duke seems to be doing what rex does now though and he will growl if rex even looks at him when hes got chews etc, its not like duke at all id never even heard him growl untill the past few months (not in the house anyway). I suppose dukes not had a good "role model" and now just thinks thats what you do!
I do sometimes step in especially when rex gets on the big bed and won't let duke on.

I think i might start doing that, its just with thinks like the stag bars i normally leave them out.
Also its not just food, duke only has to lean on rex and rex growls

Thanks for the advice. We have always left them together when were out. It seems to happen more when im at home as my step dad says they dont bother with their chew/toys as much when im not there.


Do you mean keep them seperate all the time?

I will do from now on, and ill get some more beds as there is 2 but only 1 in the living room (its big enough for 2 though) so i will get another for the living room. thanks

I think all dogs should be able to gnaw a bone in peace and have a snooze without being bullied. I have a terrier who would, if allowed, guard a piece of string or a bottle top as if it's the most precious thing in the world. Now personally I don't care what items he prizes but I do draw the line at some of his antics to protect them, so he has been taught which behaviours are and are not acceptable. I do step in and tell him off for his OTT antics. I wont accept bullying in any form from any of them.
I think a lot of terriers like to strut their stuff and will continue to push the boundaries as long as they can get away with it. If you leave them to it and the other dog is starting to show he's had enough it will eventually escalate. Personally I would nip it in the bud now by simply putting a few rules in place, Only let them have bones and chews etc while you are present to monitor the situation. Don't allow them to snarl or move in on the others bone, tell them to leave it and move away, you will need to be very observant and quick with your commands. Act as soon as you see eyeballing or movement towards the others prize and as for the bed if my terrier tried to stop one of the others getting on to share he would be told to get off, let the other one on before allowing the terrier to return. It's a bit difficult without knowing what commands your dogs know and how obedient they are so I can only say how I would deal with it with my dogs tbh.
It's pretty basic stuff for multi dog households.

No, just when giving them treats. Now you mention that it happens at other times - have both dogs been to the vets for a thorough health check? Perhaps one dog is in pain and this is causing an issue.

Why do you say that Kirsty?? Do you mean because he never had an older dog around to teach him how he should behave maybe?

The bed thing is different imo than the chews. My previous gsd would always growl at Georgie if he so much as walked past the bed when she was on it, so that's just a dominance thing, plus the top dog is higher up, i.e. ON the bed so that maybe makes a difference too?

Growling is always a warning, it's a good thing quite honestly, and although I said I've never had it in this house, of course, there have been instances when we've introduced a new puppy into the household, where the older dog has sometimes growled at the youngster, it's their communication, and how else is the puppy going to learn, and hopefully it listens each time. Whenever I have seen it, the other dog knows immediately what is meant, and until it does something else wrong, there have never been any further growls regarding the previous incident, so the puppy learned.

In your case, I feel it's different though. It has already escalated to the extent that Duke is now responding, and just like you say, as if he's had enough of Rex's grumblings at him, and that is the reason why I strongly feel somebody needs to step in, whether it be you or a behaviourist to set things back on track. One of them is going to have to submit, otherwise there's big trouble isn't there.

It's probably too late if you haven't done it already, but I've always swapped things around with my dogs, just to let them know that it's "me" who makes the choices as to who has what, not themselves, unless they can swap niceley which they have always done, all of my dogs. Do you sometimes just pick up whatever one of them is chewing, and put it straight back and give them a fuss? That's always a good thing to do as well, and you never know, it could give them the impression that it's not up to them to fight over chews/toys, it's always up to you, because you are the one who takes things off them not the other dog.

It's a difficult one, I hope you sort it somehow, as I think it would be a complete nightmare having to keep them separated most of the time, let alone if they have a toy or a chew, but merely for one of them jumping up on the bed. Then there's the scenario of everytime you leave the house, you've got to separate them yet again just in case. Another feeling I have is, if dogs are starting to grumble at each other like this over small things, they might end up hating each other eventually you just never know.

That's a good idea what BenMc has said there, take them out together and play with them together, be a team, and they might forget about niggling at one another then!

thanks for the advice. So how far to you let you terrier go, what do you allow?
Both dogs know all the basic commands, rex sometimes chooses to ignore though. Hes a very dominant dog and will try and get away with it if he thinks he can.
Im just unsure as to what is acceptable for example if rex is chewing his stagbar and duke comes in the room and looks at him and rex growls, do i just ignore that?

I just mean from day 1 of having duke rex never really wanted anything to do with him, didn't want to play, sleep near him, share etc.

[QUOTE=kirsty_;2207729]thanks for the advice. So how far to you let you terrier go, what do you allow?
Both dogs know all the basic commands, rex sometimes chooses to ignore though. Hes a very dominant dog and will try and get away with it if he thinks he can.
Im just unsure as to what is acceptable for example if rex is chewing his stagbar and duke comes in the room and looks at him and rex growls, do i just ignore that?[/QUOTE]

Another difficult one! In this house just "a look" would suffice, and I'd go so far as to say neither dog would even think about taking something off the other when walking into a room like that.

In those circumstances, if it were ME, which it isn't I know that, I would have given Rex and "oi", see if he looked up at me and wagged a tail and hopefully then stopped the growling, that would be enough for me, but if I didn't get a response like that, then I'm afraid I'd have to take the chew off him. Same would go for Duke if he even tried to approach Rex with the chew, he'd get the same "oi" from me, just to let him know that he is in the wrong!

It's just a case of being very "aware" and stepping in when you have to, before, all the growling starts quite honestly. If you've left them to it in the past, then of course, they have their own mechanisms for stopping each other from taking what is rightfully theirs, so it's much better if you can educate them first, however you choose to do it.

I don't normally take them out together as they set each other off and duke thinks he has to protect rex from other dogs and he becomes more DA.
When i have though rex has no interest in me or duke, he won't even play with his favourite toy when hes out (only plays in the house/garden)

With mine Frankie my terrier can be a little **** so if he growls just because he gets looked at he would get an "Oi". He does feel the need to make his presence felt at all times but he has learnt that I won't allow any of the others to take his bone etc. off him. He's a terrier and far too clever for his own good He actually sets traps for the others, he lays his prize on the floor and retreats to his soft crate and lays in wait until one of the others walks close to it, they don't even need to show an interest, just being close is good enough for him. He then leaps out and warns them off his prize Good job the others see it for what it is.
With the stagbar if Rex is chewing his stagbar and growls at Duke just for looking at him I would give him an "Oi" and make a point of offering Duke a stagbar too. The Oi for me works very well now but we did used to have to step in if they went too far, but I used to have all out war between my staffie and terrier over resources. He came with issues which was why he's previous owner rehomed him.