Posted by summer Hughes on November 10, 2009, 7:02 am, in reply to "Re: Desperate for any advice on dog aggression"

Im really sorry about your problem......I know a lot of things can be solved with work and exercise. Have you tried maybe taking them on a bike ride or running (for a lonnnnng time). They should find that fun and not be distracted by eachother. I would try it before trying more "professional training" and wasting your $$. Not that they all waste $$ but still, we all need to do our part in working the dogs and they LOVE it.

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Posted by Anne O on November 10, 2009, 9:25 am, in reply to "Re: Desperate for any advice on dog aggression"

They can both still be part of the family. It may just be an issue between the two of them that will not spread to other dogs when you are off your property. That's the way it is with mine. But if they have turned against each other, no amount of training will stop them. Their doggie instincts are turned on HIGH. Most often they do start out as best friends, but then as with any pack or herd animal, there is only room for one dominant male, and one dominant female. The other one is driven off or killed. Once you and the dogs get a routine they will accept it and the problem should be solved. My aggressive males will walk right by each others crates in the house and either ignore each other, or just walk by and give a look like saying" ha ha, it's my turn now!" Then they switch and the other one does the same.

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Posted by Sylvia on November 10, 2009, 8:51 am, in reply to "I have 2 alpha females....."

We have much the same story as Julie, but with a very dominant male Catahoula, submissive German short-hair, and a Catahoula b###h that loves to join in on her mate's side once it starts. It's not all-out hatred, but the occasional Catahoula temper flare that starts it and then it's to the death if they're not separated. And with 2 on one that's risky business. The frustration for us is that 95% of the time they're fine, but the 5% is never worth the risk. For the first few years of their lives together they were best pals, so the restrictions were hard for all of us to adjust to for a while, but it was either that or re-home the GSP. We manage them by dog gates in the house since they're not aggressive on sight like Julie's are, and cycling from house and yard priviledges to a dog yard or big outdoor kennel with yard. You would be doing Dex a huge favor not to keep him in a crate all day if you can manage a laundry/utility room set-up or secure dog pen. For the record-- I agree with the trainer. Quite a few Catahoulas develop same-sex aggression as they mature and no amount of exercise or training will render them totally trustworthy with other dogs.

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Posted by Sue R. on November 10, 2009, 10:02 pm, in reply to "Re: Desperate for any advice on dog aggression"

Although they only seem to fight when you're around, unless you have something like a nanny cam you can't be sure. It may be that they just haven't hurt each other badly enough to be obvious. If you can arrange a way for one to be out in the house and the other to be out somewhere else when you're gone for extended periods, that would be ideal. However, I can tell you from experience that the most cherished time out will be when their two-leggers are home and they can--separately--spend time with them. We usually tried to give one more time out during waking hours while the other slept in the same room as we did. Several folks told me it wouldn't work. That they would bark and whine the entire time they were kenneled. One of them did have a problem when both were kenneled while we weren't at home, but she never had a problem taking turns while we were there. Best of luck to you!

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