[princessre]

So Bijou and Casanova get along great. They get into spats once in a while like siblings; but they are close, and cuddle and play together alot. The only thing they compete for is our attention. So when Bijou first came, she would practically knock him out of the way if I was petting him so that I can pet her instead. And if they are both in my lap, she always maneuvers herself so that she is closer to my body. I used to serve one plate of food to both; and if she was hungry, she would always get to eat first while Casanova watched and had her leftovers. He didn't seem to mind, so I thought maybe she was dominant.

However, recently, I started feeding them separately and gave Casanova's food first. Am I imagining things or has this made him the dominant one? When I come into the room and she comes dashing to me with her tail wagging, he now barks at her and herds her away from me so that he can greet me first? Now when I put a plate of snacks down and don't say who it's for, he eats from it sometimes while she watches, and other times, they both snack. My question is this: Did I mess up the natural pecking order they worked out by feeding Casanova first? Bijou seems a little bummed about her place in our house now...The thing with feeding is I can't just put down two plates because they will always eat whichever plate they feel like and they eat different recipes. What about if I alternate which one I feed first? Or maybe the pecking order has nothing to do with the feeding? HELP! :HistericalSmiley:

 

[dwerten]

I was told by someone who has 5 yorkies when I got lucy to feed her last and give her affection last after my other 3 to show her what place she was in with the pack. I think you are right in what you are seeing based on what she told me as i feed mine all separately.

I had to tell dh to show dee dee affection before Lucy when coming home from work as dee dee would go after Lucy if he showed her affection first so that stopped when he stopped doing it this way.

Lucy does the same thing you are describing she will try to be first at everything and if I am holding demi she comes up and pushes demi out of the way so we are working on that as well and she has done some lunging at dex when he comes up and lucy is on my lap and i put her down on floor and walk away which I was told would help her stop this behavior and seems to be working. I think she is trying to be the alpha or figure her place in the pack

 

[Nikki's Mom]

I don't know if you've messed it up permanently, perhaps merely changed the current dynamics.

I don't think I could feed my fluffs from one plate, as it would cause too much confusion. I wouldn't know if each of them ate the right amount of food and supplements. I feed them separately, in their crates, so they can eat without bothering each other. I feed treats separately, too. That works for us, but others may have another system that works better.

Nikki is the one who pushes Keiko out of the way all the time. She doesn't let up on poor Keiko - either she's trying to get her to play, or she's pushing Keiko away from me. Keiko sweetly takes it in stride, until she's had enough. Then she "tells" Nikki to leave her alone, and Nikki backs down.

I try not to give in to Nikki's attempts to be my "favorite" because I don't want to leave Keiko out. But maybe I am wrong and should just let Nikki "win" my affections first? But somehow that seems unfair. It really is confusing, Sophia. If you get any good insights, well, that will help me and others, too. Thanks for posting.

 

[princessre]

Omg, I am glad I'm not alone in this...so since they can't make up their mind about this....who should be the alpha dog?? The older one?? The bigger one?? The one that came first?? Or the bitchier one?? Lol!!

 

[dwerten]

Omg, I am glad I'm not alone in this...so since they can't make up their mind about this....who should be the alpha dog?? The older one?? The bigger one?? The one that came first?? Or the bitchier one?? Lol!!

LOL well i did it who came first so Dex, then Dee Dee, then Demi then Lucy but I have no clue on behavior stuff just going by what i was told as never had behavioral issues here so this is a little new to me with little Lucy and her being a yorkie sometimes yorkie girls can be tough on other yorkie girls lol. Demi just runs away from her lol

Good luck and will be watching on advice to learn more

 

[k/c mom]

I don't think it is up to us to decide but it is something they should work out. I'm glad you are feeding them separately, though. I think they each deserve to eat in peace.

 

[Matilda's mommy]

Matilda runs the house:w00t: I don't feed them on the same plate, Matilda would eat it all:blink:, but I have noticed B&B sit back and wait, when Matilda goes to get her ball B&B grabs Matilda's treats.:HistericalSmiley: She might be a old girl but she's also very wise:HistericalSmiley:

 

[Cosy]

Why not try feeding them in separate rooms for awhile and see how that goes. Toy always pushed Cosy aside too. It made me laugh until she pushed her off the sofa.

 

[CeeCee's Mom]

I have always fed my two this way from the very beginning. When Rain came I put CeeCee in her large white pen and I close the door. It is open at the top and she loves to go in there anyway to get away from everyone. She eats in there and Rain eats on a mat beside the pen. Rain would push CeeCee aside and eat her food too!!! I nipped that in the bud to begin with. CeeCee is beginning to show Rain she can't push her around. I think it is about time. They usually get along well now......Good luck Sophia~~

 

[MaxnMinnie]

Gosh this is happening in my house also Minnie always goes for the toy Max is interested in and used to try to eat out of Max's bowl (even if it was the same food) .. so I keep an eye on them

When I feed them, I sit between the two bowls of food and wait for them to finish. I have them on a feeding schedule so it isn't too much of a hassle. After a few times, Minnie now eats in her bowl while occasionally glancing at Max

 

[princessre]

Thanks, everyone!! I definitely am seeing the benefits of feeding separately. And I can feed at the same time in different rooms, so I am not choosing who gets fed first. That's a great idea.


Now what to do when I enter a room and they race toward me, and one pounces or growls at the other for getting to me first?? Should I allow this if it is the "dominant" one growling, or should I always disallow this no matter who does this?

 

[Nikki's Mom]

Nikki is almost always the one who growls and tries to push herself in front of Keiko, or push Keiko away from me. I say "settle," then ignore them until Nikki calms down and stops. Then I pick them up/acknowledge/pet them, one at a time. Sometimes Nikki gets picked up first, sometimes Keiko. I don't know if I am doing the right thing or not. But I won't reward Nikki for antagonizing Keiko, so they don't get attention until it stops.

I look at it this way: I let them figure out on their own who is dominant at any given time. My job is to encourage good behavior and ignore/discourage bad behavior.

 

[LJSquishy]

I let them work it out naturally on a day-by-day basis which seems to work best for them and us.

They eat out of the same bowl but I do not homecook so it's not a big issue. I supervise them while they eat so I am aware when one doesn't eat. They maintain the proper weight so I do not have to worry if one day Preston eats more than London. They fluctuate depending on their activity level. It sounds like feeding in separate rooms would be best for your two, at least for now.

Like I said, L&P work out their own pecking order which tends to change from day to day, but I do NOT allow them to fight/push each other when they want to greet my husband or me at the door. I interrupt them with an "ah ah" and step into them so they separate. We also completely ignore both of them until they settle down and either sit on their own, or are settled enough for us to command them into a sit position. Once they do that, they get praise and attention.

Both L&P get into their own little scraps almost daily that last about 2 seconds, but they love each other and almost always get along.

 

[jmm]

The pecking order in a dog back is fluid and ever-changing. I wouldn't focus on which dog is dominant. Enforce manners for BOTH dogs. Nobody should be rude in asking for attention. Everyone should sit and get attention on YOUR terms, not theirs. Everyone should sit for meals until release by you. I feed my 2 youngest from a double feeder. They sit until released and eat at the same time. There are times Soda is the boss, and times Roo is the boss. But for attention they must be polite PERIOD.

 

[princessre]

The pecking order in a dog back is fluid and ever-changing. I wouldn't focus on which dog is dominant. Enforce manners for BOTH dogs. Nobody should be rude in asking for attention. Everyone should sit and get attention on YOUR terms, not theirs. Everyone should sit for meals until release by you. I feed my 2 youngest from a double feeder. They sit until released and eat at the same time. There are times Soda is the boss, and times Roo is the boss. But for attention they must be polite PERIOD.

Thanks for the advice!! I did not know that the pecking order is fluid. So is it okay for me to say "NO" to Casanova when he growls at Bijou for coming to me first? And is it okay for me to say "NO" to Bijou when she knocks him out of the way to get petted? Or should I not say "NO" and simply look away when this is going on? I don't know if they perceive the "NO" as taking sides??

If I could fix this one thing, they would be perfect together-- they really do cuddle and play together all the time....My favorite thing they do is when they sleep sideways with their backs velcro'ed to each other. It is just tooooo stinkin' cute!!

 

[allheart]

The pecking order in a dog back is fluid and ever-changing. I wouldn't focus on which dog is dominant. Enforce manners for BOTH dogs. Nobody should be rude in asking for attention. Everyone should sit and get attention on YOUR terms, not theirs. Everyone should sit for meals until release by you. I feed my 2 youngest from a double feeder. They sit until released and eat at the same time. There are times Soda is the boss, and times Roo is the boss. But for attention they must be polite PERIOD.

Yes, I couldn't agree more. And I only learned this over the years and from being on here, good manners is the only thing that is acceptable. Both Mia and Leo will try their little ways, although most if not all I have fixed. Leo, was the perfect example. He as on my lap, and growled at Mia when she came to approach to get on my lap. Oh I saw this behavior before with my previous fur babies. But I gently took Leo off my lap, placed him in the floor, and he just looked up at me :huh:, I let him sit there for about 5 minutes, and when he got it, I brought him back up with Mia and never had a problem since.

They do have their play time, and I do let them work things out, but as Jackie said, bad manners is never allowed, and I always intervene.

 

[mom2bijou]

Benny and Emma never fight over food actually they never fight over anything. They eat side by side and will do the food bowl rotation. But I can never figure out who is dominate over the other. They appear to switch alpha rolls depending on the situation. It's interesting to watch. On occasion I'll have to step in and remind them of manners like when Emma barks her head off at Ben b/c she wants what he has, but for the most part they are pretty respectful of each other.

 

[jmm]

That is very rude of the dog to growl or be pushy about petting. This is where YOU must have rules about what is appropriate. Forget about the dogs arguing with each other and imagine how rude if would be if a child yelled and screamed for another child hugging the mom. Totally inappropriate. Your dogs should sit politely for attention and only come up on you when invited. If one is invited the other should behave as you ask. This is about the dogs having respect for YOU and looking to YOU for guidance instead of taking things upon themselves to decide. Basically they're calling the shots as it is now.

I have no issue with my dogs figuring out playing amongst themselves and things like that...but we don't have this rude stuff when I am involved.

 

[dwerten]

jmm when it happens is it best to put them down and walk away?

I have never had this behavior with mine until lucy came and she has been pushy with the others. When i see the behavior i put her down and walk away as someone told me to do this.

When I am petting one of the others she comes in and pushes her way in front of them

I do not know anything about behavior as never had to deal with it as my others are pretty respectful of each other - once in a while Dex will whine if he wants to be in our lap and Demi or DD is in our lap but never pushy or growling.

I could use some pointers on this as well as do not want any behavior issues. I keep Lucy separated when I go to work as her and DD still make me a little nervous at times as they get moody with one another and I do not want to come home to any nightmares.

Lucy is 3 and my others are all 6 so she has alot more energy than them and we call her the energizer bunny. She came from a home with 2 other females who fought at times so I see she has learned some behavior issues that come out at times.

also what signs do you need to know for aggression is it if tail is wagging all is ok but if tail is upright and stiff you know it is not playful?