Two dogs

[puppychaos]

My partner and I have two dogs, who we adopted as rescues. They are roughly the same age - Dog 1 who we adopted in December 2020 is 9 months old and Dog 2 who we adopted in Feb 2021 is a year old. It has been completely fine and manageable until we got Dog 1 spayed in April. Her recovery was fine, but since then she's been out of control including biting Dog 2's legs! I know dogs playfight, but Dog 2 looks genuinely hurt when this happens. They play well most of the time but when this does happen we separate them and tell Dog 1 off.

Dog 2 is quite a special case rescue and is very nervous (she won't even go for walks yet and is scared of everyone apart from us). I suppose I'm just worried that this will affect how she copes, especially as she was rehomed with us partially because we have Dog 1, as she learns better from other dogs than from humans.

Is leg biting normal? I don't know if we're dealing with it properly, and it's really starting to stress me out.

Other things to note: Dog 2 is not spayed yet, but will be very soon (she's just come out of a season hence why the rescue couldn't do her). Dog 1 goes out with a dog-walker and a few other dogs twice a week purely for socialisation purposes, so they do get time apart. Dog 2 has special visits from the dog walker to build up her confidence towards her and will also be going out with a group of dogs (not at the same time). I'm not sure what else is important to note but any advice is appreciated.

Have you a rough idea of breed of mix of breeds of the leg biter?

It is a dog behaviour but not polite dog behaviour so does need to be stopped for the sake of Dog2 and also if Dog1 does it so other dogs she may get in a lot of trouble.

Do prevent it every time you see it happen. Is there a time it happens eg when they play are tired etc?

You need to take leg biting dog away every time this behaviour happes. It would be better to prevent it hence thinking about when it happens is key. So if the play is good for 2 mins but then turns into bitey play begin to sidetrack at 2 mins. Side track with toys or scatter feeding as this will bring down the arousal levels.

@PollyRoulson both dogs are from abroad. Dog 1/leg biter is a collie/terrier mix with more collie but she is very tiny! Dog 2 is much, much bigger, we think she is probably mainly labrador with a bit of german shepherd.

She doesn't do it to dogs when she is out with the dog walker, so I wonder if it might be a bit of a, 'I'm top dog!' kind of issue?

We prevent it every single time yes. Both my partner and I work from home and generally at different times so that one person is always with the dogs. If she does it she gets told no and if she tries again she gets put on time out for a bit until she's ready to come back. She does actually respond quite well to this!

It happens most when Dog 1 has lots of energy and Dog 2 is more sleepy. Whilst Dog 2 is a fairly energetic, Dog 1 really is non-stop. We think Dog 2 will be more energetic as she builds up strength and stamina - she was malnourished and wasn't well exercised before we rescued her. So maybe this is also a case of Dog 1 wanting to play and Dog 2 being too tired to tell her to go away?

It never goes from playing to leg-biting, when the play is mutual it's completely fine. The issue is that she'll go up to her and bite her leg.

Oh - it also sometimes happens when Dog 2 is cuddling one of the humans! I suppose that's Dog 1 feeling left out? But they do get equal attention.

Collies do nip legs to herd. My old collie cross was always nipping ankles as a pup. I wonder if its that?
Id get a behaviourist in

@Branleuse She's never nipped legs before, not ours or friends or her other dog pals. This is the first time it's ever happened . A behaviourist is a great idea thank you. I was worried I was overreacting and it was just normal puppy play but Dog 2 is quite clearly not happy when it happens so it must stop entirely as it's just not fair.

Oh goodness I do think she is herding! That is a very good point! It is usually when she wants to play or wants Dog 2 to do something.

This is interesting, I think, if you choose the bits that might be pertinent.

cattledogworld.com/australian-cattle-dog-breed/

@TheSandgroper yep a lot of this rings true! She looks similar too although she's thinner. How interesting.

www.facebook.com/groups/1764166273658238

Perhaps trying here might help.

Yep I guessed your dog would have herding breed in it. I also would call in a 121 trainer. The situation needs to be assessed in real life to see why the herding is happening when it is.

With the correct advice this can be solved with the wrong advice you have a problem for life.