Really I think everyone's personal experience warrants looking at and discussing. What works for my dogs may be disaterous for someone else's dogs. I love all the suggestions! Keep 'em coming
How old is Tsu? Is she okay with not being alpha? To describe Mowglie and what worked with him is this: He didn't seem to WANT to be alpha. But he felt like something needed to give so he stood up and asserted himself and was immediately corrected and not allowed to repeat the incident. In fact, we've not let him and Bava be with one another or touch one another since then. He and Sophie play together fine, but Bava is such a pushover, I'd be afraid Mowglie would try to play big dog on the block with him again and I don't think Bava would "get it". One of them might get hurt. We let Bava and Sophie play and Mowglie and Sophie play. We can walk all three of them together with one of us taking the two Newfs and the other person taking the Mowglie
For male on male...I'd neuter one or both if your dogs weren't going to be breeding or showing, female on female the same, female/male the same.
I admit when Bava gets ganged up on by Sophie who does it SO well, I feel bad for him and eventually do get up and stop her advances to give him a break. He obviously likes it though because he'll get up after I move away and go up to her for some more. Both of them are relentless (this is just play btw, no fighting) They too show a LOT of teeth, there's a lot of growling, moaning, yipping, woofing and body slamming going on.
Lisa said something to me one afternoon that clicked....whe n Sugar Bear and Dixie get going, she'll get up and walk out of the room. I turn my back on them and do something else. It seems to me they act worse if I'm watching them or somewhere close by.
All of mine are "fixed" btw.
Yup,me leaving the area tends to downsize the attitudes with my guys too...& I agree that you ahve to find what works with your dogs...take the advise you can use & leave the rest...Obvious
ly we can't let an old dog get hurt by a younger & stronger dog becuae even if we follow what happens in nature....this is not nature...these aren't wolfs...& we don't want any of our fur friends getting hurt!...I have a friend that gives a low voiced "knock it off" when her dogs are posturing ateach other...She lets them know by doing this that it is not acceptble to ehr & she's had good luck with it...She doesn't make a big deal of it just lets them know it's not o.k. with her while keeping an eye on things.
You know, I always felt so bad for sam because Pippin would bully him around & I'd get all "oh poor Sammy...bad Pippin"!...Ya' know?...Until the day I noticed that sam was, beyond any doubt, pushing Pippin's buttons...That's when I said, "well you're on your own then butthead!"
Funny, things calmed down alot after that.