rottie scared of bichon!

for the last few weeks now Phoenix has been scared of going anywhere past the kitchen downstairs.
We live upstairs and the kitchen is just at the bottom of the stairs. But if i need to let her out for a wee, she wont go further than the kitchen. The backdoor is through the lounge. If i somehow manage to get her into the back garden, shes too scared to come back in! even with treats! and this is a food loving dog.

Well, today i think i might have found the cause of the problem....

I got all their breakfast ready and called them all to the kitchen. Scruffy came first which isnt usual as phoenix is usually first in. Then indie came for a nibble. Well phoenix was just standing at the bottom of the stairs. Then all of a sudden scruffy ran up to her barking furiously and she bolted halfway up the stairs, she let out a little grumble and he barked again and she was gone!

I have noticed that if scruffy has a bone downstairs he is more prone to 'appear' to bark at them for no reason, which btw indie thinks it great fun! lol. totally the opposite of what scruffy is obv thinking. But indie has a whale of a time bouncing round him when he does that.
Anyway, even when i take away all the bones hes still the same, like he'll guard things like his bed that he never sleeps in, or a chair or the cat!

Does anyone have any ideas how to stop this? cos its causing phoenix to rather go to the toilet upstairs than go past scruffy!

Hey Jen, sure someone will be along soon to help

Just wanted to say im sure you know about large breed pups and stairs, its really not a good idea to let sash run up and down stairs at her age
Take care xx

hi gems, yeh i realise bout the stair thing, but not much i can do there, she doesnt usually run up and down the stairs, it was just today she bolted up the stairs cos of scruffy.
Shes 7 months now, and up til when we got her she didnt know wot stairs were... and certainly no chance of me lifting her

Hi Jenny

I don't know what the right advice is to give you (maybe Becs or SB will be along soon to advise you on the right course of action) but Id be very careful if I were you, the last thing you need or want on your hands is a fear aggressive rottie if the problem is scruffy guarding then this is what you need to resolve or get under control, Pheonix may not always back down and run away when Scruffy runs/barks at her, she may retaliate one day and im sure thats a situation you would do best to avoid !!

Jen you should still be able to carry her, for instance in an emergency.
Im not meaning to come across as being horrible just thinking of sash/phoenix!

It could be very dangerous if she does fly up or down the stairs in fear of scruffy.
Im sure someone will be along shortly to offer advice x

From what you've said it sounds as if Scruffy's the one with the problem here, and that Phoenix is developing a bit of a fear. At 7 months she isn't mentally mature enough to put him in his place or stand her ground when she's done nothing wrong. It's one thing backing down to a more dominant dog in a situation that 'requires' it, but it's another thing to be chased off for no reason, almost bullied. As Steph says, when she's adult she might take objection to being 'attacked' like this without cause.

Has anything changed for Scruffy (other than aquiring two doggy playmates in a very few months)? How're you treating them all? Are you maintaining the natural pack hierarchy?

If I were you I'd keep Scruffy out of the way whenever Phoenix needs to be or go downstairs, maybe on a lead so she feels better walking past him. You might need to accompany her every time she's downstairs and if Scruffy misbehaves in this way again reprimand him with isolation, a squirt of water etc.

I'm not going to comment on the stairs aspect as I'm sure you are aware that even walking up and down stairs can be extremely damaging to joints which are still forming at 7 months - maybe you should talk to your vet about preventative remedies such as glucosamine?

Hope some of this helps?

Becs

thanks everyone for ur advice.
yeh my main concern is if phoenix at some point retaliates, cos that would mean big trouble!
Thing is, its not all the time, cos ive had phoenix downstairs with scruffy today with no problems, but sometimes he just starts warning them off.

Ive noticed phoenix is quite a nervy dog anyway, everything seems to scare her, which obv isnt a good thing.

Maybe having phoenix downstairs more often? as we generally live upstairs, perhaps scruffy sees it as 'his' territory?

thanks becs, will talk to the vet about the stairs too.

You are right Jenny, it is not a good thing at all. 'Nervy' dogs can easily resort to fear-biting if placed under stress. I am sure you are working on this problem, but do not underestimate the potential seriousness of it.

SB

PS I would most certainly not allow these dogs to be together with such precious resources as bones. This will simply fuel Scruffy's guarding behaviour. Even if you are there a fight can break out, and severe damage be inflicted, in a fraction of a second.

I am just going to say be careful with a big and a small dog.
Teagan and Kingsley aren't agressive at all, but look at the damage Teagan did to Kingsley.

She's never touched another dog, she is fine with all other small dogs, just Kingsley

Exactly plus large dogs can easily injur smaller dogs without even meaning to Jen if you want to talk atall about things, you know where i am