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With a pack of 5 we have occasional scuffles. No one scuffles without warning or trigger. Hannah's trigger is food so we feed her separately. When I get ready to prepare breakfast or dinner I tell her "Go to your roomie" and she trots into the study. I close the door - prepare the meal for the pack and feed her separately - the others can all eat in their corners of the kitchen with no problem but Hannah has to be by herself.<BR>
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My youngest, Pete, every now and then decides to kill Duffy who does not have a drop of alpha blood in his whole body. Pete tenses up and starts to whine - next move is kill Duffy - Duf never fights back so I just have to pull Pete off of him. My msg here is to know triggers and signals - Pete always makes a certain whine which turns into a growl when he is thinking about violence. I can usually speak sharply to him or use a spray bottle and the behavior is interrupted. This does not happen over food but over attention - Pete is closest to me and Duffy starts to try to get in on the action - I love them both separately but not these two at the same time!<BR>
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They each have their quirks. They each know I am the Mama Boss Alpha Bitch and they listen to me - but I have to interrupt the inappropriate behavior to avoid scuffles. I think the name of the game is to realize they are dogs and not expect them to be people - sometimes the preparation of food or getting ready to do something really fun is just too much for them and they need to be fed/taken out/dealt with individually. So if you hear that tell tale whine or growl get the spray bottle - admonish the whiner/growler - and don't let the problem escalate to the point there is a fight.<BR><BR><BR>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Lucida Handwriting, Cursive">GinnyTata-Phillips, co-author of DOGKU, PETKU , BASSETKU and RESKU!</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV>\ ______ _<BR>[ _____()*\<BR>^ ^ <BR></DIV><BR><BR><BR><BR>
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