Question

Dear Penny

I have four dogs. Two of them are three and a half year old female miniature schnauzers from the same litter. The other two are dachshunds who came on the scene about two years ago. The dachshunds are both male, one is four the other is seven. It took a little getting used to, but the dogs seemed to get along fine, for the most part. We soon leanred to separate the dogs while eating.

The one schnauzer is my main problem. She has bitten both of the dachshunds. Its obvious she doesn’t like the smallest dachshund, she towers over him and chases him around. However, she frequently plays with the bigger dachshund, lays beside him and has in the past appeared to consider him her equal.

All of the dogs stay in a cooled/heated garage while we are at work during the day. The boys have their own cage, the girls have theirs. This is also where each of them is fed, twice a day. The boys have always been crated at night and the girls sleep in the bed.

If we are relaxing on the couch, they are all sitting with us, usually the boys on one couch and the girls on the other. Sometimes the biggest dachshund will co-mingle with the girls. They get along fine except for the sudden and usually unprovoked aggressiveness of the schnauzer. The aggressiveness is far worse when there is food involved.

I have thought about getting her a muzzle, I'm not sure it would work. After she has lashed out at one of the boys, I put her in her cage, while the rest of us are watching tv together. I don’t know if she understands her punishment. I cannot let her continue to lash out. I do not want the boys to be scared or continue to get hurt. I do not want her to get hurt either or get so angry that it causes undo stress on her, on all of them.

I need to know what to do. ANY advice you can me is GREATLY appreciated.

Penelope's Tips

It sounds like you are managing the four dogs pretty well. That's good.

Obviously you don't want the small Dachshund to get hurt by the larger Schnauzer. What you need to do if a fight breaks out is to kennel** the Dachshund and ignore the Schnauzer. Don't make a fuss over either of the dogs. Just do it to protect the Dachshund and end the fight. You want to avoid taking sides. If the Schnauzer is trying to establish herself as the Alpha Bitch in the dog family you need to respect that, but at the same time you need to remind her that you are in charge of the entire pack. What you should do is put the schnauzer in a down stay for awhile to put YOU in the alpha role in her eyes. Maybe a good 5 or 10 minute down/stay would be good for her and give her time to think about who is really in control around the house. AGAIN, don't do this in a punishing way. Make it strictly an obedience exercise for the scnhauzer. Keep it separate from the fight.

Additionally you might want to exercise each dog separately every day. Take each one of the dogs out for a 20 or 30 minute walk each day, all by him or her self. This give each dog a chance to be with you without any competition. If the walk is too much for you, you might take each one outside separately and play with him or her for 15 or 20 minutes. Again, this gives each dog quality time with you, without having to compete for your attention. This, in itself, may eliminate some of the aggression you are experiencing.

**It sounds like you keep the kennels in the garage. You might want to get one for the house so you can put the doxy up for safety sake without banning him from the living area of the house. That would be unfair for him.

No guarantees, but this might work.

Penelope