|
Our Dogs Hate Each Other
25/f
I am 2 months away from finally marrying the love of my life. He's also 25, we both have college degrees, great careers, money to spend, and plenty of love. The only problem is that we each have a dog. Both of our dogs are very friendly with other people and other dogs, except for each other. When we first introduced them two years ago when we started dating, they viciously attacked each other on site. We thought it would go away, but nothing has changed. I don't want to force either of us to give up our dogs, but I don't want to not marry over something as seemingly trivial as this. Any advice?
Thanks.
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Relationships category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Families?
maybe you could figuire out why the dogs hate eachother so much!
or you could put them on two different sides of a fence.
if you do decide that someone has to give their dog up, i think you should both give yours to loving familys and go buy a new dog together. thats just a thought tho.
]
I have a suggestion. I got the idea from an expert on Animal Planet.
Your dogs love you and they want to be with you, right? I'm sure the concept applies to each of your dogs. The four of you (you, your fiance, and both dogs) should sit in a room. Both dogs should be on a leash. If they start fighting, IMMEDIATELY say a correction sound (a short, firm "NO" would suffice) and pull them away from each other. Keep them on opposite sides of the room (preferably facing away from each other until they both calm down. Once they are calm, allow them to approach each other. If there is more negative contact, repeat the process.
Eventually, the dogs will either 1) get really tired and lose the energy to fight or 2) will start acting calmly towards each other.
In case 1) praise them for not attacking each other an call it a day. You should try again the next day.
In case 2) Constantly praise them.
Another idea involves food. You and your fiance should gather the dogs' favorite treats or some bits of meat. Make sure to keep both dogs on a secure leash in case you need to pull them away from each other. Have each of them sit in front of you. Hopefully they will be too distracted by the food to want to fight each other. Slowly feed the pieces of meat to the dogs. Not at the same time, but take turns for each dog. If they stay calm, praise them with a soft voice. If they start fighting, give them the sharp correction like I mentioned earlier and pull them away from each other. Repeat the process with the feeding only when they calm down. They will get the message that when they are mean to each other, they won't get any treats.
It's important to remember that all of this takes time and repetition.
Good luck and I wish you all the best!
]
If both dogs are the same sex (generally male), it could be that they're competing for territory. Some dogs just generally don't like each other.
I'm guessing that something like this won't go away just by taking them out on walks. If all that they will do is fight, then it's likely that they will continue to do so. Not trying to be a downer, but it's what i think. I would surgest though, putting them in a room together, but with a boudary between the two of them, so that they smell each other and get used to one and another (NOTE: this may or may not work).
Dogs in the wild travel in packs as i'm sure you know. So to a dog, it's owners are it's 'pack' and it will defend its 'pack' from any intruders or from other 'packs'. If the dogs are both male, then that is what could be happening, each defending it's pack.
Try out what i said and see what happens (it does have to be for a while), then try it will see through plastic so that they see each other and get used to each other and take it from there.
I hope this helped and good luck with your wedding,
triquetra
]
try going for a walk with both dogs together and seeing other dogs. If they both act friendly around other dogs, they will probably learn to like each other. Also, have your fiance pet your dog and pet your fiances dog and then switch but while your in the same room. It will make the dogs feel like both humans love them. And lastly, just give it time. They will warm up to each other eventually! =]
]
Well, i don't know if I can help you much but I will try. Have you tried many times to get the dogs to be around eachother? taking then to the park or hiking or anything like that that they could enjoy together? Are they spayed/neutered? (In a lot of cases that helps). My boyfriend and I each have a dog as well. His dog is two years older than mine and hated my dog for his whole puppy-hood. After living together and doing fun outdoor things together for over a year, they finally are good friends. there was an incident, however, where his dog attacked my dog really bad to the point of missing chunk of ear and scars. I attribute that to the fact they were both on leashes walking too close to eachother while being bothered by another dog. It helps to give the dogs space from eachother, especially when feeding , walking, and driving in the car. I hope things work out for your dogs...good luck and congratulations on marriage!
]
More Questions: |