What do I do with my dog? She's an 11 yr old Jack Russel-? mix. When I get near her she starts to growl & if I put my hand by her she shows her teeth too. She will sit with/next to my DH. She sleeps on or next to our bed but at 1st she jumps up & gets on my side, if not there yet but my DH is. Then I come along & want her off my side and she growls again. My dh tells her "Come over here, Minnie" & she growls but he continues to talk (not yell ) & she finally comes to his side. We have a 2 yr old American Shepherd (like a german shepherd)(Candie) too & one morn. while Minnie was laying on the couch & I was on it too, I was playing catch with Candie. (Minnie lays there most the day). After awhile Minnie started to growl. Candie & I continued (each time I said go get it, give it to me) till Minnie fiercely growled, showed her teeth and ran up to Candie almost ready to bite & continued to growled as if yelling 'if you get that ball & take it to mom, one more time, I tear your ears off'... now Candie will no longer play catch with me. I wonder if me contiuously sayin 'Get the ball..gimme the ball', made her upset..she wanted quiet. It looks like she insists on being the alfa dog & controller of us. (I must admit she also might be jealous cuz my dd & I always hug & play with 'the other one'. Everyone plays with Candie cuz she is so nice to them.)

Ahm.... sounds jealous to me....

Hopefully she will get used to the new dog soon.... how long have they been together ?

g'day lor,
check out this older thread...


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BlueMago, They've been together since Candie was a pup. Thats 2 yrs & 4 mo. I've thought of jelousy too
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but
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Oh... that's enought to had adapted I guess...
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Maybe she is sick ? and something hurts her and that's why ? Have you taken her to the vet ?

I'm with you. At any age, in any situation, a dog can start acting like they are in charge. Tell Minnie who's the boss, and the sooner the better.

As owner of a whole herd of little dogs, let me tell ya, I think they can be worse (more agressive that is) than a lot of big dogs.


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And part of that is because we humans don't wanna hurt their feelings by putting them in their place.

When I adopted Millie - age 9 - this xmas, they told me she should not be around kids and did not always do well around other pets - except her *sister* who we also adopted.

Millie did snap at our Ozzy the first day - his fault, cuz he got up in her face. But I corrected both of them, took them side by side for a walk and kept an eye on them. They do not have any actual fights - ever. They know Mom is boss here. Millie is actually a real sweetie. all she needed was to hear the word *no* every once in a while.


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She used to snap/growl at the brush, at the leash, stuff like that. Only did that one time with me, cuz I use the dog whisperer's method - SH! (poke).

I can walk all my dogs together, no problem. I'm no dog trainer, I just believe it can happen and it does.


I would rule out if she's not feeling well. But I would not allow jealousy. She'd get more attention if she acted nicer, so that's her own fault.


Good luck.

and Russels can have the 'big dog" syndrome.
They will take on a much larger animal.
as well as wanting to be alpha dog.

I think giving up the ball.... is similar to giving up FOOD.

Minnie is old, and old dogs do strange things sometimes.
She might have become frightened that YOU would make HER give up something or food too. And she does not want that.
Growling can be a sign of fear according for Cesar Milan.
When they do alpha behaviors and get away with it, they become afraid of their own pecking order then.

First off, I'd get her out of the bed. Victoria on Its me or the Dog show does that first off. Bed=alpha. I've seen many of her shows where she gets the dog off the bed in many houses.
Once Minnie is no longer alpha, you may see better behaviors.

Even just moving them to their own bed on the floor would help - but it must be enforced.
not by hitting of course but a firm voice with absolute conviction behind it.

Do not let

Sounds like jealousy. Nip it in the bud now before she bites someone.