Hello all! My name is Debbie and I live with my fiance, his daughter, and our three dogs in a small Nebraska town. Rasca is my pug. He just turned 2 in June. In May, we got our second dog, Domino, who is the Boston Terrier. She's about 5 months old now (we aren't completely sure) and she rules the roost. In July, we rescued a dachshund-chihuahua mix who had been attacked by a Rott at his old home. We love all our dogs but we've had problems with Domino sharing ever since we brought her home (and her previous owner my "mother-in-law" also had problems with this). She won't let the other dogs have any toys. Even if she is playing happily with another toy, as soon as Gladiator or Rasca picks up a toy she abandons the one she had and takes the one from the other dogs. Before we got Gladiator, she would bite on Rasca's face to the point he would sometimes bleed. Since Gladiator came into the picture, he is the object of her biting habits. He has bald patches on his face, head, and sides from Domino biting on him. Her biting doesn't really seem to be aggression but rather playful. Nonetheless, it needs to stop because it's hurting the other dogs and they never get to play with us. I recently left my job so I have all the time in the world to take care and work with the dogs. I just need to know what to do. Any ideas????
Thanks for your help in advance.
Debbie

It sounds to me like Domino is the pack leader in your household. The first thing i would recommend is take the leadership role from her. Remember Bostons were bred with some "Fighting stock" in them and are not all that fearful of much.

I am a firm believer in Cesar Milan's (Dog Whisperer) methods of becoming the pack leader, they really work! You can find his show on the National Geographic channel. He also has a few books out there as well.

You could also try using something unpleasant like a lemon spray that you can spray at the dogs mouth whenever she misbehaves in a way you feel in inappropriate.

Just a couple of the things i would try....

Good luck!

Thanks Jake. I'm a big fan of the Dog Whisperer too! I have started walking Domino for about 45 minutes in the morning (excercise) and it seems to help her mellow out and leave the other dogs alone. And we're working on the discipline to keep her off the other dogs. She doesn't seem to have a problem knowing that I'm the boss but I still don't know what to do about the toys. I can't take them from her (she's too fast and jaws too strong and it all becomes a game). More suggestions???