What the Vet Said

A friend of mine told me he was curious about what the vet's advice was regarding the two dogs fighting, here it is:

Contessa is a bullmastiff and her personality is laid back boss of the scene. Sampson is a doberman and his personality is knuckle-headed, spastic, goofball. Tessa needs to feel in control at all times and Sampson is very much a guard dog, he probably insults her control of the situation in some way those times that she goes off on him. As long as he is respectful of her and her leadership there shouldn't be a problem. I am the leader of Contessa but I am to encourage her position over Sampson. When she sends him appropriate warnings, such as a snap or a body position that he shows respect for, I am to reinforce it by telling her, "good girl." I should allow her to control him without being too bossy.

I was already having them sit and wait for me to feed them and giving Tessa her food first, then Sampson. When I see them both I greet and give Tessa affection first, then Sampson. Tessa walks through doors first and sits on the couch with me while Sampson sits on the floor. She is not to boss him around without limit, however. If she does I need to distract her, interfere with their eye contact and intervene.

In the case of arriving home I am to let Sampson into the yard where he can run around like the maniac he needs to be at that time without getting in the way of Tessa greeting me and showing me love. When he calms down he can then share space with her.

Should a fight break out and I am unable to physically separate them by pulling Tessa off, one trick is throwing something at them like water or a shoe. I tried the shoe thing and it worked. Yep there was another fight, smaller one. Sampson looked at the shoe like, "huh? Where'd that come from and what am I supposed to do with it?" Since he was distracted Tessa left him alone.

After the big fight I was able to walk the two dogs, together around the area without any problem. I had Sampson on the right and Tessa on my left. There was some contest over who got to lead but the walks were successful. Tessa was back home with her dad this week enjoying her solitude and Sampson didn't seem to miss her.