles off. We went about 2 miles and the two trundled together with zero issues.

They tend to be better away from home so I didn't expect much problems. I just want to have the two make positive experience together. Hopefully this can build some positive connotations about being together. I fed cookies to them when they were together.

So my current stage is to work with them away from the home. Then once the puppies go to start working at home with the two of them.

 

[release the hounds]

I have a similar situation. These two dogs are great with other dogs, no issues, zoe is a bit stand offish, with other dogs in her face at first, but doesn't look for trouble either. Yoli ignores any "trouble" body language and thinks everything is easy peasy with other dogs and either plays or ignores them.

But they don't seem to like each other. Both females about the same age and intact, so go figure They didn't ever look aggressive at each other, Yoli was always in a crate in the house with Zoe and there was never any barking or anything at each other. Let them out together and it would take 2 seconds and it was on, and over nothing, just because they were two intact females doing what dogs sometimes do.

Tried walking on leash, even ****ing worse, any tension on the leash and they wouldn't even be looking at each other and it was on.

If I could keep focus on me, things were tolerable. so I used that.

I started playing with them outside, put one in a down and threw a ball for one, return and put that dog in a down, then walked over to the other one on the other side of the yard threw the ball, return repeat.

gradually i worked them closer and closer till nobody was being put in a down and they were running out and returning to the same spot and rubbing and bumping and jumping over each other with no issues. Basically just showing them in a controlled way, cool stuff can happen with each other around and nobody has to get all bent out of shape because there is another bitch on the playground

They are more relaxed around each other, but I am always watching for even the smallest stuff. Just when I thought everything was ok, one started sniffing the others butt and it was on, punctures, split open muzzles, holes by their eyes, punctures in the legs, lots of good stuff. Right in front of half the neighborhood. Ended up throwin one over the fence (should have seen the kids scatter )

anyway, i still let them out together with me only. They seem totally fine, like that fight never even happened, they can lay on the same dog bed together, but they MUST have a toy in their mouth. If they both have toys, they are fine. If they don't, they focus on each other and then life sucks again.

They can lay nose to nose chewing on their kongs and roll on their backs and hang out. They don't fight over their toys, the switch toys all the time. I can let them lick plates and eat treats together and they don't guard me or toys or anything like that but their focus always has to be on something and not each other.

It's a pain, but it allows us to function. Which is totally different than my last female/female household

 

[milos_mommy]

I think it's VERY likely an issue with them both being so close to you. If Seren notices that when Dekka's around, she gets less one-on-one attention or something, she could very easily take it out on Dekka.

My dogs are fine together - unless my mother's home. This could very well be because she's an uptight nutjob who doesn't know how to handle them, but it could also be because they see her a resource (she does play with them a lot, feeds them etc, and they do love her) and get edgy with each other because they both want the attention.

 

[Moth]

It does sound like you are the bone of contention for them...

Seren seems to be resource guarding you against Dekka. I wonder if you could use BAT to help work with them to get Seren to be less reacive and so her threshhold with Dekka is not so low...

 

[Taqroy]

Anyway, while Dekka does not want to eat Seren, Seren seems nervous and edgy around Dekka and snarks at her. Seren also obsesses over Dekka. If Dekka is in a crate she will stare at her and try to get to her. Also is Seren is in a crate and sees Dekka she goes batsh!t crazy. Loose they have gotten into a few good fights.. no vet visits required but blood and needing to be choked off each other.

Seren sounds a lot like Mu. She obsesses over Tipper, where she is, what she's doing, how she's doing it, if she's doing it properly.... And we have the same crate problem - if anything exciting happens when one of the girls is in a crate the other will run over and they'll have a full blown crate fight. I guess we're lucky to be at that point though - for awhile whenever anything exciting happened we had a full blown regular fight.

I'm super interested in your process - we've been working on Tipper/Mu interactions for almost a year and I'm still not at a point where I feel confident about having them out together all the time. And we never have them outside together (although that's partially b/c the backyard is enormous and running down a dog fight is not fun).

 

[milos_mommy]

Do they get along better if they're around your SO or some else and you're not there?

 

[Renee750il]

Ow. I feel your pain. I'm in that same position with Kharma and Tallulah . . . and the fights were spectacular, to say the least -- largely because Kharma is determined Tallulah will submit or die and Tallulah has the "I'll die before I submit" attitude. After the third one I said No More and keep a door between them at all times.

Seren and Dekka don't sound as insanely all in as these two, and you're a far better trainer than I am, so I have every confidence that you'll get them back to coexistence.