Help!! How to deal with an aggressive Corgi

[gstaines]

Hi All:

I'm new to this list and have been reading some postings. We have 3 dogs: a 12 year old Cairn terrier, a 3 year old Cairn terrier, and a 2 year old Corgi. All are females. All are spayed. Like some of you have mentioned, sometimes something just sets the Corgi off and she goes after the 12 year old Cairn. It takes 2 of us to pry the Corgi off the Cairn. We are a bit at our wits end and would appreciate any advice you might have to stop this behavior. We really do not want to give up the Corgi but might if this continues.

Thanks in advance!!!

[MyPemCharlie]

Hi gstaines,

First let me welcome you to GoCorgi! We're glad to have you here.

I have a couple of questions for you about the fights and general situation. Have you raised the Corgi from a pup or did you recently bring her into your family? Can you pinpoint what starts the fights (food, toys, territorial defense, other)? How many months have they been fighting?

As for broad advice without knowing specifics, it is unfortunate, but male dogs usually fight and don't draw blood, whereas when two female dogs start fighting they are often out with an intent to kill. Having said that, it is imperative that you keep the Corgi and the 12-year old separated unless you are able to supervise and can step in before any tense body language indicates an impending fight. The more they are allowed to fight, the more fighting will become a habit and it's very likely to escalate in severity each time.

At age 2, your Corgi is just now leaving her adolescent phase and has become a young mature adult. It is very likely that your senior Cairn has been the dominant dog and your Corgi has decided to depose her and become the lead dog in your house.

Give us a little more detail on the specific observations you've made and we can hopefully provide a little more targeted advice.

For now, the priority is do whatever you can to prevent any further fights.

BTW - my Corgi just turned 15 months and I recently brought home a 3 year old Cairn.

[Peggy]

As Chris said, look for the trigger. There may not be one you can see. If there is not a trigger you can find the best thing is prevention. Meaning you keep the corgi and the 12 year old apart at all times. Baby gates, crates, exersize pens. Whatever it takes. And IMO, for the saftey of the 12 year old I'd keep them apart anyway. Especially when no human is with them.

Corgis, especailly the females are known for holding grudges. And in that case the corgi will never get along with the other dog. I've got two 13 year old corgi girls here that are like that. They are NEVER loose in the house at the same time. NEVER together. NEVER in runs next to each other.

A dog behaviorist might be able to help.
American Dog Trainers Network -- Animal Behaviorists and Canine Behaviorial Consultants

And some links for further reading: (the first one is about aggression in Pembrokes)
http://users.amerion.com/emrys/ProblematicPems.pdf
Behavioral Problems - Dogs
Dr. P's Dog Training & Behavior Main Page
Behavior: Understanding and Modifying

Peggy

[gstaines]

HI All: Thanks for the quick replies! We have had the Corgi since she was about 12 weeks old and started observing this behavior at just over a year old. Yes it is about the Corgi wanting to be dominent. The trigger is usually when we are bringing the 12 yr. old Cairn in from her walk and the Cairn is still on her leash. Sometimes is just a wrong look. They are separated when we are not home and carefully watched when we are at home, but sometimes it happens too quickly for us to react in time.

Two ideas I've had: make sure she is walked and played with to make sure she is tired and keep her on the leash with me at all times we are in the house.

We want to make this work, but if we cannot, we will need to find our Corgi another home where she is the only dog.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by gstaines

We want to make this work, but if we cannot, we will need to find our Corgi another home where she is the only dog.

The corgi might be fine in a home with a male dog, could be one too many b*tches (they aren't called that for nuffin' ) I have a couple of girls here that get along splendidly with males, but another female and it isn't pretty.

Debbie

[Michael Romanos]

Anything to do with food can bring on disagreements, soured relationships and fighting between dogs. Whenever i bring a visiting Corgi into my house I make sure that food is not gong to start a war of words or actions. So with Sophie, she is not going to be under my feet when i am in the kitchen preparing meals etc. That's where Taylor wants to be on occasions. They are given their meals in separate rooms. If they get a kind of treat, they must do something to deserve it (like sit and stay etc) and are told to be on their best manners if together.
Is the scenario surrounding food a possible festering problem between your Corgi and the Cairns?

Another point worth mentioning here is do you give your Corgi some space and time alone away from the Cairns"
Dogs appreciate not always been camped with other dogs. So that your Corgi would like a walk, a car ride, cuddling etc away from the others.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by gstaines

HI All: Thanks for the quick replies! We have had the Corgi since she was about 12 weeks old and started observing this behavior at just over a year old. Yes it is about the Corgi wanting to be dominent. The trigger is usually when we are bringing the 12 yr. old Cairn in from her walk and the Cairn is still on her leash. Sometimes is just a wrong look.

She may see the Cairn as vunerable when she's on leash, and you may be distracted when you're coming in the door. So she sees an opportunity and goes for it.

Confine her to a crate when you walk your older girl. That way the opportunity to attack is taken away.

When you let her out of the crate give her a bit of one on one time and a treat.

They are separated when we are not home and carefully watched when we are at home, but sometimes it happens too quickly for us to react in time.

Dogs read body language very well. She may be watching you and knows when you're guard is down just a bit and that gives her the opening to go for her and start a fight.

Two ideas I've had: make sure she is walked and played with to make sure she is tired and keep her on the leash with me at all times we are in the house.

Both excellent ideas. I think they are worth a try!

Good luck!

Peggy

[gstaines]

Hi All: These are excellent ideas! All 3 dogs are fed in separate rooms and are never given food while they are together. Yes, I think the Corgi seizes on vulnerability and is very good at reading us and the other 2 Cairns. I took the advice of Corgi alone time and walked her alone last night giving her lots of attention and one-on-one time. She just ate it up (!!) and appeared very happy and content. We'll keep working on these things and hopefully will prevent another attack. We also hope that when the older Cairn passes on that Corgi won't go after the younger Cairn. The younger Cairn (3 years old now) is passive and the 2 get along very well together.

[Michael Romanos]

I thnk your (un-named) Corgi is just fine but she needs more personal/individual time/time out attention and dedication. That is one (or imore) of the things which make Corgis a little different from many other breeds. They need to be demonstratively regarded as something special.

[gstaines]

HI All: Thanks for all of the advice and encouragement! Our Corgi -- Madeline -- has been receiving more individual "girl-time" with me and she is responding very positively. Of course we are still keeping our guard up and will keep them separated because we cannot have this happen again. I'm so glad that we are now more aware of the quirks of Corgis! (The other issue we have with her is that she is too fat and hates to exercise. She is on diet food and is getting the recommended amount. More individual walks should help with this issue. We've never had a dog that didn't like to exercise!).

[MyPemCharlie]

Sounds like you're making progress. Glad to hear it!

Two years is pretty young to be overweight. Is anyone in the family giving her "people snacks"? Additional exercise should help take a bit of weight off. Also this is just my opinion, but I am not much of a fan of diet dog food formulas and would lean toward feeding smaller portions of a good quality regular formula food. A lot of people here have had success with a combination of regular dog food and adding green beans as a low calorie filler. The "recommended feeding amounts" printed on the dog food bag are almost always too much food for the average Corgi. Whether you want to use a diet or regular formula, I would recommend cutting the portions back a little at a time until Madeline gets down to her ideal weight.

Again, very happy to hear that Madeliene is doing well with your "girl-time".

[LaRogue]

(The other issue we have with her is that she is too fat and hates to exercise.

What kind of exercise have you been trying?

[Michael Romanos]

Take note of the directions on the food package but don't always follow it explicitly. Food quantities for feeding a Corgi equates to the amount of exercise the dog is getting daily. If he/she is not overweight and is getting at least 45 min-one hour a day with some vigorous exercise included, maybe the package feeding chart might be correct. Then again, what other food is your Corgi getting because it all adds up. Some dog food is quite considerably more weight producing than others especially in regard to calories.
If your Corgi is overweight then a programme of reduced feeding/reduced calories and gradually increased exercising should be undertaken. A fit, healthy and ideally weighted Corgi is a huge difference from an overweight one. The former will display the joys of life rather than want to just lumber around.
I got Connie, an 10-11 year old Pem down to 24-25 pounds from in excess of 40, and her life has turned around completely. On 20 minute walks back to base from a large park, she always takes the lead for at least 10 minutes. No more the lagger and lately it has been in competition with young Pem adults Taylor and Sophie and an under 2 year old Lab.

[HuskerSMJ]

I have a similar issue and was hoping to get some advice. We have two Corgis, Ein (almost 3) and Suki (almost 2). We had Ein first and then brought Suki into the family. Most of the time they get along great. They chase each other around the house and the yard, they wrestle, they lay peacefully around the house next to each other, they sleep out of their crates with us in the upper part of the house and no problems. But she seems to have a jealousy issue. Here's what she does:

• If we pick her up and he is nearby she will bark/snarl and if possible, go after him.
• She teases him with toys. Literally teases...if she has one in his mouth she shoves it in his face then growls and runs away if he tries to grab it. This usually turns into a game of keep away.
• If they are tugging on a toy together, it usually turns into a fight, so we've stopped even allowing both of them tugging on toys together.

The fights usually entail having to pull them apart and hold them apart until they calm down. Then she'll run right up to him, they'll kind of touch noses and then they'll go about their business. Nobody has been seriously hurt, but I worry that at some point they will.

It makes me worry about taking the dogs, or her specifically, to dog parks where there are other dogs. Or even having kids around between them. One thing that was interesting, when me and the wife went on our honeymoon we had my Mom watch the dogs. She said there wasn't one incident the entire time we were gone. And really, they seem to be the most protective about me and my attention. It's not as bad with the wife.

So I'm looking for suggestions. I've heard a few posts talk about trying one-on-one playtime...which we don't do currently. Is this something a good behavioral trainer could help us with? It's just so frustrating when they get along and seem to play with each other 99% of the time.

Thanks in advance...and sorry for maybe hijacking the thread.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by HuskerSMJ

... But she seems to have a jealousy issue. Here's what she does:

• If we pick her up and he is nearby she will bark/snarl and if possible, go after him.

• Don't pick her up if he's around. Obedience will help here. And I recommend classes as it helps them to learn to work around other dogs.
  
  Once they have the training one can be put in a down/stay while you pick up the other.
  
  

  She teases him with toys. Literally teases...if she has one in his mouth she shoves it in his face then growls and runs away if he tries to grab it. This usually turns into a game of keep away.

  That's what she's trying to do, get a game started. And it appears to be working for her.
  
  

  If they are tugging on a toy together, it usually turns into a fight, so we've stopped even allowing both of them tugging on toys together.

Good call here, anything that always or almost always turns into a fight should not be allowed. So yup, no tug of war.

One thing that was interesting, when me and the wife went on our honeymoon we had my Mom watch the dogs. She said there wasn't one incident the entire time we were gone. And really, they seem to be the most protective about me and my attention. It's not as bad with the wife.

So I'm looking for suggestions. I've heard a few posts talk about trying one-on-one playtime...which we don't do currently. Is this something a good behavioral trainer could help us with? It's just so frustrating when they get along and seem to play with each other 99% of the time.

That they get along 99% of the time is the good part. And yes, this is something a good behavorial trainer can help you with. I'd ask around and see if there's one in your area. Be aware that anyone can be a "trainer", a behaviorist has credentials from school. Ask for the credentals.

Maybe these links will help:
Animal Behavior Society Web Site
Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. - Pet Behavior Wellness Experts

You might try a web search for one in your city.

Peggy