Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have four JRTs- Jessie, female, 3 years and 2 mos; Billy, male, 2 years and 10 mos; Annie, female, 1 year and 8 mos; and Jimmy, male, 1 year and 2 mos. The pecking order in my "pack" used to go by age, until I got Jimmy. Jimmy is bigger than the rest and very confident. He was about 5 months old when I brought him home. Within two weeks, he moved to position #3- Annie didn't care. About two months later, he made his move for #2. We had several weeks with lots of tension between the two boys. I let the dogs fight, but monitor closely to make sure it's the typical posturing and snarling. I break the fight up if it looks like someone might get hurt. Jimmy finally moved to position #2, but is not quite sure of his position, so he and Billy still fight occasionally. I think that will stop once Jimmy reaches his full maturity and muscle mass. Then Jimmy started to slowly move for #1. He shows Jessie no respect and barely responds to her growling and showing of teeth. My wife and I decided we wanted to try and keep Jessie as #1, so we started chastising Jimmy any time he was aggressive toward Jessie. Well, a couple of nights ago, Jimmy laid into Jessie full force. It was on our bed, in the dark and I could not quite tell what was happening. When Jessie started whining, I just reached in the middle of the fight and pulled Jimmy off. Jessie had a single puncture wound in her scalp near her ear.
Where I am going with this is...should I let nature take its course and allow Jimmy to topple Jessie from her post? I'm afraid that my interference is only going to get Jessie hurt as Jimmy gets more determined to be the top dog. Jimmy outweighs Jessie by about 6 pounds and he seems to be getting more muscular by the day. I would greatly appreciate any advice. By the way, Jimmy is very possessive of me and that is what sparked his assault on Jessie. Thanks, Kevin

>>I have four JRTs- Jessie, female, 3 years and 2 mos; Billy, male, 2 years and 10 mos; Annie, female, 1 year and 8 mos; and Jimmy, male, 1 year and 2 mos. The pecking order in my "pack" used to go by age, until I got Jimmy. Jimmy is bigger than the rest and very confident. He was about 5 months old when I brought him home. Within two weeks, he moved to position #3- Annie didn't care. About two months later, he made his move for #2. We had several weeks with lots of tension between the two boys. I let the dogs fight, but monitor closely to make sure it's the typical posturing and snarling. I break the fight up if it looks like someone might get hurt. Jimmy finally moved to position #2, but is not quite sure of his position, so he and Billy still fight occasionally. I think that will stop once Jimmy reaches his full maturity and muscle mass. Then Jimmy started to slowly move for #1. He shows Jessie no respect and barely responds to her growling and showing of teeth. My wife and I decided we wanted to try and keep Jessie as #1, so we started chastising Jimmy any time he was aggressive toward Jessie. Well, a couple of nights ago, Jimmy laid into Jessie full force. It was on our bed, in the dark and I could not quite tell what was happening. When Jessie started whining, I just reached in the middle of the fight and pulled Jimmy off. Jessie had a single puncture wound in her scalp near her ear.
>>Where I am going with this is...should I let nature take its course and allow Jimmy to topple Jessie from her post? I'm afraid that my interference is only going to get Jessie hurt as Jimmy gets more determined to be the top dog. Jimmy outweighs Jessie by about 6 pounds and he seems to be getting more muscular by the day. I would greatly appreciate any advice. By the way, Jimmy is very possessive of me and that is what sparked his assault on Jessie. Thanks, Kevin

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Terriers do not just fight out of hierarchy issues. They also fight out of gameness, and those are issues that are never settled. It's my understanding that most terrier experts recommend you not keep a terrier with another dog of the same sex.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

Thank you for the response. Things are gradually settling down with the two males as the younger one gets older and stronger. My concern right now is the issue between the oldest female and the youngest male. Do you have any thoughts about them? The two females have never fought. In this situation, I feel the problem is purely motivated by my youngest dog's ambition to be the Beta.

Kevin