For 9 months, or so, we lived in a townhouse, but decided to move into a house with a much larger yard, especially for the dogs. We have 5 dogs in total: the Bully, 2 cross Jack Russell males & 2 very small breed females.

We've had a pretty peaceful environment in the family, that is up to about a month ago. Twice in one week it happened that the Bully attacked one of the cross Jack males for what seemed to have been for no reason whatsoever. They have both been wonderful buddies up to that point, always playing together or just walking/running together.

Then last week we got home, and the same Jack male had a fractured leg, puncture wounds to the same leg, and the bully's face had been bitten. We assume another fight, but we doubt if it was another attack, as the previous two times the Bully refused to let go. We believe if it was an attack the last time, with us not being there, the Jack might have been killed, which he wasn't.

We have phoned around, done some research on the Internet and even bought some Bully books, have heard terms like "misguided aggression", etc. etc., and have done our utmost to try and eliminate as many stress points in and around the house to avoid this happening again. We cannot, however, shake the feeling that this might not have been the last time, and that we might get home either today or tomorrow, and our worst fears become a reality, that the Jack doesn't survive the next "disagreement".

We both work, have a very difficult time taking off work to see an animal behaviourist, so we've relied on every piece of information we can get our hands on.

My question is, what can we do to firstly establish WHAT the problem is, and secondly, how to avoid this happening in future. Are we doing something wrong? Our dogs are all loved, they sleep with us in the house, we feed them really good food, so they are never lacking. The Bully is an amazing dog, and what's happening between the two of them is really a mystery, purely because they are such good friends, and like I said, the Bully has an amazing character.

TERRIER BLUES

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Dear Terrier Blues,

Thank you for your submission. I have read through your letter a number of times and while I wish I had good news for you, I am afraid to say that the future looks bleak indeed.
In a nutshell your Bull Terrier is maturing and is in the middle of the socio-sexual aggression phase.

This phase occurs in a couple of stages starting with heightened possessive behaviour over resources such as food. The next stage coincides with the activation of increased testosterone levels and manifests with territorial aggression. Juvenile dogs in this stage may start having ambitions for top dog status. A mentally strong alpha dog will respond by relegating the juvenile to the fringe of the group thereby thwarting the juvenile's normally clumsy attempts at a takeover. In an otherwise stable pack with a strong alpha dog, the juvenile's course through the socio-sexual phase may result in a couple of scuffles and ritualised aggression, but with no serious injuries.

However, when there is an existing situation of imbalance - such as you have - this phase can cause major problems. It would appear that your Jack Russell has neither the mental nor physical ability to be the alpha dog. What your Bull Terrier is doing is simply moving up the ladder. A pack is not a democracy and in an artificial environment dogs are not able to leave a pack as may happen in a natural environment.

A pack does not rely on friendships or "buddy relationships". A pack relies on each member being able to occupy a role and be of value. There is no space for equals in a pack. It may sound harsh, but it is extremely efficient and that is what nature is all about. Deadweight drains resources, so is not tolerated.

With any other breeds you may find that a couple of scuffles may result in a shift in status with relative peace thereafter. However Terriers do not seem to be able to make these shifts with ease. A breed that was bred to work within a pack structure - such as hounds - are often much better equipped and more tolerant in terms of social changes.

I am sure your Bull Terrier is an amazing dog, but that is precisely what he is. A dog. He is not a human being with sentiment and sophisticated emotions. Apart from applying human emotions to your dogs I cannot say that you are doing anything wrong. Some may say that letting the dogs sleep in the house and not following a strict hierarchy could cause this problem. But, if that were the case then we would see this problem in virtually every household in South Africa.

There is very little I can suggest to you in this forum, so I would strongly recommend that you consult an accredited animal behaviourist www.animal-behaviour.org.za. The injuries to your Jack Russell were very severe and the chances of two Terrier males spontaneously resolving a dispute such at this are slim indeed.

Shannon

References
" Pam Thompson 2002