[Dailydrool] Second dog aggression

[Emily Weiss Dodd]

We just added three-year-old Beau to our pack, so now our three-year-old
Sally has a brother.

However, she hates him! Sally has been the "only child" since August and
while she gets along with other dogs, she is NOT happy with Beau being on
her turf 24/7. We've only had him with us for two days so far so I am hoping
beyond hope that things will start to settle down once the novelty wears
off, but Sally is absolutely dominating him and will NOT stop.

She's the alpha and I'm fine with that ... and so is Beau! He'll readily
roll over when she approaches him to show his submission, and he doesn't
fight back when she pushes him around or humps him or nips at him. Her
behavior is just driving me (and more so, my husband!) CRAZY. She barks and
growls at him non-stop when we're in the house.

So far I've figured out that they both cannot have free access to the toy
box -- I am now the gatekeeper to the toys, giving them and taking them
away. That seems to have helped a little, but this afternoon we were playing
fetch in the backyard (two dogs, two tennis balls) and Sally went BERSERK at
Beau when she saw that he had a ball, tackled him into submission and made
growling/screaming noises like I've never heard her make.

Unless something is going on that I don't see, he is in NO WAY challenging
her for top dog. He's gladly giving in and letting her be the boss but she
will not stop asserting herself as #1. How long will it take before she
settles down, or rather, how long should we wait for her to settle down
before we go for professional assistance or worse, throw in the towel and
let her be an only child again? They both recognize me as a leader and will
stop any bad behavior as soon as I stand over them or give them a "HEY!" or
a "NO!" but the aggression/dominance from Sally hasn't seemed to get any
better -- she'll stop for a few minutes, then start right back up again.

Please tell me there's hope and better yet, strategies to help overcome this
quickly.

Emily
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