Any Help?

I've got a 1 year old female Staffy called Lexi, and she's a lovely, sweet, playful dog.

Only problem is, she attacked our new Pomeranian puppy, Elvis, the other week. She grabbed his neck and shook him, I had to pry her jaws off him. Luckily, she didn't end up actually getting his skin, just his fur, and he was fine 10 minutes later, on his merry little way like nothing had even happened.

She's grown up with my 6 year old Labrador, Holly and my 2 year old Husky, Freya, so obviously she loves them and accepts them into the pack, but she does tend to snap at them sometimes, and had a small fight with Freya the other day. I was kinda surprised at Freya, she gave Lexi a bit of a hammering, and I didn't think Huskies were that tough, because Lexi is a very strong dog... Anyways, neither were injured, and 10 minutes later they were best friends again.

When I take Lexi for walks, I seem to notice that she looks like she's always on alert, like she's on the look out for danger, and I think she's taken on the alpha role here...

I'll be honest, I don't walk her as much as I should (she's technically my brothers dog, but he's working all the time so I took her on when we first got her... Plus I fell in love with her haha), so if I walk her everyday, a lot more, and get rid of that energy will it help her behaviour towards other dogs?

Any help you can give me to make her a well-balanced, chilled out dog would be amazing, thank you.

- Chloe

can I suggest puppy training classes she needs a bit more socialisation I believe and if she interacts with older calmer dogs of different breeds may help her more and the trainer teaching the class may give you some pointers .

I agree, I've just emailed a local trainer about it, I'm just worried she'll not let her attend any because of the incident with Elvis I don't believe that she's an aggressive dog, maybe a bit dominant though...

She isn't the alpha, dominance theory was actually dismissed by the very same people who made it up (they realized they were wrong), she could be alert for many reasons, but it definitely isn't because she's 'alpha' as no such thing exists- even wolves don't have an alpha

I agree with Crystal above, I'd take her to puppy socialisation classes so she learns to play with dogs better or perhaps seek out a trainer to help with this issue, make sure it's a positive trainer as positive reinforcement methods are scientifically proven to work while other methods could make your dog worse!

Getting rid of her energy is a start but not a solution, whats going on now could just be little tiffs between dogs that live together but you don't want to let it escalate to aggression. Do you know why she attacked Elvis? Did he take a toy from Lexi? Was there food present? Could Elvis have just been annoying her? It's best to find the root cause so you can treat the problem.

Hope this helped

I 100% agree with the above. If you find a good trainer, it is probably worth getting some 1 to 1 advice too, so them coming to your home and meeting your dogs there, seeing how you all interact (including all the people in the house). Although one individual can often be the one who triggers situations, it's how they work as a whole, how they respond to each other, that will create the final effect.

Hi ya, welcome to the forum Chloe.

I'm going to disagree slightly with the Alpha theory. It may not be in the purest way but you will often see a pecking order appear, not strictly the Alpha thing though. It could well be this that is happening as I've experienced this in a slightly bizarre situation with my Flo and her two Bloodhound cousins.

It is entirely possible that Lexi was teaching Elvis some manners. Do you know what caused the incident ? It certainly doesn't sound like a full on scrap which is good. Socialising with lots of other dogs is a great way forward and I really don't see that you'd be excluded just because of one scrap.

i wonder, as the pup will be very small, whether Lexi thought that it was a new toy? has she had experience with tiny pups in the past?

She needs a lot more exercise. At 1 she will have energy coming out her ears, and the slightest thing might set her off. Pms are annoying at the best of times, but when you are already wound up and stressed....