Whopper terrorizes new puppy

[versicolor]

Hey everybody. Here's a little background first. I got my bulldog whopper when he was 3. He's 5 now. He's a pretty good dog but he is food aggressive if I try to pick up his food bowl or touch him while he's eating and every once in awhile he can be slightly resource aggressive. He has never bitten me he just makes it obvious when he don't want me to mess with something he has. He is pretty good with other dogs and cats.

We dog sit occasionally and he has gotten into squabbles with the other dog every now and again but nothing serious. Just normal superficial displays. For the most part he gets along fine.

I just recently got a boxer puppy that I named Big Mack. He is 9 weeks old. He loves whopper and whopper likes big Mack. They play together really well under my supervision and whopper let's Big Mack know when he's had enough.

Anyway, the only thing I'm having an issue with is when I have to leave for work and big Mack will be home for a number of hours, I have an area sectioned off with a gate. Whopper has fee reign of the house. Well I have just found that whopper terrorizes big Mack while he's behind the gate. He will push as far into the gate as he can and basically attack big Mack through the gate. Obviously he can't make any physical contact but big Mack is clearly stressed out and barking and whining and whopper is snarling and biting at the gate and barking and just doing everything he can to "attack" without actually physically attacking.

Only reason I know he doing it is because I had to come back home after leaving and I caught him doing this. So now I have to crate whopper when I leave for longer periods. And big Mack is much more content and doesn't freak out when he is behind the gate. What on earth would cause whopper to have this behavior to big Mack only when he is behind the gate? And what can I do to thwart it?

 

[RalphieBoy]

Sounds to me that it is and was Whoppers castle to begin with. I would find a new home for Big Mack. Problem solved.

 

[helsonwheels]

[MENTION=16981]versicolor[/MENTION] the problem is basically you’re letting Whopper do what he wants. He needs discipline n especially training. Any dog that shows aggression towards the person that feeds him should immediately put him to his place. Remove his bowl with a firm NO and crate. Re-introduce him with his bowl n pet him while he’s eating. If he shows aggression again, repeat till you can pet without him being aggressive. You do that at each meal. For Mack, I definitely would crate Whopper till you get back from work and train him with Mack. Get 2 crates if you have to.

 

[versicolor]

Oh believe me I don't let him do what he wants at all. He does get disciplined and I have been working with him diligently on the food and any other unacceptable behavior he exhibits. This is not about whopper doing whatever he wants I can assure you of that. To the contrary. I'm asking for thoughts and advice on his seemingly senseless aggression towards the puppy while he is innocently sitting in a gated area. I am just at a loss as to what reason he would have to go after the puppy while he is in a gated area. I'm looking for possible reasons for the behaviour and what methods do I use to go about stopping it.

I have 3 crates a dog house and a gated off area. They eat in separate areas. The puppy is never left unsupervised with whopper. I have plenty of positive playtime and laid back down time between them. The puppy is crated at night and gated during the day while I am at work. Whopper sleeps in a crate at night and is now in a crate during the day while i am at work.

 

[versicolor]

Sounds to me that it is and was Whoppers castle to begin with. I would find a new home for Big Mack. Problem solved.

This seems drastic and completely unnecessary .

 

[helsonwheels]

Oh believe me I don't let him do what he wants at all. He does get disciplined and I have been working with him diligently on the food and any other unacceptable behavior he exhibits. This is not about whopper doing whatever he wants I can assure you of that. To the contrary. I'm asking for thoughts and advice on his seemingly senseless aggression towards the puppy while he is innocently sitting in a gated area. I am just at a loss as to what reason he would have to go after the puppy while he is in a gated area. I'm looking for possible reasons for the behaviour and what methods do I use to go about stopping it.

I have 3 crates a dog house and a gated off area. They eat in separate areas. The puppy is never left unsupervised with whopper. I have plenty of positive playtime and laid back down time between them. The puppy is crated at night and gated during the day while I am at work. Whopper sleeps in a crate at night and is now in a crate during the day while i am at work.

Ahhh so now it’s clearer.... . It will take time and patience. When I brought Jake home about a month ago, Nyala my brindle took a while for her to get use to Jake. When I brought him home they would fight just by staring at each other or over a toy or which human belongs to them.... Jake is 2.5 yrs old so he can defend himself. Nyala was use to win with Duke that recently pass as he would let her win but Jake will stand up to her. I would say been a good 2weeks all is good now. I started to leave him out of his crate only if I have a short errand. Again so far so good. Your problem is Mack is just a baby so yes you’re doing good splitting them up. Just keep doing what you’re doing as it will take some time but eventually they will get there and become best buddies.

 

[versicolor]

Ahhh so now it’s clearer.... . It will take time and patience. When I brought Jake home about a month ago, Nyala my brindle took a while for her to get use to Jake. When I brought him home they would fight just by staring at each other or over a toy or which human belongs to them.... Jake is 2.5 yrs old so he can defend himself. Nyala was use to win with Duke that recently pass as he would let her win but Jake will stand up to her. I would say been a good 2weeks all is good now. I started to leave him out of his crate only if I have a short errand. Again so far so good. Your problem is Mack is just a baby so yes you’re doing good splitting them up. Just keep doing what you’re doing as it will take some time but eventually they will get there and become best buddies.

Thats great to hear. Thanks for the insight. Yeah it's not too bad. It just puzzles me and I wasn't sure how to handle it.

 

[helsonwheels]

Thats great to hear. Thanks for the insight. Yeah it's not too bad. It just puzzles me and I wasn't sure how to handle it.

Sometimes you need to let them figure it out. Nyala (4yrs old soon) also put Duke to his place as he was just a pup when I got him. She was teaching him the ropes which is natural in being the older one. But when a brand new toy came out, she was nasty. That’s when I step in. Like you, I would be there all the time. I do work from home most of the time which is a bit easier. Time n patience all you need.

 

[2BullyMama]

Thats great to hear. Thanks for the insight. Yeah it's not too bad. It just puzzles me and I wasn't sure how to handle it.

I agree with Helene... it can take up to a month for them to settle into each other... stay consistent and it will slowly come together


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