SIT!

STAY!

After identifying the possible causes of our dogs' violent fights,  I managed to regain control of the situation, and immediately came up with a game plan. I've read about dogs ganging up on another member of the pack~ a nightmare I never want to happen.

1.Separated  the  two pairs fighting each other-  The dogs are very comfortable in their spacious doggy pad/house, which is why I'm not happy tranferring two dogs  in a separate kennel. Their playtime outside has also been shortened  because they have to be let out in groups now. I had to do this because I myself wasnt confident of my ability to stop them if they go at each other's throat again. Scary

2. Dogs are fed one at a time outside  and in order of their pack hierarchy.- I saw the problem in feeding our dog altogether: a) it did not reinforce pack order b) it made them competitive/combative with their food ( which was aggravated when I put them on a diet).

3. Basic obedience training, revisited-  I figured I can quell the first signs  of power struggles/aggression among my dogs,  if they would listen to me in the first place. Thing is, I may have spoiled the dogs, and now they are convinced there's nothing they can  do to make me love them less.  I do  not subscribe to the use of force, so   I just use the "nothing in life is free" method to restore my leadership in the pack. I make them "work" for things that I used to give them freely, like meals, treats, and affection. Moy attended obedience training before so I just had to refresh him; the rest of the dogs learned quickly, including Jappy, who is an old dog.

I dont know how many weeks or months it will take before I'd be confident to reintegrate the dogs,   if that is still  possible.  But most of you are probably wondering if the reforms I've made have had any effect so far.  I will post about that next time.