Questions tagged [dominance]
For tagging questions related to behavior where dominance and pack hierarchy (e.g. "alpha dog") are assumed to be factors between 2 or more animals, including humans.
43
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Cat attacks me then beats up his brother
I was cutting fabric on my worktable and Milo (age 9, neutered male) was sitting on the fabric. I nudged his hind left foot, the only part of him that was in my way. He reared up and slapped my head ...
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How can I prevent my male Bengal cat from attacking my two other cats?
I have a neutered male Bengal cat who is nine months old, and two neutered female Bengals, both nearly four years old. The male keeps attacking the females, sometimes without a pause. We have tried ...
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1 Year old kitten doesn't like playing with 2 year old cat unless she is initiating it
I've had her for over 6 months and my 1 year old kitten refuses to engage in play when my 2 year old male cat tries to chase and play. She always bugs me to play and is clearly more attached to me, ...
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How to stop neutered male cat from mounting the other one?
I have two neutered male cats that sometimes exhibit dominance behaviors. I've had them both for about 5 years, and they go between cuddling, ignoring each other, and trying to be dominant multiple ...
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How to moderate dominant instinct between cats?
I've two cats, male and female. They are twins, 2 years old, half Bengal and half Siamese. They are sterilized.
The female is very nice. Never annoying anyone.
The male always tries to keep attention,...
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3
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My dog has been acting strangely around one of my cats' butt
Our family has a dog and four cats. The dog's name is Brutus, he's male, 6 years old and a Boston Terrier/Beagle mix. The cat relevant to this question is named Smudge; he's a male gray tabby cat, ...
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Will 2 male dogs fight for dominance?
I have three Yorkshire Terrier girls now, various ages and we want to get a male Yorkshire Terrier pup and a Goldendoodle male pup. Will they fight for dominance down the line? I am worried about the ...
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My 2 cats never faught each other. When we moved, fighting was common. How could I resolve this?
Could I condition them?
I'm gone for 10 hours a day.
There are toys laying around. I play with them once I'm home & through the rest of the day.
Could I effecively condition them to not fight, in ...
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Existing puppy (18 months) scared of new rescue (between 2 and 4 years) - will this stop?
We have an 18 month old male pug puppy, he's a very friendly, happy go lucky fella. Loves, people, and other dogs when were out on walks. We recently had the opportunity to rescue a female pug between ...
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Why is my dog Juno being so aggressive to my other dog Lexi
My sister has gotten a new dog, German shepherd named Juno. She has shown aggression and has already bitten 2 people.
I have another dog Lexi who has just had surgery. Juno has been trying to bite at ...
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does one have to prevent a dog from being on the couch?
I read in few places that if a puppy has an access to high places like the sofa, bed or being on our knees, it leads him to feel his the "alpha", and therefore be less obedient.
Does this theory have ...
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Post bath - ferret full blown attacking other ferret!
I have 2 jills that have lived together, for the most part, peacefully for the past 4 years. I have recently bathed them and used a new ferret shampoo that is lightly scented. After bathing, I did the ...
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Older, larger cat introduced after tragedy...Not going well. HELP!
I have a four year old brother/sister. Izze & Bella. Ive had since kittens. Lovely, sweet indoor cats, they play, wrestle, small 8 lb cats. Izze was the perfect male cat, he was in love with me, ...
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Why does my dog only show aggressive behavior indoors?
My dog Cooper is a 1 1/2 year old Lab mix, and for the last few months, he has been constantly aggressive. It's odd because he is totally normal away from home. Inside, he growls and bares his teeth ...
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Dogs increasingly becoming picky and going to the bathroom in crate
So I have 2 dogs (1 boy 1 girl) that are fixed and are 10 years in age. They are siblings and are miniature doberman pinschers mixed with maltese. My mother died last March and had been taking care of ...
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New cats: Female intimidating/bullying her brother
My Wife and I recently (two and a half weeks ago) adopted two cats, a brother and sister around 7 years old, from our local shelter. On the first day, the brother was more confident, but then became ...
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1
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Submissive peeing - solved by staring into their eyes with affection?
My mom once had a German shepherd female who would submissively pee whenever they came home and looked her in the eyes. The vets gave her the advice that she should never look the dog in the eyes when ...
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How can I tell if my cat is bullying her sister and what can I do to combat the problem?
I have two cats from the same litter that I adopted when they were around 12 weeks old. They are going to be a year old in two days, and as of recently I have been wondering if there's something wrong....
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Cat Suddenly Afraid of Dog
I have a four-year-old ragdoll cat and a one-year-old miniature schnauzer puppy (about half the cat's size). The cat has learned to tolerate the dog and only retreats to high ground if she is actively ...
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My boyfriend's dog hates me, help please! Warning! Long post
OK, let me preface this by saying I have never been a dog person. I think they are cute, and enjoy playing with people's dogs at their homes, but I did not/do not want one. I'm slightly allergic to ...
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Should I let my son's dog dominate mine?
I have two female Border Collies, now about 12 and 8. The older one is the mother of the younger, and the dominance issues we went through when the youngest wanted to assert herself... well, it took ...
- 1,559
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Cats are still skittish; have obsessive eating disorder
We adopted two little kittens at 5 weeks old. I think the lady we got them from was some sort of cat hoarder or she was capturing ferals from outside and rehoming them.
Anyways, the kitties are two ...
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Is kitten-rabbit "mating" behavior something to worry about?
We've got a 3 year old neutered male dwarf rabbit and a male kitten who is almost four months old. The kitten isn't neutered yet, but will be before he turns five months old.
The cat and the rabbit ...
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Cats and throat-hold -- accept or discourage?
My turn to ask for help interpreting a behavior...
I have a pair of neutered sibling cats, Harry and Hazel, about 7 years old.
Periodically -- usually during a mutual grooming session -- Harry will ...
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Does a change in pecking order imply illness?
I have had four guinea pigs for a little over a year now.
When I got them, they soon established a clear order amongst themselves. When I feed them they have always gone to the food and/or my hand ...
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If a cat tries claiming dominance over its mother, should I stop it?
I've seen my cats bite each other, and after some research, I found that it was the cat claiming dominance (letting the other cat know "I'm the Alpha").
What surprised me was that one of my cats (...
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Is it harmful to allow animals of different species to share the same water bowl?
This question can apply to any kind of animal, but I'm mostly targetting the aspect of cats and dogs sharing the same water bowl.
Does this affect the relationship between animals? Would it be ...
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What's the effect of a dog watching you clean up his poo?
If I'm outside and my dog poops, I'm obliged to clean it up. My dog sees me do this.
What's the effect of this. Will the dog think this is a dominant act or a submissive act, or just ignore it?
Is ...
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How can I redirect a cat about to pee outside the litter box?
As I mentioned in another question, my cat has been peeing on things outside of her litter box. So far she’s done it three times right in front of me, so either she doesn’t realize that she’s in the ...
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Is it important to walk into a room before your dog? Are any "dominant behaviors" important?
Based on this answer here it seems, that this idea that you should never let your dog into your house or room before you enter it is also bunk.
I'm just trying to confirm if that is true or not. I.e....
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Is a dog placing it's head between two objects a sign of dominance or a desire for affection?
I often find my dog putting his head between my bed and the nightstand, or between the chair arm and my lap.
Some websites say this a sign of the dog trying to assert dominance, others suggest it's a ...
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1
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Why is my one dog's hobby chewing my other dog's fur?
So, I have had my 3-year-old, 65-pound, American Bulldog for about 9 months. His name is Dewey and he is deaf. I recently adopted another dog, a 2-year-old, 45-pound, Australian shepherd/Chow mix, ...
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How do I identify my alpha dog, or do I even have one?
I have owned three dogs, L, R, and C. Here is their development in chronological order.
L is our first, male, neutered dog; born in 2000, we've had him since 2002 and he is still alive as of this ...
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5-month puppy first day at home: guarding couch, growling, biting
Apologies for the long post in advance!
After our beloved Dobermann passed away some time ago, we decided to get a new dog. We picked a cute 5-month mixed race puppy from a local shelter. In the ...
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Why do dogs lean against you?
I've read on some sites that dogs lean on you because they feel comfortable with you. Other sites say that it is a sign of dominance. So, is it good or bad?
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Why is my puppy nipping at me, but not my wife?
I think I'm doing everything right with my puppy who is now a five month old Frengle (French Bulldog\Beagle mix), but he won't stop nipping and trying to attack me! Oddly enough, he leaves my wife ...
user347
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How much dominance is expected from two male chickens of different breeds?
I have 7 female and 2 male chickens. The females are Leghorn. One male is Leghorn, but the other is a Plymouth Rock. The 2 males fight for everything: food, water, and mostly to mate the females. ...
user34
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How can I get my ferrets to play nice together?
I have four ferrets but they don't all get along. Each pair of ferrets doesn't like the other. At the moment they have separate play times outside of the cage. They're also caged separately in case ...
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Who should win at tug of war?
I love playing tug of war with my dog. This is partially because he didn't show interest in toys at all early on, and getting him to actually pay attention to a tug rope was a long and often ...
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Cats fight over who sleeps further up on the bed
I have 2 cats, who enjoy sleeping on the bed with my wife and me, but during the night we notice that they both start at the foot of the bed, and creep up, leapfrogging each other to be higher up and ...
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Possible sign of dog-to-dog aggression in a 3 dog household
I have a friend who recently adopted a boxer from a rescue (they've had the dog full-time for about a month now on a semi-trial basis). There is little information on his history as he was just found ...
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How much dominance is normal in 2 cats at play?
I have 2 cats; one is young (8 months) and the other is 1.5 years old. During play, the older cat always takes the role of the chaser and the younger cat always runs away. I had read somewhere that ...
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Why do neutered dogs still show sexual signs?
My dogs are both neutered - however they both still hump people, objects, and even each other. Sometimes they even get aroused.
Is this a sign of dominance? Or is it a sexual thing?
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