wilburbeast said
Hi, everyone.  First post.

 

Our 1.5 year old Labradoodle, Wilbur, lost his leg three weeks ago after being hit by a car in our neighborhood.  He's responded to the surgery quite well, is pretty mobile, and mostly his old self.  We have noticed tonight a bit of a difference in behavior with both him and our other Labradoodle, Ralphie (2.5 years old).

 

Wilbur (at least to our eyes) has always been "in charge"...he tends to be the more playful of the two, and has  tendency to "harass" Ralph by insisting they play (and playfully trying to chew his ears).  We've always joked that Wilbur made Ralph miserable because he wanted to play and Ralph didn't...but by and large, they've always gotten along really well.   Tonight, for the first time since we've had them both (About a year and three months), they had a "fight".  Barking, growling and nipping.  Following the fight, Ralphie chased Wilbur under a desk and stood menacingly nearby waiting for him to come out.

 

Honestly, we didn't know either of them had it in them.  We didn't know Wilbur was capable of cowering and we didn't know Ralphie was capable of menacing. 

 

Has anyone here seen any "re-ordering" of who's in charge in their multiple dog homes post operation?  Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi, to add further to the links provided I will offer this experience of having a pair of sister litter mates, Bichons, with a significant 2 kilo... pushing 3 kilo weight difference and add to that mix a male Bichon who is the heaviest in weight but not in personality.         I was warned, rather I heard that sibling litter mates are a fantastically bad idea... and they proved otherwise for about 4-5 years. And then about twice a year the proverbial hits the fan and they go at each other like they mean business. There was at least one occasion where I am still very much aware I personally was the cause/trigger.  I could enter into a long dialogue about behaviour and communication and hierarchy but the fundamental basics are (in my very humble opinion, as Jack of all trades, master of none) that anything that could potentially be viewed by any pack member as a change in the group dynamics or hierarchy will very naturally lead to the Alpha being challenged.... or even the Beta, depending on how many mutts share you life. I have seen very recently that while Roo is (poor love) most definitely at the bottom of the pack, since he has had pain issues.... when Tuesday does her 'dominance thing' of bashing him a bit, mounting and simulating humping him..... he wont have it. And who can blame him with hind limb pain but basically the issue is as the case with all pack or even herd animals.... any animal thats socially gregarious.... any sign or hint of weakness will naturally lead to lower ranking pack members testing out their chances of usurping the Alpha.... perfectly natural but blasted well troublesome when a loved one is compromised enough already.   I am sort of lucky if you can call not being able to work due to  a spine injury 'lucky' that I am home for the vast majority of the time and  I am not sure how to put this across without sounding self congratulatory because I actually think its either training or luck or my dogs personalities... but when theres a scuffle I remind everybody concerned that theres no argument about who is Alpha.... thats me.... but there was that one time where I was holding a bowl of piping hot veg soup that Tuesday decided to 'explain' to Lily was hers and that was complicated.... because Tuesday had a whole lot of stuff to say about MY  soup..... and Lily was in no mood to have the 'discussion' and made that clear.... yes that was .... MY BLOOMING SOUP! But it is natural for a compromised animal to be challenged regardless of rank but the Alphas challenges are typically not just more noticable but because of the prize at stake, often more..... eventful. I dont have the answers, just some words on dynamics..... in an ideal world the dogs would sort it out between themselves because that tends to put matters to bed but on the other hand.... it is not often something that can be allowed to run its course...... I currently feed Tuesday high value wet food seperate from Lily and Roo, who will eat from the same bowl pretty much happily but gosh they might get a tedious amount of people exclaiming "TRIPLETS!" but nothing could be further from the truth. My trio could not possibly be more totally different from both other 2 dogs. Good luck with your mine field, which should settle as soon as any health issue compromising one of them does. Much love and luck.xx.