Boxer behavior problems

I just brought home a 1 year old boxer female. I'm just getting to know her but I've noticed some behavioral problems. It seems that she is very jealous of my male chihuahua. If he is next to me she starts flailing around and tries jumping up on me and then attacks him. She didn't actually bite him but definitely gave me a scare. She is super hyper and hard to deal with and doesn't want to listen to anything. Could anyone offer me any training advice or tips?? I've had boxers before but I raised them from pups and didn't have this problem.

please please hellpp!!

How did the shelter/breeder/previous owner say she was with other dogs? When a dog is as old and large as that one, knowing how they do with other dogs BEFORE you bring them into a home with other dogs is very important.

It's especially important as you have a Chihuahua which she could kill before you could stop her if she wanted to. I'm hoping the shelter/breeder/previous owner didn't just give you the dog and say "good luck!!".

That would have been very wrong of them. If the dog is behaving aggressively and you are worried about Chi's safety, best to separate them for now. Gates, crates, and absolutely no baits... how they say.

This means keep the dogs in separate rooms when possible using gates, crate one of both of the dogs when needed and leave no food, toys etc. for them to squabble over when they are together.

Also, you cannot expect a dog you just got to listen to you. Dogs have to be trained and get used to being in a new home with new rules. Supervision and weeding out the dogs past problems (say it jumps on couches and you don't allow this) will be important at this point in time.

You need to keep the dog from jumping on you, firstly. When she jumps up, turn away slightly so she will fall back down and don't acknowledge her at all until she lands. Then treat her once she's all four paws on the floor. This will teach her that jumping isn't rewarding.

Also, being only a year old (my puppy is a year old) she's going to be hyper. This is why durable chew toys, regular leashed walks, and outdoor running time is very important. Boxers are usually pretty high energy dogs anyway from what I gather.

I'm not an expert and I can only offer a little bit of advice. the best advice I can truly offer is to not expect so much from your doggy quite yet.

I made this mistake, and it kicked my butt as my puppy started bossing around my older dog, weeing all over, and being a menace and I had no idea what to do. You have to step in teach ground rules... and correct problems as they crop up, before they get out of hand.

You also might be able to take her into basic puppy training classes, which will help you understand behaviors and such. Good luck with your new doggy, i'm sure you two will be and item as soon as you figure her out! Someone else will come along with better advice soon, I'm sure.

When you say your Chi is next to you where exactly is he? Stood next to you or on a seat next to you?

If they are just stood together then it's a case of basic training with lots of reward for doing the right thing, if he is on the sofa with you then that's a different game, certainly in the early stages you need to treat them the same, if there are issues keep them separate and train separately until you have enough control over each one before you can put them together.
With all the best will in the world you can't always just put dogs together without some kind of control measures until you know they can behave.
If you have had boxers then you are aware of their inclination towards "overtly bouncy" behaviour.

Good luck with your new girl

It is very early days and she is still working out the house rules and what you want of her, she will be stressed as well coming into a new home with strange dogs. I always put a few drops of Rescue Remedy in my dogs drinking water when I bring a new dog in, this helps them relax. Also burning lavender candles helps.

What she is doing is insecurity, once she feels secure that will stop. You have 2 hands so have one for each dog when she comes across, if she tries to force him out stand up and walk away, she will soon realise that behaviour isn't acceptable to you.

Being hyper is normal for a Boxer, they are high energy dogs, love to play and need mental exercise as well as physical. What may help her is playing mind games with her, mine love the 3 cup game, put a treat under a cup, move the cups round and let her find the treat.

Good luck with her.

Sorry to get off topic here, but Mattie I am so glad to see you!! I have been wondering where you've been.

First and foremost your Boxer is a young pup at 12 months so you are dealing with a big energetic puppy. If she was smaller you would not notice or think so much about what she's doing

You do however need guidelines. You've said how she is with the .chi, how is he with her?

Describe exactly what is happening when you think the Boxer is going for the chi?

As there is such a difference in size you do need to be careful, for the first few weeks anyway dont leave along together, have them interact under your strict supervision.

Is she spayed yet? Is your .chi neutered?

Neither the chi or boxer are spayed or neutered. What happens is I will have him sit on the couch by me then she decides that sitting on the floor is not good enough or sitting on the other side of me is not good enough. So she tries to get on top of me and then starts trying to get near the chi. The chi starts growling and then she tries to do everything in her power to get a hold of him. I grab her collar and then she proceeds to choke herself out as a yell at the chi to go to his bed. Then she breaks free and starts chasing after him. The whole time I'm yelling NO NO NO. It gets out of control all too quickly each time I try to have them in the same room. So for now, I keep them separate.

Yelling at your dogs will make the Boxer more excited, she will think you are joining in the game. My Staffy, which are smaller versions of Boxers will sit on my other dogs if he wants to sit were they are.

To start I would stand up and walk away as soon as my Boxer showed any sign she was going to behave like this. Mind games will help tire her as well as short training sessions. You can work in training session as you are going round your home, sit while you are dusting etc.

So, it's the Chi that starts it off by growling at her. He is in effect telling her that you're his property & to back off. As soon as he starts to growl you need to put him down, push him away with a firm but not yell, NO. It's understandable that he is jealous as he has had you for x number of years and suddenly there is another dog in his house vying for your attention

I would urge you to get one or the other spayed / neutered - if the Boxer comes in season the situation may very well get worse and it may seem impossible to have such a union but nothing is impossible

I think you need to go back to basic training with the Boxer, she probably has had little training in her short life. Use tasty treats for praise to make your training fun for her and so she focuses on you. After each training session finish off with a ball game so it's a positive experience for her. The more she learns to focus on you, the less notice she will take of the .chi

Helen makes some good points ... the firs thing you need to do is set some ground rules and remove any triggers that start things off, in this case one dog on the sofa not letting the other one on.

For the time being you need to stop BOTH dogs getting on the sofa, you may think that's not fair on the resident dog, (the chi) but when we take new dogs into our home we have to treat the ALL the same..........

The trigger is your chi gets jealous of the Boxer, then snaps ( or what ever he does) the Boxer them retaliates.

For now no dog is allowed on the sofa , or any privileges over the other, when things settle you can go back to allowing them on the sofa, if one grumbles at the other , both are told to get off.

If you don't know the Boxers history (have y u had them before) then you have to go right back to basics with training, look up NILF and implement it in your daily routine, (both dogs have to work for everything)

Also the reason I ask have you had them before is you might be mistaking rough play with attack, can you explain what she actually does, Boxers make a lot of noise when playing you could be mistaken for thinking it is aggression, so you need to be sure what it is, but from what you say, I think its the chi that is showing jealousy and the boxer may be reacting to it,