My staffie jumps on our other dog

We have a 4 yr old runt of the litter female neutered and a 3 yr old from a different litter neutered. When the 3 yr old here's the door knock or an unexpected bang she jumps onto the runt and starts a fight. Help guys!


Moved post to training & Behaviour

Sorry I can't really help, someone will be on soon that can.

Maybe you could pop over and say hi

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

I'm not sure, have you had them both from pups? Has this always happened?

We had the runt robbyn from a few months old and when she was 18 months we had susie who was 12 months but when susie started getting older she is now 3 she has started 2 fights with robbyn both triggered by our door knocking and Robyn's reaction to the door. We have stopped robbyn barking at the door and this has stopped sue fighting her, instead sue now kinda jumps on her with no noise or aggression but we are worried it could escalate again.

How difficult for you, I wish I could give you an answer.

I could hazard a guess that Robyn barked at the door knock or whatever, and this for some reason disturbed Susie (possibly she misinterpreted the barking and thought it was directed at her) and so attacked Robyn. And that now it's a learned behaviour for Susie, a knee-jerk reaction when she hears the door knock..

I could be entirely wrong, it's just a guess. What are their natures in general (when the door's not knocking)?

Well done for training Robyn not to bark at the door, btw, well done!

Hi Lynda. I'm Robyn and Susies other mummy.
When the doors not knocking they are the best. They eat together, sleep together but we don't encourage play together as Robyn gets possessive over toys.
On the lead they are fantastic, dog friendly, walk to heal, sit at kerbs and sit at your side before they leave the house and they show respect by you walking through the door before them.
The thing that worries us the most is that Susie is nearly 20 kg and Robyn the runt only 9kg and a third of Sues size. We would really appreciate any advice so we could prevent it happening again

Thanks
Stephy

Hi Stephy, they sound like lovely doggies!

Robyn is tiny though, so I understand your concern on that front alone.

I'm by no means a dog behaviourist and my scenario above is just a guess. Even if I'm right in my guess, I couldn't advise on what to do about it (apart from dragging Susie off Robyn).

I do hope that someone with more experience than me comes along to help you. I do however wish you all the best of luck in resolving this situation ><

Thanks and all the best.

Other than correct her when she does it I can't really think of anything else. You could practice with her on the lead in the house, maybe? Sorry I'm not much help.

Hi there, thanks for that we were thinking of trying her on a lead too. Good idea then.

I agree that it appears Susie has had a fright from the door knocking; if it was me I would get someone to knock on the door when you're expecting it and have control before she gets frightened. Maybe that way you could encourage her (treats, toys and your physical barrier between her and Robyn) to better behaviour. As with all training you would need to do this regularly and over a period of time. Good luck !