Problem terrier

[Problemterrier]

I have a rat terrier that has some very aggressive tendencies. She is best friends with my boxer Shepard mix 95% of the time, but the other 5% she gets really aggressive. If there is a confrontation between my boxer mix and our older jack Russell the little rat terrier will jump in and just attack the bigger boxer mix. The boxer and jack Russell have their issues and usually it doesn't amount to anything, but the rat terrier has been hurt significantly twice now because she jumps in and won't quit and it is ultimately two against one. The boxer mix is a really passive dog and it takes a lot to push her to aggression, but she will defend herself and unfortunately has had too. How do we break the little dog from going after the big dog? I am unsure of a definite trigger other than if one of the other dogs gets in trouble she is on that offending dog like a shark smelling blood. Even if it is the small jack Russell. I've never seen anything quiet like it. Any thoughts?

[Nettle]

Sounds like a normal terrier to me - show them trouble and they are right in the thick of it.

Let us know your dogs' typical day especially with regard to feeding schedule and what they are fed, their exercise, and what else you do with them. It might well be that your sassy terrier needs more to occupy her. Three is a tricky number with animals as at the least excuse you can get two gang up on one. Is your big dog old? There might be some health issues here too - so we need all the information you can supply, no detail too small. Let us know the ages and any issues with all your dogs including the friction between your other two, what happens, what triggers it, what do you do then? Terriers only know one way to address friction, and it isn't by signing a peace treaty.

[Shalista]

Hahahaha agreed with everything nettle says about terriers. And yay another ratty!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mine is 3 and i love him to bits! You should post some pictures when you give us extra info!

[Problemterrier]

Thank you for your reply. I will work on some pictures.
The rat terrier is five now and the boxer mix four, the jack Russell is thirteen. The terriers are fed together, but separately from the boxer as she is a very slow eater. The little ones are fed some expensive salmon dog food and the boxer suffers with regular Purina.
As far as exercise we have been limited lately as we have recently moved to a new house and it took three weeks longer than promised to get the fenced in yard installed. But the latest incident was last week well after the dogs had a nice big yard to play in. My wife does do agility trials with the little dogs when she can, but life has gotten in the way with our two year old and new house, etc. We try to get out daily and play with the dogs playing ball and getting them to run around the yard. The most recent incident happen when I kicked a ball for the big dog when walking through and the older dog growled and snapped at the boxer and the rat terrier flew in there and attacked the boxer and got herself really hurt. She had to get multiple stitches on both sides of her head and had a punctured ear drum. I got them separated and had the boxer up on my shoulder carrying her to my barn and the rat terrier even in her bloodied and battered condition was jumping up and grabbing the paws of the boxer. They have gotten into scrapes before, but they seem to be getting more and more intense and it wont be the boxer who pays the ultimate price if I cant get them apart next time. I've seen the terrier run into the boxers crate and bit her in the face completely unprovoked. They didn't go over well either. Most of the time they get along great. Better than the boxer and the jack Russell. But now we don't feel comfortable leaving them together anymore. The boxer is a very passive creature, she doesn't show aggression and has never gone after one of the other dogs. But she will defend herself as she certainly has a right to do. But she is much bigger and comes out on top in the end. She does seem to be getting tired of being nipped at and her fuse seems to be getting shorter. My wife believes that the rat terrier has possession issues with me and that may have some merit. She does seem to be protective. But any friction is usually started with the rat terrier. She growls at the other two constantly and is a bit of a bully. When she does this we often try to curtail the behavior by verbal correction or with water squirt and if she persists then she get put into her crate.
If had to rank them in terms of the dog pack I would rank the jack Russell as the alpha the rat terrier and then the boxer.

[Nettle]

Thank you for that information, which has been hugely helpful

Read about your dogs' day. It's really boring. They are making their own 'fun' which for the boxer cross is waiting in hopes that something will actually happen to brighten her day, and for terriers is looking for trouble.

Now I do appreciate the exhaustion factor of having a young child - but your dogs don't. They are frustrated, full of energy and nothing to do. Stir crazy. Playing in the yard is not enough - they need to be walked. And that would be stimulating walks with plenty of sniffing time but not running about with other dogs because that will make things worse. Chasing ball makes them excited and you need to avoid them being excited because it all has to go somewhere, which for your young dog means picking on the boxer cross.

At the least take your young terrier out by herself. The others could get by with shorter walks, but they still need them. Also check out the pinned 'Exercise the Mind' thread which will show you lots of fun things you can do with your dogs at home to tire them out but leave them calm. Feed the young terrier apart from the old terrier, and out of a kong, so it takes her much longer to eat. Scatter some of her food around the yard so it takes her longer to eat (do not allow the other dogs out until she has found all the food).

Consider if your child is stressing them too. Many dogs find the noise and erratic movements of small children really scary, and in terrier eyes, scary = stimulating. You may need to keep them apart more.

Ii is hard finding extra time in a busy day, but even half an hour's walk is better than nothing, though really she should be having two hours a day. So do what you can when you can. Thank you for coming here and do ask about anything you think needs to be explored or explained further.