Help Needed! My bullie is being a meanie

[klmspencer]

Please HELP I have two bullies both 2yrs a male (Spencer) who is fixed and a female (Ava) who is not and she is all of a sudden attacking the male growling and snapping when we tell her NO!!!! She has turned in to the exceriost I dont know what to do or why this is happening. We give them the same amount of LOVE, TREATS they are my babies however Iam afraid to leave them home alone. They have a big fenced in back yard and get plenty of excerise Please Help

 

[mcraven2]

Maybe try baby gates? That way they can both see each other but they will have space. That's what I had to do when I first adopted my frenchie Diva, she was so mean to my EB Gio that she would attack him. Now they are the best of friends! It might work for your two even though they already know each other. And I wouldn't leave them home alone together, if you could put one in a different room that you can close off would probably be best. But I'm sure others will be along soon with help! Keep us updated, and post pics of your babies!!

 

[mendomama]

We also have a mean female, I think it's in their nature to be the *****. Also they are BULL-dogs. We have a male fixed 6 moths old, Boadie and Uni is fixed too she is about a year and a half. She has always been a bit mean to him. I think she feels the need to show him he's place in the pack. However it is SO important to be constant and firm with them. You need to be the leader. Ours have gotten better lately, not too many scraps, and no blood has been drawn in a while. When we were thinking about getting our second, we were told that if you have a male and female they should get along better than the same sex would. Not always true. Good luck and be patient.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

I'm going to tag a couple people so they see this.
@2BullyMama..@Sherry....@cali~jenn...[MENTION=2614]Vicaroo1000[/MENTION]...@Vince00

 

[2BullyMama]

Not sure if her still be intact is adding to her 'mean' level, but she could also could just be a dominate beeotch..... aka BANKS!! Banks, my girl, was also a bitch and always attacking our sweet docile boy. All he had to do was enter a room and she would attack. We spent, and still do, years training her and even though Nitschke has past she still feels the need to push her dominance level with us. We always have her in check, she lives on Nothing In Life Is Free. You can search it online and get the details, but you basically do not let her have or do anything with working for it.

 

[Sherry]

You said this happened all of a sudden, if she is about 2 months out from being in heat, this could be the factor. Hormones?

 

[cali~jenn]

Forgive me for this, I know it is horrible but I am in a hurry and want to try and help before I get offline so I am copying and pasting my response to another who had 2 girls fighting recently. I would start with this, it really did wonders for me. Let me add in case it isnt in here that chew toys etc were a trigger for us so Miila would sit and watch my boys chewing in a sit/stay position with me there to make sure she obeyed. She could NEVER take anything away from them and if she tried I pinned her and again made her sit/stay waiting for them to finish before I would let her have anything. In fact if she had something I would specifically take from her giving to the others showing that I was in charge of who got what and when. Ok the rest is from before. If you have questions please ask, you will learn a LOT here for sure! Good luck!

1.) hand feeding and making her work for her food. When we brought Miila home she was a little over a year and after a month or 2 of coexisting just fine she wanted to move her status up. Came here and learned a BUNCH from everyone and the first thing was this. Take a handful of food at a time. Make her sit/stay and take your time giving it to her. You are showing her YOU are in fact the boss and in charge of everything. Then make her do a trick, sit, laydown, sit pretty etc. After you are satisfied with that, let her eat the food from your hand. Repeat this with the whole bowl of food at every feeding for a few days or until you see some kind of change. Also, feed the older one first and have the younger watch in a sit/stay position. Higher up in the packs always eat first. Once you feel like you have made progress with the hand feeding you can then just move on to a more starting the feeding this way then release her to go eat from her bowl. While I let Miila do this, I also would then snap my fingers behind her and say take a break, making her stop eating when I chose, back up and sit down. Then I would just leave her to wait til my command to eat again. Maybe doing another trick before allowing her to finish. Seems sad and cruel but seriously helped me a LOT! 2.) when the younger one does something unacceptable like jump up on the couch and attack the older one, I personally would submit Miila and hold her for a few minutes after she calmed. If you are not comfortable doing this or arent sure how then dont. But def do NOT allow her on the couch with the other. Having them higher up gives them seniority in the pack. I had no idea and would put Miila in time out on the couch. Thankfully I was taught here that I was giving her power by doing this. You have to keep on top of her like a toddler, it is exhausting to no end BUT it paid off for me big time. Miila has been here almost a year and all 3 of my babies play, eat and sleep together like a perfect pack should. I know there is more but I think I have written an essay already. lmao I hope some of this helps. Please let us know how it is going and if you have any questions PLEASE ask.

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Having a big backyard to run around in is not the same as exercise and leadership. Take them on walks - together - and be the pack leader when you do. It will help do two things: drain their energy (they are young dogs after all) and solidify your bond as their pack leader. Walking together also promotes the bonds between you and between your two dogs.

You've gotten some great advice here. I strongly agree with the NILF suggestion, as well.

Bea was at a point this spring where she was very reactionary to Bo. She wasn't exactly attacking him but she was being snarky and snippy with him all the time. When examining the situation carefully, I had to look at WHAT BO WAS DOING to solicit this response from her. That realization turned out to be the solution I needed to resolve the issue. Dogs operate on instinct.