Fighting Jack's

by Paula
(Fresno, CA)

I have 2 Male Jack's. The oldest is 13 and the other is 6. They used to be best of friends and it was clear that the eldest was the leader. He was a nice leader, not mean. When his health started acting up (arthritis) and my fiance moved in, the youngest started attacking the older Jack. He will also bite my fiance if he is close to me. He is allowed to sleep in our bed but we have to stop because he growls and snaps at my fiance. We also got a small female dog around the same time(Yorkie/Westie mix). They get along great. The younger one has beat him up several times and it is getting worse. He is drawing blood (ear cuts). The fights can start over anything. The oldest dog could just be walking past and he will attack. The oldest seems to know that he is no longer the alpha dog and is scared of him. The younger Jack glares and is a bully. I do not know what to do!!!?? I love them both and do not want to see the younger one bully or even kill the older Jack. The younger Jack is normally sweet and a mama's boy. I do not want to get rid of him. I want my oldest Jack to live out the rest of his years happy. What can I do to make them happy and keep our nerves calm? If anyone has any ideas that would be great. Some say shock collars, news paper ect...I've tried flipping the youngest on his back and showing him dominance but doesn't stop him from future attacks. Thanks!

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Oct 16, 2009
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2 FEMALES
by: Anonymous

I have 2 female jack russels and they fight constantly. they draw blood and the fights are bad. We now keep them seperated at all times it sucks and is very annoying but that is the only way we've found to be able to keep them both.

Sep 03, 2009
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debs
by: Anonymous

i know how you feel i have two male jacks father and son they have been fine for 8years now the son is attacking his father i don,t want to get ride of pleaseeither but it is so hard. my oldest dog is often the one that comes off worse i have tryed everything so if you find the answer let me know please

Jun 11, 2008
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Fighting
by: Mary-Harborview jrts

Hi Paula,

Unfortunately I must say they may never be the friends they used to be especially with the female there. You may have to do "rotation". Only one male out of his crate at a time. It does make things a little harder, but at least they will not be fighting. I myself have 5 males, 2 females, all intact, but I never have two males or two females together. Being intact they will fight for dominance. I know it sounds crazy, but do you watch the Dog Whisperer? He addresses problems like these routinely. I would suggest watching Cesar Milan. It could help you with watching for signs and giving you help in controlling it before it escalates. I don't think putting the glazy eyed, stalking dog away in his crate is going to work and may hurt. Have you tried walking both males one on each side of you together. They don't look at each other but look forward and must concentrate on walking not facing off with each other. Maybe try tying a leash that is attached to the younger dog around your waist so he is attached to you during your time with them and if you notice him starting his stuff you can correct him immediately before he gets to the other dog. Make him immediately avoid his eyes from the other dog and sit or lay down.

Hope it works out, keep me informed.

Mary

Jun 10, 2008
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Thanks Mary
by: Paula

What you say makes sense and we are working on it. I will try and see what happens. It is really hard but we are going to force the rules with Murphy. They are all treated the same and all loved equally. We call him a momma's boy because he is fixed on me. Borderline obsessive and very attached. The other 2 are more independent. We just moved into a new house so I will be getting him his own bed and such. I really didn't want to get a shock collar, I don't want to hurt him and I have read that it can aggravate the situation. When I see him glaring or lunging at the older one I shout NO and try to put him in his place. Doesn't seem to be working but I do it.

The girl dog is fixed and she doesn't really interact with the older Jack. She seems to still think he is the boss. She really only plays with the younger Jack. I just want them both to get along and be friends like they used too. I'm sick of worrying that Skippy will get seriously injured or worse. The thought of giving up the younger does the same! Thanks again for your comments!

Jun 10, 2008
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Fighting Jacks
by: mary-harborview jrts

One more thing. Beware of using "shock collars". If you do not know how to use them, you can cause even bigger problems. Example: If you use the shock collar when the two males are close and you think you see a fight coming on, shocking one of dogs while in close proximity of the other male may just initiate a huge fight. The shocked dog will associate the shock with the other male and escalate the problem. Shock collars are so often misused. newspapers do not work either.

Jun 10, 2008
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Fighting Jacks
by: MARY HARBORVIEW JRTS

Hi,

I believe you have a couple of factors going on here.

First: Is two males in the house. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it does not.

Second: Jacks will cull out the weak, sick and feeble dogs.

Third: you mentioned the younger male is a "mommy's boy", that's a problem.

They should all be treated equal. He is getting too possessive over you. Keep him out of the bed, have your boyfriend take over the feeding. Have him eat before the dog eats and let the dog see that your boyfriend eats first. Let your boyfriend walk him and have him make the dog do a command like "sit" before he give the dog any treats, or food. Feed all the dogs in their crates. Take all dogs out for walks together on leashes. Don't allow your younger male to always sit on your lap or on the furniture. He must start to learn that he is not top dog in the house. you and your boyfriend are. Is the female spayed? If not that is a problem. The males can tell and will fight for the female.

Good luck and take back control!

Jun 04, 2008
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Thanks agian
by: Paula

I forgot, yes they both are fixed. Like I said they were best friends until about a year and a half ago. I do not feed them near each other and they do not sleep in the same room. The youngest(Murphy) will be getting his own bed this weekend and I'm sure he will not like it! Sometimes things trigger it like when we eat dinner and Murphy will keep Skippy (older)out of the room. It's like he bullies him until a fight happens. Murphy starts it.He even glares. I've never seen a dog do that! I think it has something to do with my Fiance moving in and getting the girl dog. It's like he has the middle child complex! It would be heart breaking if Murphy killed Skippy. I can't even think of it. He should be able to be happy and safe. I can't get rid of the younger one, I love him too. It's a mess! Thanks again!

Jun 04, 2008
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Thanks
by: Paula

Thanks for the comments and advise! I'm so confused and sad about the whole thing! I love them both so it makes it very hard. Everyone is on guard, not sure when a fight will happen. It seems to happen a lot when my fiance kids are there. Noise or a lot of activity happening. The older Jack forgets and joins in on the fun when the 2 other dogs play and then the younger Jack turns on him and he gets his butt kicked. Poor guy. Thanks again and I hope to get more advise as this is a on going problem!

Jun 04, 2008
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Fixed?
by: Anonymous

Are they both fixed? That's supposed to help some but same sex aggression is supposed to difficult to avoid, especially with a female around. Letting him sleep in the bed might be bad too because it puts you at the same level (or below) you so that he is more likely to see you as inferior. He seems to be acting like he is top dog of the whole house. I'm not sure how to fix this though, I'm having a similar problem with my dog. She thinks she rules the nest so she doesn't sleep with us anymore. I am going to be hiring a private trainer/canine specialist to help us fix the problem. You may just one or two sessions to find out what to do but it might be the most effective way to keep both of your Jacks. At least that way you wont risk getting rid of one of your jacks without knowing for sure that you could have done more.

Jun 03, 2008
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Fighting Jacks
by: Charlene & Mike' (Mee-kah)

I have heard that if you have two Jacks, and one gets older or close to dying, that the other one will try to put it out of its misery. So I don't believe that you will be able to change any of your problems unless you rid yourself of one, or make sure that they NEVER cross paths. One will have to be outdoors while the others are inside and vice versa. Jacks are extremely territorial and seeing as how the older already knows that he isn't the alpha dog anymore, that WILL cause more issues for himself. I hope that this helped you a little bit. Otherwise I'm unsure of what you can do.

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