Posted by: Joyce Guthrie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Andrea,
I have the advantage of having met both boys. Zeus as I remember had the really
strong prey drive? Zeus may be concerned about losing his place in the pecking
order and is challengeing the other boys anytime he feels this may happen. He is
obviously very attatched to you. One option is to muzzle Zeus, so that he cannot
really hurt the other dog, and set up the situation and let him find out for
himself that he can't do anything about it. Sort of a let them fight it out
without anyone getting hurt. Anytime there are dogs in a household that don't
get along it causes tension which the dogs feel and then in return makes the
situation worse. You know I have Little Joe here, many of you have heard stories
before, he is autistic, and I have one dane he just can't seem to get along
with. I have done many things to get Little Joe to accept Tut, and am happy to
say they are working. They spend time one lose in the yard, one kenneled so they
see each other but cannot touch. They are fed in cubbys with another dog
between. They go past each other to go in and out. I have also used T-Touch and
massage to calm Little JOe and reasure him he doesn't need to worry about Tut. I
also use acupressure to work on calming Little Joe and build his confidence and
alleviate confusion. In addition there is a rock that is in his water that is
used to promote getting along. This seems to be working as the boys have been
outside together without any hair rased, and seem to be much more relaxed
together. They don't play together yet, but they seem to be accepting each
others presence without any ill feelings. In short, it has taken a lot of work,
time and diligence to get Little Joe to understand and come around, but it is
worth it. If you want to call me and get some more specifics, fell free. I'll
see what I can do to help you out.
Joyce
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Posted by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Hello,
> I'm hoping that one of you guys might have a suggestion in this matter as
> I'm facing having to place one of my Danes who I love dearly. I am low on
> finances, and realize that my best chance would be a Behaviorist but I've
> recently lost my job and house (which forced an expensive move) and am
> struggling just to provide the basics for my family. Anyhow here's the
> story...
> I adopted Zeus from Great Dane Rescue a few months ago, he was an owner
> turn in who had spent the first year of his life as an only dog. When he came
> to my home I had a Budgie, an amazing cat, a male (unaltered/show) Beauceron,
> and a male (altered) rescue Dane. In the first couple weeks he killed my
> parakeet (faulty cage construction), and my cat (my fault entirely). Although
> we were deeply saddened we did understand it was not his fault and understood
> he had a high prey drive. He did well with both Paladin (beauceron), and
> Lazarus (Dane). And he began to bond very deeply with me, and me with him.
> After the move he became my sidekick and protector. When going outside he'd
> always pause at the door to see if I was coming with him, if not he'd hurry
> to do his business and be back at the door in a flash. If I sat down he'd lay
> at my feet, if I walked to the mailbox he'd heel off leash at my side. At
> night his place of choice became the hallway right outside my bedroom. All of
> these behaviors just endeared him to me more. He senses my mood where my
> other two boys are more concerned about their own. I have no doubt that if I
> was ever in serious danger Paladin would hide behind me "protect me mom!",
> Lazarus might roll over in his sleep, but my dear Zeus is the dog who would
> unhesitatingly give his life to save mine. To sum it up, he is the dog I've
> wanted my whole life a dear companion and protector, as well as a
> magnificently stunning Dane.
> Paladin is 2 and I've had him since a puppy. He has earned certain
> privileges around the house which the others have not earned yet, and he is
> my baby. Zeus began showing aggressive tendencies towards him when we would
> call Paladin for attention. If one of us was petting Zeus and the other
> called Paladin, Zeus would lunge and attack Paladin. Every time he was
> corrected for it, at first by being placed alone outside while the attention
> continued for the other two. It got worse. We began strong corrections for
> the behavior since he knew it was wrong, followed up by praise and attention
> when he didn't attack Paladin. It got worse and he began attacking Paladin
> when passing him in the hall, or when going outside. We separated the two of
> them, so they weren't together at all. The only way to do that here is to
> place one in the bedroom, while shuffling the others between indoor free,
> indoor confined dog room and outside dog yard. Zeus also suffers from mild
> sep. anxiety, if alone in the dog room or outside without another dog he will
> do whatever it takes to free himself. One free he causes no damage or
> destruction but will wait curled up at the front door for me either inside or
> out. Saturday, I had Zeus in the bedroom (briefly) so I could bring Paladin
> in and put him in the dog room, and move Zeus outside to the dogyard. Zeus
> heard Paladin come in and smashed the bedroom door down to attack him. He
> grabbed Paladin by the head and began a "death shake" (the one you most
> frequently see when they are 'killing' a stuffed animal/blanket, etc.). I was
> on them in a flash yelling, kicking, pulling and finally got them separated
> by banging a metal dish against the wall. Fortunately neither was seriously
> injured. Yesterday Zeus began the initial behavior towards Lazarus. When I
> was petting him and Tim called Laz he lunged for him.
> As I no longer have a room for isolation, and Zeus attacks whenever Paladin
> (and now Laz as well) are in a different area than him and switch. I gave
> Paladin the option of choosing where he'd rather be. Each time he has chosen
> to be where Zeus is, and there are no problems as long as none of the dogs
> get attention. Obviously this is not fair to Paladin or Laz, and is probably
> not the proper thing for me to be doing but it has stopped the attacks for
> now. I cannot bear to lose another animal to Zeus, and if this can't be
> resolved I know I need to place Zeus. I bawled while writing a letter last
> night to his rescue telling them that he will need to be placed, and I've
> been crying nonstop all day. I love this big Dane boy to death, is there
> anything I can do to put an end to his jealous behavior? Also, if you see any
> mistakes I've made leading up to this point please let me know as I never
> want to go through this again. It would break my heart to place him (in an
> only dog home of course), but I want what's best for all of my babies.
>
> ~Andrea
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LIBERTY RUN STABLES/LIBERTY DANES
Joyce Guthrie
4981 Co. Rd. 220
Kingdom City, MO 65262 (573)642-4237
[EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ #: 20890620
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/4005/index.html
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