We need dog help!

[ryry]

I haven't wanted to post here because I feel like a complete dog owner failure, but I need suggestions/advice. If there are flames, I'll take them! And sorry this is so long in advance.

We have two dogs, both rescue mutts. We adopted W when he was 3 months old, 4 years ago. He always had some anxiety issues and we worked with a behaviorist on his fear aggression. He wasn't good with most dogs, but would do well with some. After talking with our dog walker and a behaviorist, when he was about a year, we decided to adopt a second, older dog who could hopefully teach W some doggie mannerisms and keep him company while we were at work (we did have a dog walker). We also really wanted a second dog, so we didn't just get the 2nd dog for the 1st.

We adopted A after having W for a year. A is older--he was probably 4 or so when we adopted him. A was in a foster home and we were told he would do really well with another dog. A and W met several times and never really played together, but seemed fine (i.e., no fighting). About a week or two after we adopted A, we moved from MA to SC, so both dogs went through a big transition.

Fast forward 3 years (and 2 behaviorists and a trainer) and we have big issues with our dogs. W is going after A multiple times a week. They've always gotten into fights every so often, but now it's happening very regularly. A isn't doing anything to trigger this (that we can see). For instance, yesterday when I got home from work I walked to the back door (like I have every day for 3 years) and they both ran to the door. W usually stands closest to the door to wait and A sits behind him. Yesterday, before they got to the door W stared down A and then pounced on him. This morning, as I was getting out of bed, the same thing happened.

It's dominance fighting--W hasn't hurt A, but he is clearly exerting his dominance. They'll scuffle for a little bit, and then W gets over A and just stares him down. Eventually (if we let them continue, which I hate to do, but a behaviorist suggested just letting them work it out on their own) W will give up and then we let him outside. A will follow.
A loves being outside and would spend all day outside if we let him. Unfortunately, this has become our method of handling this--separating them by letting A stay outside. He's also become very hesitant to coming inside the house--it takes a lot of prodding sometimes to get him back in. I understand where he's coming from--I wouldn't want to come inside either!

Also--we have a toddler. She's 15 months, and A has never liked her...he seems afraid of her. When she was little and would make noise we would make sure A got treats or cuddles so he'd feel okay with her being noisy. Now, he just wants to avoid her. We don't let her chase him, pull on him, or anything like that--we just give him his space.
It's clear that our house is not the right place for A right now. Between W and the baby, he is nervous and isn't getting the attention he needs. I do not consider 'getting rid of him' an option--we made a commitment to him and we will honor that. But we need to figure out a way to make our house a better place for him. If you've made it this long...bless your heart! and please help

We're moving in 2 weeks back to MA, and I'm really hoping that some changes will help--I'm going to be a SAHM for a while at least, so the dogs will get more walks and more attention, and I'm (hopefully not naively) hoping that this will help a lot. But what else can we do? How do I keep W from 'exerting dominance" = fighting? How do I make A happier and more comfortable? We've seen so many trainers and behaviorists, and perhaps none have been very good, because most have not helped or just given up on us.

[kellbell191]

I'm going to send a message to one of our regulars who is a vet tech and lives in MA, I bet she could suggest a good doggie behaviorist. For now, I would separate them inside the house and give A his own quality time with lots of treats and snuggles and rewards. Any time W so much as looks at W funny, he gets separated from the people, no attention, no rewards. I'd be guessing, but it sounds like he might be resource guarding you guys.

[kellbell191]

These were her recommendations: Dr. Amy Marder, one of the leading vet behaviorists in the world actually. I think she is with the Animal Rescue League in Boston now. Dr. Tanya Wruble at Intown in Woburn would be a close 2nd.

[corgilove22]

Are they fighting in a particular area? Are the dog bowls/water bowls around? High value treats/toys? What is going on around them when they get into these scuffles?

[caz1221]

I'm in the Boston area and just wanted to chime in - Dr. Marder is supposed to be phenomenal. I've done training classes at the ARL (none with her, just with a regular trainer for CGC and agility and such), and everyone says Dr. Marder is the best. Unfortunately, I've been told she is not accepting any new clients. Definitely check to make sure that's still the case (I heard this a few months ago).

[ryry]

Thanks so much everyone. I'll definitely looking into the behaviorists mentioned. Hopefully Dr. Marder is still taking clients!
I can't figure out a rhyme or reason for when W goes after A. Sometimes it's obvious--one day I opened the front door to let someone in and A walked outside. I picked him up and brought him in and then stupidly put him down without thinking about where W was...and that started a fight. But otherwise, there isn't a clear reason why it happens. It may be resource guarding though...he doesn't really ever guard anything (possessions) but he may be guarding us...?
W is medicated. It's hard to tell how much it helps-we're working with the vet to adjust it.
I appreciate all the other suggestions...I've showed this to DH so we can come up with a good plan after we move. We may need to crate and rotate, although I'm not super excited about the idea--we used to crate W but stopped when he started trying to escape the metal crate...we would come home and his face would be bloody because he scratched it so bad trying to get out. That was 3 years ago though, so maybe he'd be better in the crate now.
Thanks all...I appreciate the support and suggestions and 'been there' stories