Younger Dog getting aggressive with older boy

A situation seems to be developing and other than keep my eye on it not sure what to do.. I was wondering what other people thought......
Ailsa my 5 year old GSD bitch loves Sam the Cairn, he is now 11 years old. Apart from telling him' what for' if he attempts to interfere with her food she is wonderful with him. Jake who is coming up for 3 has, at times, got a bit hyper with him but Sam has always ruled the roost and Jake has always deferred to him. Over the last couple of weeks Jake seems to be getting slightly aggressive with Sam. A few times I have heard Sam squeal and found that Jake has had a go at him - tonight Sam walked by Jake whilst he was eating and a small fracas ensued. It has got to the point now that I think Sam is a little scared/wary of
Jake and when he came back in this evening Sam didn't want to cross Jake's path although he was laying down. I went to sit with Jake and called Sam over and he came but to be honest with you for the first time ever I wasn't sure what Jake was going to do - he just looked at Sam and I felt quite concerned for the little chap. Sam is losing his sight slightly (due to his age) and I don't know if this is making him more wary of Jake's size and maybe Sam is yapping more at Jake or whether it is Jake instigating something...... I don't want Sam getting hurt nor do I want
to have to segregate Jake and Sam, has anyone got any views of what is going on here? At the risk of being shot down here Jake does not like small furry animals but has always been fine with Sam up until now.

I would say that your older dog Sam sounds like he has been the top dog in your pack,but now he is ageing your younger dog is trying for top position and untill they sort out who's boss they will carry on having spats I think in a pack of dogs it's natural for a younger dog to take over when the topdog gets weaker but untill Sam is ready to stand down you could have problems.....or i could be wrong and it could be something else!!! Hopefully someone else on here will have some ideas. I hope things calm down for you all soon.

Yes, it's funny I did wonder about that one. Sam is losing some sight - the vet says it's an age thing and I wondered if Jake is picking up on his weakness. I just hope that it
won't escalate too much......

If this is what's going on it will depend on how quickly Sam is prepared to step down,try and stay calm when you're around them or they will pick up on the fact your stressed . If you really decide that this is whats going on you can help reinforce Jakes position as top dog by giving him attention first and food before Sam, I know this can be hard .Come on people some ideas????

One thing I didn't mention and I'm not sure whether it reinforces what we have been thinking or not, but also in the last few weeks Jake has been leaping on Ailsa much more than normal. At first I thought it was play fighting, he would grab her ruff etc and they would leap about, but Ailsa clearly didn't like it much and would run to me to escape. I always tried to put a stop to it before it got anywhere as I sometimes had the feeling it might escalate into a fight. Ailsa's hips aren't that great and I don't want him knocking her down or barging her about too much. Do you think this is all to do with the domination thing or is he just turning into a mindless thug? she has always deferred to him giving into him when he has wanted her toys etc.

It does sound as if Jake is beginning to regard Ailsa as "his bitch" and is intent on ensuring that Sam steps down from his position, as he is now into his prime. This may account for his "harrassing" Ailsa. He maybe seems to recognise Sam's approaching age and perceives a weakness (and he is probably spot on). Size is not always and issue in the heirarcy between dogs and as you say Sam did seem to be No.. Do Sam and Ailsa always get on? The fact that Sam is smaller is now a physical problem as he is facing demotion and could get hurt in the process. Hopefully, as Sam seems to be stepping down gracefully and deferring to Jake, Jake won't bully him and will settle down with both your other dogs, allowing peace to reign once more. I don't think there is much alternative but to keep a close eye on them both. Poor old Sam - there's no fun in getting old.
Just another thought, if Ailsa did eventually tell Jake off this might make a difference - it seems to me that it is usually the bitches in a group that rule, so perhaps she will get fed up with him and tell him where to go. Difficult one !!

Sorry - I'm here again, but I tend to think as I go along.
How are you with Jake and his obedience to your commands. You may well have to work on this and make him sure that you are in charge and reinforce Jake's obedience to you. If you are able to reliably stop him in the act and make sure he obeys you every time, then this will probably help, although it won't work if you are not there.

Thanks for the advice. To answer your questions - yes Sam and Ailsa have always and still do get on very well.
Never a cross word between them apart from the food thing, if he attempts to walk by her when she is eating she growls and clears him off - poor little sod he's getting it from all directions but it's always been like that.
Jake is obedient when I am there on top of him, from a distance not so great. His recall is not good and I know that I need to work on that. From a short distance the recall is fine but again from a distance usually hit and miss.
When he is getting larey with Sam a sharp word does stop him and he slinks off.......I have been tempted to let Ailsa and Jake get on with it because she will at times stand her ground and growl at him but if a full blown fight ensued I would be hard pushed to stop it on my own and as I mentioned with Ailsa's dodgy hips I am loathe to see her getting bashed about or knocked over. Rock and hard place springs to mind

I agree with aerolor about the bitch tending to be boss!

To be honest, I'd not really look at this with a view to pack hierarchy - yes, Jake's hormones are raging with his youth, but I think the best bet would be to recognise certain triggers and work with Jake's manners around the other dogs.

Even if he is going to be a very strong minded dog, he still has to live peaceably with the others and no one wants any of their dogs to be bullied, which is what it sounds a bit like at the moment. It is difficult with Sam as yes, I agree Jake may well see him as a sort of competitor for the other dog, or it may not be about this at all.

What I suspect is happening is that Jake is maturing and finding his feet and realising he can control others using his body language etc, and he's enjoying this. He's learning a lot about getting other dogs to do what he wants.

I'd suggest 2 things

Contacting a good, reputable behaviourist who uses modern methods (member of APBC for example).

Getting the booklet by Pat McConnell called I believe, "Feeling Outnumbered?" which explains how to organise your dogs to keep the peace in the household

I'd suggest a behaviourist because you probably do need a professional on hand to assess everything, also there is a possibility that a vet check is in order and a reputable behaviourist will ask for this before they start. Behaviour problems esp. alterations in adult dogs, can sometimes be due to a medical problem so it's a good idea to rule this out first.

I hope that's some help. Here's a bit of info re. dogs and how they communicate with each other:

http://www.dogwelfarecampaign.org/if-not-dominance.php

Anyway, that's my take on it

Wys
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