Who’s The Leader Of Your Pack?

Over the past two years, our family has been blessed to adopt 3 dogs from The Dog Liberator. Charlie was the first to come home in September of 2009, after barely making it out of the shelter. He was the recipient of our attention and affection. When Gisele posted the blog about Sundrop (now Lola), the blonde border collie, I was immediately smitten with her. She came to our home in May of 2010 and quickly made friends with Charlie, who was very patient with her insistent puppy play. Durango (now Molly) became a member of the pack in October after we met her at The Dog Liberator’s First Annual Reunion at Jesse’s place. She took her place as the youngest of the pack and life settled down to a household of 5 children, 3 dogs and a cat. 

As the dogs became older though, an interesting thing began to develop. Many people, myself included, have adopted multiple dogs and just assumed that they will all get along forever or that situations will not arise between them. Well, Molly and Charlie had been playing without any problems until one day, they ended up with Charlie growling and barking and Molly snapping and yelping. I had to get between them to break them up, which was pretty difficult to do. I do not know what provoked it and there was no toy involved. It began happening more frequently. Then one night, I was sitting on the floor of the office going over some paperwork and the 3 dogs were all lying around me. Molly leaned over and did her little what I thought was a playful “snap” at Charlie. I told her to stop, which she did for a few minutes. Then she did it again. I scooted her a little bit away and then she did it again and in a split second, she and Charlie were at it full throttle. I jumped out of the way and Kevin jumped out of his chair and literally had to “grab” Molly with his legs and push her back off of Charlie. What concerned us both is that we never knew when it was going to happen and we were not really sure what was provoking it. And what would happen if we couldn’t separate them? With a very busy household, it is hard to watch them every second even if I tried to keep Molly in the same room with me. It was hard for us to understand, especially since they have been together for over 2 months and each of the dogs, on their own, are very good.

Knowing that we had to find a solution, Kevin and I turned to the expertise of Giselle, Holly and Jesse. Their response proved to us once more that they are more than an agency who is just in the business of rescuing dogs and finding them homes. They immediately responded and put us in contact with a dog trainer, Paul Pipitone, at Dog’s Best Friend of Central Florida. They assured us that yes, we do have three great dogs, but sometimes issues arise that need correction. We met with Paul and we found his explanations of dog behavior, pack interaction and human/dog behavior fascinating. First he spoke with us as he observed the dogs in our backyard and then he went outside with them. We watched from the window at how he was able to deter bad behavior, such as jumping, with simple techniques and reinforced their good behavior, without over-exciting the dogs. We were aware prior to the session that there were most likely things that we were unknowingly teaching the dogs or allowing them to do that was adding to the dynamics between the dogs. But, as we watched Paul with the dogs, and then listened to his evaluations of what were likely the causes of some of the problems, we gained a tremendous insight into what defines a lot of a dog’s behavior and what generally makes for a well-adjusted dog who knows his or her place in their pack. Paul was able to give us the guidance and instruction on the measures we could take to resolve some of the problems, as well as the assurance that we could call on him in the future with questions or concerns (without any pressure to sign up for multiple lessons!). Now we not only understand a lot better the dynamics between the 3 dogs and where we were not being the strong pack leaders we need to be, but we have the tools and skills to set the tone for the house.

It has been very fascinating to learn how they communicate and certainly interesting to see the reactions in the dogs. As we have implemented changes, I think the dogs are a bit confused on our change of behavior. One night when I got home from church, we let the dogs out of their crates and it was not too long before Molly and Lola were getting into each other’s space. It also did not take long after I started getting in between them and pushing back whoever was instigating the “playful” nipping or bumping, for them to give it up and just chill. We have decided not to allow any play in the house – if they can’t begin it, it won’t escalate to the rough-housing, altercation stuff we were seeing in our “den”. Both Kevin and I have noticed a lot more of the subtle things Lola has been doing to assert her place. Sometimes when she snuggles up to Charlie, she sits on him, a sign of dominance. Both the dogs get into Charlie’s space quite a bit, Lola a lot more than we realized. A couple of corrections now, and they give up. And, they have not had one “fight” since Paul has been here.

Kevin and I both can now truly appreciate the value of seeking professional advice, taking the time to be better educated and putting forth the effort to correct behavior. We are now beginning to experience a much more well-balanced pack. Unfortunately, in the beginning, we thought that we would have to find another home for Molly, thinking she was the instigator of most of the issues. What we thought were “cute” behaviors by Lola, were in actuality signs of dominance. We were basing our possible decisions on our unprofessional opinions, which clearly were in error. It makes me stop and think how many dogs are turned over to shelters and rescue agencies by owners who were beginning to get frustrated like we were? And, more importantly, how many of them could have stayed in their “forever home” if they had spent one hour with a reputable dog trainer?

~ Lynette