Update:
My male bulldog (1 year) gets selectively food and toy aggressive with
my very passive female bulldog (6 years). He will eye her down and then
attack and will NOT stop, even after I get a hold of him. He has never
been aggressive towards people. I am usually able to catch him before it
happens, other times it seems like it is out of the blue!
Update 2:
I
should mention that he cannot be neutered for health reasons - no
anesthesia. second, I trained dogs for many years and have dealt with
many aggressive dogs. I cannot seem to break mine of the habit
regardless of all the tactics I have tried, so fellow trainers, any new
ideas are helpful!
Update 3:
I
want to state that 90% of the time he is very well behaved. They both
follow commands and listen to me EXCEPT for these cases. This only
happens once every couple of weeks and he is very selective with his
"attack mode." All other times they get along great, play together,
sleep together, cuddle, etc.
Answer:
Triglen:
If you know what sets your dog off, keep him separated when you feed your dogs and when you give him toys.
Part of training is that you train him to obey your command even if there is a large distraction (your other dog). If the distraction is very large, you have to try to train him in situation where the distraction is not so large (e.g. your other dog is at a greater distance) that it interferes with your control of his behavior. Over time you should be able to increase the amount of distraction he can handle until he will obey you, no matter what the distraction is.
This will take time. Until then it is up to you to control the situation by not feeding the dog in a situation where his food guarding comes into play. However I guess you could also try counter conditioning and desensitization as it is used generally in trying to combat food aggression. I would think you could have the other dog at an acceptable distance while you do the exercises.
There is always the option of rehoming the younger dog in a home without other dogs, though you probably want to try everything else before you do that.
Part of training is that you train him to obey your command even if there is a large distraction (your other dog). If the distraction is very large, you have to try to train him in situation where the distraction is not so large (e.g. your other dog is at a greater distance) that it interferes with your control of his behavior. Over time you should be able to increase the amount of distraction he can handle until he will obey you, no matter what the distraction is.
This will take time. Until then it is up to you to control the situation by not feeding the dog in a situation where his food guarding comes into play. However I guess you could also try counter conditioning and desensitization as it is used generally in trying to combat food aggression. I would think you could have the other dog at an acceptable distance while you do the exercises.
There is always the option of rehoming the younger dog in a home without other dogs, though you probably want to try everything else before you do that.
Alice:
If he is not yet neutered, it's high time.
Take him to obedience lessons, where he will have a change to interact with other dogs in a controlled setting.
Take him to obedience lessons, where he will have a change to interact with other dogs in a controlled setting.
Andy:
Assert
yourself as the alpha when the fighting starts, yes sadly this means
getting in the middle of the fight, target the aggressor each time and
eventually they should stop bickering knowing that you'd intervene.
Jen:
Keep the dogs permanently separated.
Elaine:
Spay, neuter. Use pet gates to separate them. TRAINING.
Downred:
with food why arent you feeding them in separate rooms or in farther away places?
that solves one problem, and maybe the others too.
that solves one problem, and maybe the others too.
