>>I have three dogs: two male cocker spaniels (9 and 3) and one female GSD mix (2). The older cocker is food aggressive, but has calmed down a lot in his years. We feed all dogs separately, and all are altered. A little over a year ago, the older cocker spaniel got in a fight with the younger one, and he ended up biting me. Ever since then, the younger cocker absolutely hates the older one. I should also mention the younger cocker is 'my' dog and he has been increasingly protective of me. He will attack the older one seemingly out of nowhere inside the house. We have solved this problem by keeping the younger one in a crate when we are out, and then barracading him upstairs (he gets free roam of the whole second floor) while we are home. If the older one walks up to the younger one's crate while he is in it, he will attack the bars and make growling noises. I have noticed he shows no teeth, though. The younger cocker gets along fine with the female perfectly. Now, the odd part is all three dogs can be outside together. In fact, the younger cocker even tries to play with the older cocker when outside. There are toys and rawhides in our backyard, and this doesn't seem to be an issue at all.
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>>I've also noticed what when I bring the younger cocker to work with me to play with all the other employee dogs (I work at an animal hospital), he will attack the other dogs that come near me. When I'm not outside, he's fine.
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>>Any help?
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I didn't see mention of whether the males are neutered and the female spayed. If not, doing that could help a lot.
It sounds like the young male is more tolerant in larger spaces. That is fairly normal. Space really helps dogs to use movement to communicate with each other.
The young male may be going for leader over the 9 year old male, because that is an older dog and likely is beginning to have some health changes, such as arthritis. Also the young male is at an age when male dogs can become most dangerous, age 3 years. ESPECIALLY if they are not neutered.
I would not recommend letting him play with other dogs at the office. That can create all kinds of bad habits in him. The dogs I have encountered who did well going to the veterinary office with their professional owners who worked there tended to NOT interact with the other dogs. I remember a couple of Standard Poodles who were wonderful at that.
Your two males may have increased competition because there is now a female dog in the family. Males and females tend to get along, unless you accidentally put them in competition with each other for food or highly desirable toys. But male to male and female to female have pack order issues.
I hope this has given you some ideas of how to change things for the better.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47
