Sibbling fighting

[rmedeiros565]

Hello, I have two border collie smooth collie mix rescues. We got one almost a year ago and the second a few months later. They are sisters. They will be 2 in May of this year. The first one is larger, fun loving, very cuddly but can show aggression at times. The second is my challenge, she is smaller, exhibiting signs of jealousy, if i am petting her sister she will move in between us and put her teeth around the other dogs snout. In fact she often gives her sister a check in this manner. They both have issues with resource guarding. The biggest problem is from time to time with no apparent warning they will fight with each other. No skin tearing but very loud snarly hair up fighting.

We have taken both to basic obedience training and have been working with them. I have come to realize they need daily training is we are to have peace. Any suggestions or recommendations on how to stop the "checking" and fighting.

Oh one additional things, after the fighting, once they de-escalate they are laying all over each other. They are sweet loving dogs 90% of the time. I just done want the remaining 10% to get out of hand.

Thanks you

[JMFS]

Wow, you have your hands full. I, too, have a resource guarding pooch and I know well how stressful it is. When he attacked me four months ago I decided it was no longer manageable and I got in with a Behaviorist who uses force free training. After 5 sessions we're in a Much better place so I'm here to encourage you. :) It Can get better. For the resource guarding I really do recommend getting a Behaviorist. I managed it for 8 years and that was 8 years of stress I could have avoided. I didn't have $500 to drop on training during those years, but had I known how much our lives would have improved I'd have saved $20 out of each paycheck or something! It really is a massive difference. We're still working on it - he can still be an outright you-know-what about it, but now I know how to address it so that we keep making forward progress. There's a post called Mo's Escalating Behavior - that's my saga documented throughout the process.

 

I know Adrienne has a video for dogs who attack out of jealousy. It's in her case studies and she was working with a situation similar to yours in regards to attention. Gertie gets jealous with Mo, but she's a dork about her interruptions. She starts wiggling all over the place and she'll slide onto her shoulder, then onto her back until she's between us. Mo doesn't really care and Gertie is a lover so I just send her away and put her in a stay while I finish loving on Momo. The video was doing something similar using treats. When the aggressor was coming in to attack Adrienne would throw a treat away from her and the dog getting attention. By the end of the video everyone was friendly with each other.

 

For the sibling fighting there have been a couple posts, but folks haven't updated to answer Adrienne's questions so the posts died off. If you can set up a couple examples of when they've exhibited the behavior she'll have a better chance at helping you figure it out.

 

How much exercise do they get? Border Collies are a super high-energy breed and if you add to that their intelligence level (smarty pants) that will probably take a role in troubleshooting. Bored dogs = mischievous dogs.

Edited February 9, 2019 by JenniferM.
Amended the title of Momo's post

[rmedeiros565]

Thank you Jennifer, I will take a look at the video for sure and also look into a behaviorist. Our vet is wonderful, I will ask her for a recommendation. We do exercise them a great deal, they do have lots of energy and love to play.

[rmedeiros565]

OK i have a scenario that resulted in a fight and I was hoping you guys could weigh in and let me know what i may have done wrong. The girls were outside, i called them in and they came right away. I wanted to reward them for coming to the call to reinforce that behavior. I had two treats in my hand. The smaller dog tried to jump up to get the treat, i held it away from her and told her to sit, it took her a few seconds but she sat and then got her treat. The other dog had been sitting behind me patiently waiting for her treat. When i turned to give it to her the smaller dog lunged at the larger one and a fight followed.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello Rmedeiro565, and welcome to the forums,

I hope this was just a noisy "argument" and nobody got hurt!

Jennifer provided you with some excellent advice. When there are cases of aggression, the intervention of a behaviorist is important both for safety and correct behavior modification implementation. When there are fights between dogs, there are always risks for a redirected bite (a bite to owners), escalation of the fighting behaviors (the more they are rehearsed, the more the behavior puts roots) and behavior modification requires an in-person assessment and guidance considering the implications associated with carefully observing body language, monitoring closely threshold levels and repeatedly assessing progress/setbacks so to adjust the program accordingly.

 

It is great that you are considering a recommendation by your vet. Please make sure the chosen professional uses force-free behavior modification to prevent further stress. You do not want a regular trainer for help with this (unless he or she has extensive experience/background in behavior modification), but a behavior professional. Ideally, a board-certified veterinary behaviorist or certified applied animal behaviorist.

 

In regards to your situation, you did nothing wrong. You are just dealing with behavior problems and things can get complicated sometimes. From your initial post, it sounds like you dogs are in conflict over your attention. In your second post though it seems clear that this conflict over your attention is further compounded as well with resource guarding of food, so there are two issues at play.

 

In general, with these situations, we want to keep those arousal levels as low as possible. So calling both dogs for a recall and then one dog jumping up for the treat, sounds like a scenario with high arousal levels. High arousal levels often contribute to paving the path to conflict.

 

With behavior modification, it's important to work at low arousal levels and then work up to higher levels very, very gradually, but only once both dogs have shown the ability to act calmer and have been conditioned to hold solid sits and stays.

 

Often such training starts individually until the response is very fluid, and then with the distraction of each other (one handler per dog and each dog leashed) with the dogs at a distance and then at gradually closer distances until both dogs have shown the ability to hold their sits/stays very fluently.

 

The dog initiating conflict (if a repeated pattern is noticed) will likely need to learn the virtue of "patience pays." She would likely have to learn to hold a sit/stay while the other dog sits and gets a treat first, and then, after waiting patiently, it's her turn to get her treat. With several repetitions and correct implementation she should develop what's known as a conditioned emotional response. In a nutshell, something along these lines: "Every time the other dog gets a treat, and I am sitting nicely, it means my treat is coming right next. I like when the other dog gets a treat!"

 

*Care is needed though after such reps as sometimes, I have seen cases where conflict may occur right afterwards, when the exercise is over and dogs are released from their stays. The behavior consultant should have a plan in place to prevent this from happening in the first place or remedy it promptly should it happen at the first signs.

 

Of course, this is just a general example of a behavior modification protocol and not meant to be used without the in-person guidance of a behavior professional. Only your behavior professional can guide you through a specific behavior modification program that is custom-tailored to your dogs' situation based on his/her history taking, a functional assessment and close observations to cover all basis. Every behavior professional has their own approach/preferred methods.

 

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your dogs are fighting or showing aggressive displays, please consult with a behavior professional for in-person guidance and safety.

Edited February 8, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[rmedeiros565]

Thank you for the information. It does appear that a behavior professional is what we need to ensure we have a happy, healthy home for all involved. I am learning a lot about high arousal situations from your articles and posts too. Some simple adjustments have already made a big difference. Thank you again!

[Adrienne Farricelli]

You are very welcome! Glad to hear your are seeing some results already. Keep us posted on how things go.

Best,

Adrienne