Frazier11

Sorry in advance this is long...........

Frazier is a 2 year male old Boxer we rescued over a year ago and has been the spoiled one in the family for that time besides my little boy. He is the most loving protective towards my son and wife boxer. never had any problems. He is strictly indoors has his own couch and freedom to roam the house when we are gone. We felt bad because he always seemed to be bored leaving him home by himself so my wife had a bright idea and we adopted another 1 year old female. They hit it off from the get go he plays a little rough (not aggressive) but sometimes i think Xena the female freaks out and will walk away and ignore him for awhile. i noticed that when we are cuddling up with xena mostly when me or my son does it frazier gets upset and forces himself in between or starts barking alot. I've corrected him and will put him in his room or outside and give some time to Xena because she is still getting used to the family (only been 2 months). The other day both dogs were sleeping on the couch and i was in the other room when i heard Xena yelp. i went to the back and saw that xena was up on the arm of the sofa in a coner and frazier decided to spread completley out so she couldn't lay down. when i tried to move him he sort of snapped at me which caught me off guard when i went to push his butt to move over he growled and really started to show his teeth. I have NEVER and i mean NEVER seen that side of him. anyhow i corrected the aggression quickly (i probably did it in the wrong way) but there was no way i was allowing him to think he was the alpha in the house and i threw him outside for timeout. after some time passed i went out sat on a chair and called him over (him came quickley) i showed him some love and made him relax a little before letting him in. that was 2 days ago. Should i be worried? how should i treat this, there is no way i could deal with that if he did that to my 3 year old son. as much as i love Frazier my child comes first and he will have to go. I'm just concerned because it's a new behavior and he was not playing when he started to growel and try to stand his ground on the couch.

Suggestions please!!!!!!!!

winnie

Is he neutered and is the Xena spayed?

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Molly, Mom to Winston (at the bridge 12/6/12 and deeply missed) and Porter

Frazier11

Yes they are both fixed.

winnie

Hmmmm. How long have you had Xena? They may be working out pack order or he may be guarding the female. I don't know what to suggest though. I think you handled it well. I would keep a sharp eye out and make sure he knows that you continue to be alpha in the house. I wish you luck. I am sure there are many more on here that can be more helpful cause they have larger packs.

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Molly, Mom to Winston (at the bridge 12/6/12 and deeply missed) and Porter

Tracilee014

Just my two cents here and I'm sure some will disagree.

Even though you are alpha, he needs for you to recognize him as pack leader in front of the female. Sounds to me like he was putting her in her place and you came along and challenged his authority over her in front of her hence undermining his position in the pack. Before she came, he was content to share your attention with wife and child but he needs Xena to know he was there first and has earned his place as she should.

I'm very careful about this with our daddy dog as he should rightfully be the pack leader. When I call them for food, treats, to play or even just to love on them, daddy dog always gets everything first. This helps in the pack's eyes to reinforce his position. He's much more confident for it and he rarely scolds the pups as a result. In fact, he dotes on them and cuddles with them all the time. He is secure in his position!

Too often we tend to forget that even though these guys are domesticated, they are still heavily guided by animal instincts. It's the whole nurture /nature thing that we as humans have trouble accepting. In the eyes of your male, you were in the wrong.

Again, just my two cents worth. I tend to lean on the side of naturalistic behaviors as being normal though. On the bright side, it works well for me and knock wood, I've never had to mend an injury as a result.

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heaterfj

I don't necessarily disagree w tracilee, but to me alpha and pack leader are one and the same. And that shld be YOU. I don't favor any dog over another, make them all sit before eating, etc. They know I'm the boss, lol. Sounds like your boy maybe needs to be told he's not the boss?

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heaterfj

Just small things, like randomly go make him get off the sofa for no apparent reason, get between him and his food for a second while he's eating. And the same for her as well

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Tracilee014

Thanks. I can totally accept that there are extremely good trainers who lean towards human conditioning to train their dogs and they are very successful at it. From that perspective, I can see that there is no difference between alpha and pack leader. I just personally behave as if there is.

To me it's like the relationship between say a manager and a CEO. The CEO isn't involved and on the site most of the time and so relies on the manager to take charge. I can't run with the pack so to speak 24/7 so I rely on my manager aka daddy dog to run things and keep everyone doing what they should. With the pups, he and momma dog are my interpreters helping me to cross that doggy / human language barrier until they learn to be bi-lingual ;D

Meh, I know I have an unconventional way of approaching things where my dogs are concerned but as I've said before, it just works well for me especially given my current situation with a house full of pups. I can't imagine the myriad of complications I'd have if I stuck strictly to human conditioning methods. My dogs, all of them, are well behaved and good mannered, knock wood! Perhaps I just got lucky.

I do try to be very careful when I explain the way I do things as simply that and not necessarily the correct or socially acceptable way. I don't know it all by any stretch of the imagination. I mostly just try to participate as best I can so that when someone is at wits end and has tried all traditional ways, there's still something in the bucket to pull out. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for all.

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cadkids

I agree with tracilee (and I thinks she explained it better than I would have) Brandi is my Alpha I am pack leader I support her 97% of the time unless she is just being bitchy LOL which is rare she is fed first and treated first and supported if she is correcting another if she tells them move they better move!! however she never challenges me! sasses me and backtalks lol but knows it is uselessthey listen to her weather it is two of them three of them or four of them all of them have challenged her at some point but she has never backed down and put all doubts aside that she IS the alpha

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Carol mommy of Roxi aka "rotten" at the bridge RIP sweet girl you are missed, Brandi, Buster and miss Ziggy and occasionally Mia

Frazier11

thank you for your input guys. so far i havn't had another incident but i will try the whole randomly telling him to get off the couch or getting inbetween his food or other acts to show i'm in charge. like i said before it was the one time deal but i did get taken a back for a second because i had never seen him like that. i don't think he thought i would react the way i did but thank goodness it isn't a habbit of happening.