Jealousy??

[lizbethse]

Hi I am new to this site, but have been brought up with dogs since I was little, which is quite a few years ago lol.

I have 4 Jack Russells (All Bitches) aged 2 at 3 years 1 at 18 months and 1 at 6 months. Generally I sort out any problems I have with my dogs but have never come across jealousy or at least I think it is.

The trouble starts when I return home after I have been out, or when I get up in the morning. The 2 older ones start fighting. It gets worse when one of them are in season!! To solve the problem we have tried putting one in the garden seperate from the others for half hour then letting her back in which does seem to work. It seems like they are competing for my attention as they dont do it when other members of the family return home.

Can anyone suggest anything I could try.

Thank you

[nick_j007]

Hi. They are in essence fighting over you. You are a great resource to them, and who has first 'dibs' can become a contentious issue for them.

In my experience Taking on 4 bitches is pretty much asking for trouble especially in this breed. I would neuter them at the appropriate age as hormones will be playing a part here also.

Greetings. Practice the art of TOTAL ignoring (no talking, looking or touching) to all dogs until they are fully calm, and then you will need to greet them all in a calm manner yourself. If you can clearly decide the pecking order of the dogs, then greet them in that order with the highest first. Do it this way every time to ensure consistency.

Analyse your level of permitted attention seeking behaviour....do you respond to their attention seeking demands? I would ignore the attention seeking as above, and only interact with them when it suits you.

HTH.

Nick