biting other dogs

[ingo4646]

How do i get my female to not attack her brother, like when he walks by or when she is sleeping, and he gets on the bed and wakes her up, she get aggressive

[Maggiesmom1]

Please give us some more information about your dogs. What breed? What age? Have you had them since they were pups? How do they get along at other times, are they nuetered? Etc.... tell us more and hopefully someone here can help.

[ingo4646]

Well there dalmation and pit bull mix. We got them when they were 3 months old. They were abused by there previous owners, and we got them from a rescue group. They are now approx 19 months old. The female is very scitish, if her brother bothers her while she is sleeping she gets agressive at him. If he stares at her to long the same thing happens. I have found that if i keep a spray bottel with water close to me, and if she growels at him i pick it up and she backs down. My male is real mellow. He will defend himself if she gets to pissy at him. Well thank you for your help, i look forward to your reply to my problem. Yes they are spayed and nutered. They are brother and sister from same litter. I really don't want to split them up if i can fix this agressive problem. They are fine other times.

[Maggiesmom1]

The answer is not easy. I like that you are using the squirt bottle to let her know that growling at her brother is something that you don't like. Dogs need rules. A lot depends on just how snippy she gets and how he handles her. If she just snaps a bit at him and a real fight does not escalate, then he'll probably learn not to bother her while she sleeps. That's her way of "training" him. If it turns into a true dog fight, then you have a bigger problem.

You may want to consider giving each one a kennel for them to sleep separately in peace. That would probably give the female more confidence and allow her to relax, obviously she is a light sleeper who doesn't like to be disturbed.

If you are worried about leaving them alone together, 2 kennels would work for that also. At their age, they are like teenagers and still require some attention to keep them out of trouble. As they age, things should improve.

Keep on with training. Have you taken a training class yet? That could help you to feel more confident in your own techniques. Keep things calm at home and take the dogs on a daily walk to burn energy and keep them from being bored.

Good Luck. I hope they grow up to get along as wonderful friends.