I have 2 Jack Russell boys 8 mths old one saint, one nasty. Help!

[Piffle]

Infact to be perfectly honest I think the nasty one is mixed as he resembles a fox terrier/ JRT cross, his mum was def JRT as I saw her.
Anyway Doodles, gorgeous, obedient, sits, stays, walks on the lead beautifully, places his head in your lap and does not jump snap or chew. Wonderful little chap
Buster however seems erm... mean, he bolts his food then tries to steal Doodles (we separate but even then he will go to hell and highwater to thwart, he eats Doodles poo as it erm comes out sometimes. He snaps if you try to handle him, ie: teaching him to sit, putting the lead on, he is also ultra dominant on Doodles constantly mounting and bullying him. He also yaps ceaselessly - I'm not wanting to muzzle him but feel it might be the only solution.
I am intending to neuter him, would this affect any of his behaviour?
I'm mostly worried about the snapping tbh
Where have I gone wrong, I got them at the same time, they have had exactly the same treatment and training
problem is now I actually do not like him at all, but dearly love doodles.
And I feel bad.

Firstly, and most importantly, have you got young children? We had a male JRT that we had to give back to the breeder as he became very snappy with my DC requiring hospital treatment for my DD.

I've just read a really good book, called The Dog Listener by Jan Fennell, which would be most beneficial to you. I got it from Amazon. Now, I'm unfortunately not good with computers, and can't do a link but if you can find the 'calling the dog experts' thread in Pets, there's a link there.

Neuering is always worth it, but might not make that much difference in your dog's case. It definately sounds like dominance issues. The book has tecniques for overcoming problems such as this.

Neutering can help a male dog's behaviour issues, but it probably won't turn him into a saint over night. from what you have said it sounds like he thinks he is dominant over you as well. neuter him and then try re training him but assert yourself more to make sure he always know that you are higher than him in his pack. there are some good websites and books available which would help you. let me know how you get on. i had a lab/boxer cross with the same probs.

My dad is having similar probs with the Jack Russell boy that we gave to him as it was too much for us.

Ozzy's main problem is mouthing, he thinks you greet someone by trying take a chunk out of their hand. He isn't snapping but just chewing them mainly. Also he gets so so so over excited when someone visits that he is sick sometimes.

If we go and visit then he has to go in his cage or on his lead.

My dad loves him to bits but I can tell that he is reaching the end of his tether.

neutering should help, its meant to anyway.

ive got a boy jack and hes lovely,not snappy at all so i spose im lucky.

the lady opposite has a female one which is really snappy with anyone except her, so cant just be a male thing.

doodles JRT is delightful.
Buster - it's not mouthing he knows not to chew and grab your hand etc, he snarls and snaps,
I have a 4yr old dd and new baby due in march as well as 13 yr old ds.
Dd is never left alone with the dogs, dogs have outside and a run and a crate and come into living room when she is in bed.
He is just and this sounds horrible - really unlikeable.

A friend had two JRT brothers, although neutered one became very dominant. Although never a problem around people he was causing the mre submissive dog huge probs. In the end she had him rehomed where he could be the only dog.

Some people say dont get 2 dogs from same litter, but maybe if theyre just the same age a similar pecking order grows?

yes he is making Doodles life miserable
I could try neutering just Buster and see if that allows Doodles to be more assertive...

IO have a feeling that you are meant to neuter the less dominate one so that they are no longer a threat. I wuld check on this as obvioulsy it's not reversible!

You are thinking of them in terms of humans - doodles is lower in the pack and you cant qand shouldnt try to change that. I'm sure I've also read that with the food you should feed the dominate one first. I'm not an expert by any means though but it kind of makes sense. Doodles wont actually care that he is lower in the pack as that's nature and the way it works.
THe important thing is that you are higher.

have just reread my message - sorry, it sounds as if just one was neutered, in fact they both were. Its just that they had a pecking order, and one got picked on.

Just had another thought on this, With Luke, my lab/boxer cross i tried doing things to exhaust him so he wouldn't be as aggressive. Mostly i did agility with him, and it did work sometimes. Maybe you could try retraining him, he is only 8mths so it shouldn't be that difficult, well it won't be easy but it won't be as difficult as trying when he's older. Luke mostly had problems as he's a rescue dog and was very badly abused- locke in cupboard with 14 other puppies and fed one meal a day, beaten, intentionally driven over amongst other things. is there anything in his past that might be why he behaves like this?

I got Buster at 9 wks (allegedly) he was so wormy and ill, really little - was a bit of a resuce really, Doodles is from proper healthy working ratting farm stock.
I think Buster was a lot younger tbh.
We got him healthy thought and he is a great looking dog.
now he ahs started to hump dd (4) I'm going off him really quickly...
She cannot stand still or he is on her...

I would rehome Buster, it sounds as though you will have your hands full with the new baby and you love Doddles. Prehaps Buster would be better in a home without young children.

I'm also terribly worried that Doodles will pine for his mate and get bored and destructive
Oh what a bind

We have a similar situation with our two dogs. Mother and daughter labradors. The daughter is really dominant over her mother. The mother doesn't care as she's far too chilled out to get upset. They are perfect with adults and small children, but we keep daughter muzzled whilst out as she attacks small dogs.

We adore them both, but I have to say if either showed any sort of 'undesirable' behaviour they would be rehomed straight away. Its not worth the risk.

Sorting out your dog will take lots of time. Are you sure you can devote that much time with other children and a newborn to deal with? Personally, rehoming would sound like the best option to me. Good luck.

I really feel for you after having beeen through something similar with 2 spaniels who were like chalk and cheese. Neutering is a good idea for many reasons, but it might not make any difference to Buster's behaviour. I had both mine done, and it made the troublesome one more affectionate with us and less prone to humping the other one, but that was about it. It didn't make any difference to his aggression or behaviour issues.

It might be worth calling in the help of a behaviourist? There are some brilliant ones out there. At the very least they can do an appraisal and tell you if this is a problem that can be solved relatively easily or whether it will require months of hard work.

Without wanting to sound unduly negative, if you do go down the rehoming route it is better to do it sooner than later. If he bites you or anyone else the rehoming places won't take him (as I found out from bitter experience).

It is heartbreaking having it make these decisions, isn't it.

I think that neutering may solve the humping problem, and then maybe you should just take it from there. it doesn't sound like you really want to give either of them up

Neutering will not solve the problem, only training will do that - infact it may be recommended that Doodles is neutered as he is the submissive dog. If you neuter Buster then he will have to fight even more to keep his elevated standing and you could end up with some very nasty aggressive issues. It is generally not recommended to own young two dogs at similar ages becauses, as you have found, they can have major heirachy problems. It may sound awful but, if you think that Buster is the dominant dog, then you need to reinforce that it terms of his relationship with Doodles. For peace and harmony it may mean that there needs to be a Top Dog.

However, Buster really needs to know his place when it comes to you and the DC - a behaviourist could help out here, but make sure that they are members of a reputable organisation. Also ask on here: www.champdogsforum.co.uk - plenty of good advice to be had.

As for the humping, whether it be sexual or dominance driven, neutering will not cure it. It is now a learned behaviour and he will need training if he is to stop it. My neutered bitch would hump all day if we let her