Dollyamber Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 OK People - Long time no see! This is an honest description of ALL facts - I seek sensible advice. I have recently moved house with my tribe - One Old English Sheepdog - 7 years old female (typical herder, little nippy), One Springer Spaniel x Border Collie - 12months old female (hyper, never gets enough exercise but loves life) and One Italian Spinone 3 year old male (always a litttle grumbly but normally very very placid). We have moved from a house where all 3 spent loads of time running in and out of the house with all 3 sleeping together in the hallway (Spinone and Sprollie in cage and OES outside it). The few destructive issues when we turned our backs were solved by simply leaving nothing around. New house has garden that is relatively unexplored - lots of shrubs etc. This means that apart from the small yard to the rear there is little scope for them to run around blowing off steam. The layout also means traipsing dogs through whole house to outside areas. To help with this I have introduced a long walk routine every evening well before bedtime. Bedtime and times when we are not immediately around involves the Italian Spinione and the Sprollie being housed in a huge cage as before. This has worked well until just lately (we have been here since Xmas Eve). Recently, the minute the Spinone is put into the cage with the Sprollie all hell breaks loose with him hurling himself at the cage trying to rip the OES to bits through the bars. The OES retaliates similarly - It is quite scary until you consider that if we open the cage door during the snarling the three of them wander around looking where all the noise is coming from! If we walk out of the house the noise ceases. Whilst the Sprollie joins in barking she does not get involved in the real action. We cannot let the cage inmates out when we are not here or at night as they are so destructive and new house layout requires me to use dog room as my office where loads of (chewed prior to cage introduction here) IT equipment is located. I have tried bringing the three in and giving them a treat as they enter the cage, when they actually arrive in cage and also during barking and snarling incidents - None of them distract them enough to prevent recurrence. This is getting me down - In the many many many years I have been kept by dogs this has never been experienced before. Any advice O wise ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dollyamber Posted February 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Update Out of interest while visitors were here I asked Sylvester (Spinone) to go into his cage - All hell breaks loose as expected - As cage door is still open he then decides to come out again with all guns blazing - It is only because I grabbed him before they actually got hold of each other that we did not end up with injuries - This is obviously escalating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudi Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Do you put treats in the crate with the dogs - is he food guarding? I think being in a crate escalates this in some dogs as it's their den and they also don't have the option of taking the food elsewhere as they're confined... My young rottie was horrible for a while with my elderly cocker spaniel, but generally only when there was food involved in the crate - he didn't guard food outside of the crate though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dollyamber Posted February 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 (edited) Thanks for the reply Rudi - No - No treats or toys to guard - I tend to leave cage door open and the dogs just wander in and out. We only cage them when we go to bed or out. Stability is pretty much the same - I work all day whilst wife is in and out (80% in). Thinking about things the pack dynamic changed drastically beofre Christmas when I had my Oldie Goldie PTS. He has 15 plus and had been here since Sylvester was a baby. The others are rescues - Sprollie was 4 months when she came here whilst OES was about 6. OES is definitely top dog. I tried something new last night - We went for walk at about 10pm then last out in the yard at about 11.30pm. I brought Sylvester and Amber Sprollie in first and caged them - THEN I brought Willow in - Tranquility - TOTAL Tranquility!!! I will try again tonight - Heres hoping. In the meantime we have just bought tons of treats and chewies as distractions both in and out of the house (all 3 pull like trains on the lead). I have also bought Willow a posh new bed for lying in outside the cage (only one at present. I am also thinking about bringing other cage into house so that neither dog has different sleeping arrangements. As before any advice welcome. Edited February 17, 2008 by Dollyamber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safneo Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 I would try using another crate too. The last thing you want is one the other one of the two in the crate redirecting onto your sprollie in a confined space Glad things are seeming to improve though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dollyamber Posted February 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Thanks Safneo - I was thinking about the other crate for the OES leaving the other two as they have always been together. Never thought of the possibility of Sylvester having a go at Amber Sprollie as they really love each other and he has NEVER shown signs of aggression towards her. My thought process was that as Willow is NOT caged Sylvester may be getting uppitty because he was! I have'nt got room for a third crate (mine are 48" x 36") - I might have to give this one some more thought methinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safneo Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 But if you put the OES in a crate too, then the other two should be fine together (as they are now) in their crate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dollyamber Posted February 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 That is sort of what I was thinking (I think) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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