Using Dominance to Bully

Lately I have realised that Max's life - having to live with Jon - is oppressed and restricted. Jon is indeed the Alpha, though I don't think he deserves that title. One of many reasons for this is that he is afraid of thunder and fireworks.

Anyway, since I am not at home in the daytime to observe the dogs, I occasionally view footage from the CCTV. Just by viewing a day's events, Max was rarely seen in the footage. That means he is subjected to a smaller area to rest and roam- the area which the CCTV does not cover. On the other hand, Jon is always in restless mode - looking out for passers-by and cats.

It is the same situation during weekends and weekday evenings. When I am at home, I see that Max seldom walks about the house. Whenever he is alerted to passersby - before Jon gets to - and goes to the gate to bark, Jon will join in. Max will then immediately back off and walk away.

Take a look at the picture and video below. It shows me stroking Jon. But before this, I was doing the same for Max, and Jon simply barged in to seek for the same treatment. Max politely moved away. He appears to be looking at something in front but actually is avoiding eye contact with Jon. Max practically relinquished his playtime rights to Jon.

Another similar incident happened this morning. Upon waking up, I saw Max already having woken up. I decided to invite Max for a stroke. He came over enthusiastically and put his head to my belly and snuggled there. I barely belly rubbed him for 20 seconds before Jon appeared and came over and also put his head to my belly. This act by Jon was unprecedented. Max promptly moved away. It was the fluency of the way Jon shoved his head and Max moveing away that amazed me. There were no "go away" warning signals by Jon. Both dogs used their instincts and a bit of body language. I immediately got up and said "No!" to Jon and left. If he wanted me to stroke him, he should walk over slowly - like he always does - and I will stroke both of them simultaneously.

If I was Max, I would surely feel very depressed. He can't play with Jon and share living spaces with him; can't roam freely around the compound of the house; gets "pushed" away during play time with me. I do see his cautiousness and fear in him when Jon is near him. I guess he just have to put up with Jon, because Jon will never change.

Socialising Max and Jon

When Max first joined the family when he was two months old, Jon simply could not accept him. He would snarl and was ever ready to tear him apart. So, for 1 month I had to keep Max in the cage, and situated it in the house. After that period, the cage was put outside, with Max still in it while we are away at work. Jon was happy, as long as Max does not come out to the open.

After 1 one more month, Max was ready to be let loose in the open. Jon was quite accepting of him, but only if there were separate territories for each of them within the area of the house porch and garden. And so their life went on with Jon claiming one side of the house, and Max - with no choice - the other side.

Then I realised that Jon would not tolerate Max looking at him, even though Max posed no threatening body language. Max is actually a naive and playful angel. Aggression does not exist in his vocabulary. Whenever Max happened to look at him, Jon would growl and snap. The first two weeks was seriously dangerous as Jon never gave any warning before pouncing on him. On one occasion, Max had been bitten on the ear and nose. Luckily, Jon is not the type of dog which wants to severely injure a dog. So, on that occasion, the bites were actually just small "snap" marks. I accepted that this is part of a learning process of social hierarchy. And Max learnt it fast. No more looking at Jon in the eyes.

Recently, Jon has been more accommodating. Max can sleep anywhere he wants, except under the backside of the car. That is the coolest area, and Jon will not relinquish that area. In fact, he used to rest under cars when he was a stray. During activities where there is a common interest - usually when they are anxiously looking inside the house waiting for their main meal, or when they are walking near each other during their daily on-leash walks - Jon will tolerate him a little more, provided that Max don't touch him. These two guys are always excited to smell a scent on the ground that they lose sense of other things around them. In effect, there are higher chances of them bumping into each other. In this instance, I have to pull either one of them away from each other whenever they are too close for comfort. I just can't take the risk.

During meal times when both of them are fed at the same time - but with Jon served first - I have to wait for Max to finish before I can leave them out of my sight. Otherwise Jon will walk over, raise a little growl - which will frighten Max away - and eat his food. Same goes with chewy bone treats. Personally, I regard this behaviour as bullying.

During petting and belly rubbing time when both of them invite me for a rub, I have to be careful not to let them be close to each other. Especially their heads. Usually I will gently push Max away, but when Jon raises his lips a little to scare off Max, I will clamp his mouth and say "Enough!"