Dogs struggling to establish a peckingorder what to do?

patakadarragh

I have fourdogs a springer,a lurcher,a jack russel and a westy we have plenty of space for them 12 acres in fact but the problem is they appear to be strugling to establish a pecking order.The springer is topdog and always was and the lurcher gets on with them all and is happy wherever he is in the pecking order but then comes the problems our westy and jack russel are constantly fighting with each other it appears that it is the russel who is picking on the westywhen the westy is not at home or is gone to the vet the other dogs get on brilliantly!Please help any suggestions this has been going on ever since we got the westy 3 years ago!

Sigma Force

Have you tried a dog trainer (that uses humane methods of training) might be worth it.

morganafay

Are they neutered? If not then it would probably help.

kildara

So is it only the Westie that is causing the problems?
You might have to introduce the order yourself and see if that stops it - ie, greet dogs in order from top to bottom, feed in order from top to bottom etc. If you choose the Jack Russell to be above the Westie and it doesn't change then try the other way around.

As above though, a dog trainer might be worth a call.

Hermit07

patakadarragh wrote: »

I have fourdogs a springer,a lurcher,a jack russel and a westy we have plenty of space for them 12 acres in fact but the problem is they appear to be strugling to establish a pecking order.The springer is topdog and always was and the lurcher gets on with them all and is happy wherever he is in the pecking order but then comes the problems our westy and jack russel are constantly fighting with each other it appears that it is the russel who is picking on the westywhen the westy is not at home or is gone to the vet the other dogs get on brilliantly!Please help any suggestions this has been going on ever since we got the westy 3 years ago!

You might find that neutering the westie would help as I reckon from what you say the Westy is challenging the russells position and thats why it appears the Russell is picking on him. By getting the Westie done you will lower his status in the pack.

EGAR

patakadarragh wrote: »

I have fourdogs a springer,a lurcher,a jack russel and a westy we have plenty of space for them 12 acres in fact but the problem is they appear to be strugling to establish a pecking order.The springer is topdog and always was and the lurcher gets on with them all and is happy wherever he is in the pecking order but then comes the problems our westy and jack russel are constantly fighting with each other it appears that it is the russel who is picking on the westywhen the westy is not at home or is gone to the vet the other dogs get on brilliantly!Please help any suggestions this has been going on ever since we got the westy 3 years ago!

What ages and gender are they? Neutering is great for population control but is not a blanket cure for behavioural/pack problems.

Hermit07

EGAR wrote: »

What ages and gender are they? Neutering is great for population control but is not a blanket cure for behavioural/pack problems.

Neutering would be effective in this case as the russell and westie are fighting for dominace, neutering the westy would lower his pack status and make him less likely to challenge the Jack Russell,

However as above it will not solve behavioural issues.

EGAR

Hermit07 wrote: »

Neutering would be effective in this case as the russell and westie are fighting for dominace, neutering the westy would lower his pack status and make him less likely to challenge the Jack Russell,

However as above it will not solve behavioural issues.

Sorry but it's not that simple. In my house pack I've got neutered and entire dogs and guess who the top dog is, the neutered Lurcher. Pack dynamics are much more complex and neutering a dog does not automatically *lower his status*. In some cases neutering a dog with behavioural/socialisation problems can actually make it alot worse.

patakadarragh

yeah they are all neutered and it appears to be the westie that is causing the problems when she is not there everyone gets on also it seems they only ever fight when we are around

EGAR

Without actually seeing the interaction of the dogs it is very diffcult to say why this occurs. However, if it only happens when people are around then it could be more of a jealousy issue than anything else?