We lost one of our dogs to cancer. After a couple months our other dog seemed withdrawn. So we brought home a male puppy boxer (the older dog is a female). He is a handful, but no more than some of the other dogs I've had. At first, she seem to take to him. We give her the same amount of attention, feed her first, etc. But now, when we offer her a treat first, she turns her nose up to it (then later tries to steal it from him.) She has been walking (sneak-walking as I call it) around with her head down and trieds to avoid and hide from the puppy. She has tried to bite him twice (connected the last time). I immediately separated them and now she is hiding behind couches, etc. I cannot figure out what is wrong with her.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I’m sorry to hear of the loss of your other dog.

How old is the female? Is she generally a very submissive dog? Was your other dog the more dominant one?

I would probably allow interaction between the female and the young pup, even if it means they might get in a spat. This will help both of them figure out where they stand with each other. Keep an eye on them however to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand. Try not to interfere unless it seems like one or the other is being overly aggressive.

Depending on the age of the female, it may be that she just doesn’t care for the energy of a rambunctious puppy.

Continue providing equal attention to both, and good luck!

She is 6.5 years old. The dog we had previously that passed away was older and bigger, but he was a pushover and, although the dominent one, she pretty much had her way with him.

I'll keep at it. It is funny that this happens only in the house. They get along fine outside and in the garage.

Thanks for your input.

I have three Boxers, so I know what your dogs feel. When my father came back from Iraq, all he wanted was a Boxer. We got a fawn and named him Kota. About a year and a half later, when tryin to convince our grandma, who lives below us, to get a dog, we adopted Indy, our Brindol. Due to the fact their age was about the same, the boys hit it off like brothers right away. Just recently we adopted our third boxer, a Check White one, named Asher, to the family. He's just shy of two years younger then the Big Boys. Kota couldn't stand Asher at first, but because of his playful nature, Indy (the hyper one) and Asher got along great. Kota is warming up to Asher little by little as he sees how everybody else deals nicely with him. Just make sure your dogs know they're equally loved, and perhaps find a different treat for the other dog. She probably wants to feel special and different. I have to do that with Kota sometimes.

Added Note*- I forgot to say this before, but, she'll be more aggressive in the house because she was there first. She feels like its hers and until the puppy understands that or they compromise, she's going to be an aggressive dominant figure.

Thanks! I did try different/special treats and she is still acting coyote-like when he is around. Funny thing is that before we mostly kept the dogs outside (due to the older dog's allergy problems), I only started bringing them in the house since the older dog died. Initially, she was fine with him in the house. It wasn't until just a week ago, she started acting this way.

I'm glad you added the note - it makes me think that that could be part of the problem. They get along great outside. When he comes in the house, she wants to get away from him and will even want to go outside. But when outside, she doesn't want to come in when he is in the house, but wants him to come outside with her. She will only come in if I put him in his playpen. I don't want a power struggle, but I don't think this is fair to him either. Keeping them apart might continue this behavior, but I have to watch so that they are not alone together.

I still don't quite get it. He is a sweet boxer and not aggressive at all towards her - as a matter of fact, he is more submissive. He does not try to bite her back when she acts like this and you can tell he keeps his distance from her in the house. They rough house outside, but both are active and playful.

Remember; bigger and older does not necessarily mean dominant in the heirarchy nor does female mean submissive.
Dogs rarely regard each other as equals .
In their society there is a leader or lead pair (Alpha ; which you want to be yourself , the people) and there is generally a "nurse maid " an omega the bottom of the pack often seen with tail between legs and head down (note that they do not view this as demeaning; merely as natural order).
In between they work out an order in which they eat and seek recognition from the alpha .

It is quite possible that she is trying to recognize the new pup as being dominant ; or that she has tried to establish her authority over him and you are sending a conflicting signal.


It is normal for a dog in a leadership role to "ignore" those lower in authority as a method of establishing their position. It is also normal for them to correct transgressions with a warning (either vocal or physical).
I almost suspect that she is dominant and something you are doing is placing him as dominant over her. This is creating a conflict.
Her response is to assume you want her to be the omega and she is trying to comply despite his not being mature enough to assume a dominant position.
Dogs will naturally yeild the dominant position when they see the other is ready to take on the task.
But if you force a dominant dog to take submissive role to one which is not ready; you will create an unstable situation.

Looking at all you have said, I think that she actually has always been dominant, you just assumed that he was because she was female and smaller. Size and sex have little to do with pack position and dominance.

So, repeating what others have said; let her assert her position and scold him when he transgresses the rules of the house.
Is the biting actual aggression or a correction?
Is she initiating it or is it in response to his actions?
Is there a warning (IE she gives him a warning growl ) where you can step in and instead of scolding her for correcting him scold him for transgressing?
That he does not try to bite back indicates to me that he is recognizing her as dominant; but something you are doing is confusing them.

Try reinforcing that you are the leader, but she is your second in command. Give her the treat and affection first.
If she buts in when you are paying attention to him, you need to stop the attention to both. Do not let her dictate your actions, but similarly do not contradict that she has authority over him.

Thanks! What you said makes some sense. However, the problem I have is when she strikes. They play together in the house and out. They generally seem to get along.

There is no warning when she decides to behave like this - it seems more random than not. I could see if she was protecting her food, bed, etc., but he will just walk near her and WHAM! she attacks without warning - no growling, barking, nothing - mostly in front of us and she knows she will be removed from the room for this behavior. She comes to us as to say she knows she did wrong, but she repeats this behavior.

It does start with walking around with her head down. We try to get her out of the mode with treats and play, but sometimes it does not work. We do not do anything special with him without including her first. We want her to stand her ground, but she gives up her bed to him and she let him push her around - now she is acting like this. We have given her the treat and affection first, I feed her first and she is first in and out the door.

She was not the dominant one - my older dog was. He ate first and ignored her when he didn't want to be bothered by her. But, he tolerated a lot of the things she did. However, there were definite lines she did not cross with him. He took what he wanted and she had to wait.

Seems like she is not sure if she is to be dominent or he is and maybe this is her way of expressing her confusion. We are being persistent, but I hate having to crate him because she has attitude.

i had a problem similar to this years ago.

we had a pug who pretty much ran the house. he got table scraps, he got attention whenever he wanted it etc. but he was a good dog. never messed in the house, wasn't overly affectionate, and never tried to steal from our plate.

well, when he was about 13 years my dad brought home a full grown female mastiff. she was extremely aggressive to the pug. she actually picked him up with his whole head in her mouth and shook him.

my mom raised this pug fresh off his mommy's nipple, she punched the mastiff in the head pretty hard, she dropped our pug, my little sister grabbed patton and ran from the room and the mastiff actually tried to CHASE HER! omaigawd!

i don't know what exactly happened. we were introducing them then all was chaos. Patton (the pug) was not an aggressive dog by any means. he didn't even growl at her to look at her like he was gonna bite her or something. she just SNAPPED!

well, my mom pretty much took control and by the time my mom was done with Pixie (the mastiff), when my mom said her name in an angry voice Pixie would crawl on her belly toward mom then roll over on her back and whine.

o_o my momma is a formidable woman.

i just thought i'd share. i still don't know why Pixie attacked Patton. after that first time she never did it again though. after that, they just kind of ignored eachother except the rare time when they'd play.

Thanks for the story , but the puppy will be twice as big as DJ when grown. Size has nothing to do with dominance. We have been working with them and they seem to be getting along a little better. She has her moments and the pup is getting to know when to leave her be, but they are slowly making progress. I really don't believe in hitting dogs, unless it is in self-defense and I can understand your Mom's fright to see the bigger dog take hold of the pug like it was some type of chew toy. However, when I raise my voice, DJ lowers to the ground submissively and I have only had to use a newspaper once or twice and it was just for the noise it made to get her attention - not to hurt.

I don't want them to ignore each other. I want them to get along and they seem to be doing better each day. I still do not know why she acts the way she does - and it is random. But we will keep trying to get them to be friends.