Bullying won't solve anything, right?

Whew......... you got a problem on your hands. First off, you & your husband must fully understand the type of dog you have. Rhodesian's are very powerful & dominant dogs. At 8 months old he is still growing & will only get more powerful. I would strongly encourage you visit the AKC website & read up a little on the breed, (if you haven't done so already). Your pup needs strenuous exercise every day. This particular breed NEEDS this or else they will vent that energy in some way, most likely in a manner which you find unacceptable. You do NOT want the lab mix to try to put that pup in it's place right now because one or both dogs will get hurt. That leaves the two of you to become the alpha "dog." You say you've used the command "Leave It!" and that sounds like a great idea, if he is listening to you. Physically "dominating" the dog will not work too awful well - I would speculate at some point the dog will become physically aggressive towards your husband.

I would suggest you visit this website to gain some more information about your pup & then any material they may recommend, www.rrcus.org

You are so lucky to have one of these dogs. They are wonderful animals with such character & independence. I wish you well with your pup!!!!

Most behavioral issues with dogs, people, etc. with bullying come about when you get situations where the "levels" are changing. Everyone knows who the top person is, no one is going to challenge them. It's the middle managers, moving up and down the ladder where you get problems.

It's YOUR job to restore stability in the situation. This is not necessarily dominance. You don't have to establish dominance to make the dogs understand that the RR behavior is unacceptable.

Obedience classes are PROBABLY the answer. A good obedience class from a good club, will probably work. Petsmart is not necessarily a choice here since you have an "issue" that needs to be resolved. They are better at teaching basic obedience and basic obedience instruction. This is a bit beyond that.

WRESTLING is DEFINITELY NOT the solution. RR's can be great dogs, but they are on the bigger side, and stronger side. Simply put, the down side to this type of action is the distinct possibility that the dog will intentionally, or unintentionally bite your husband. Secondarily, you may unintentionally teach this dog to become MORE aggressive, exactly what you are trying to avoid.

we have had similar situations at our house as we always have an elderly dog and young dog at the same time..in the beginning the young dog must respect that the old dog is in charge of the pack but at a certain point there is a change in leadership and the new dog becomes the leader....i think this is where you are at but you are also needing to exercise the young dog a lot more than I think you may be. we have also installed two large dog runs on cement pads under a shade tree in the back yard with boxes that go inside the back of the garage so that when the younger dog is not listening or bothering the older dog they can be seperated and have some down time. I guess my suggestion is to spend time with the dogs individually exercising the RR to the point where he is "played out" and provide seperate spaces for both of the dogs to call their own. I am assuming that the older dog is on meds for his physical issues and hope that he is responding well to those. OUr old dog has had multiple ACL surgeries and also has arthritis....his pain meds are a must and we are having great results with acupuncture and water therapy(which you could do on your own if dr approved). best of luck to you.

I have a 12 yr old that is very dominant, all my puppy boys know this, and yet one of them tries to constantly lick him. I know what is going on, this pup (17 mos old now) is challenging his place in my pack.

It sure sounds like this is what you have going on. You have interpreted this to be "bullying" when in fact that pup is not respecting the place of your older dog.

Interestingly enough this 12 yr old RR was brought into my home when I had an elderly Lab, who was going on 10 at the time. I have pictures of my little RR pup licking away at his face.

The best way I know of to 'encourage' a Ridgeback to unlearn this type of behavior is with correction, i.e, leashing up pup, making him sit, and then giving him a food treat.

Ridgebacks as you may already know will do *anything* for food. An 8 mo old is old enough to understand pecking order, and since your elderly dog is not doing it, you have to step in on his behalf.

One thing that will never accomplish much is trying to teach the 8 mo old pup not to do something by replicating the behaviour yourself. The pup will basically just lose respect for whoever is doing it.

In the wild, this pup would be corrected by the top ***** probably. he would learn his place quickly. Since your pup is now 8 mos old and he has still not learned this lesson, it's going to take real consistency to get him to knock if off.

Tenacious is another adjective for RRs :) But when they have respect for you, and you don't give up with your aversion training, your growing pup will respond accordingly.

Sounds like this is a difference in age between your two dogs. Your RR is very young still, and wants to play. Your lab, unfortunately, is past that stage mentally and physically... Makes for a bad combo.

Perhaps give your RR a way to let out that energy, by taking it for a run, and other high energy activities.

They are dogs, not people. A bullying lesson is silly and could cause more aggressive behavior! I would say your RR needs to be socialized. I have never had one, but have heard they can be pretty stubborn. You must be just as stubborn. Go to an obedience class with your RR. It may help both of you tremendously...take hubby along too. He might learn more about dogs and their behavior.

Good luck

I am not sure what the best thing to do is but dogs are pack animals and someone has to be the leader. It sounds to me like he is challenging the other to be submissive to him. Something that has always worked for me is to hold the dog on his back until he relaxes. It's showing him you are the leader. Maybe he will then leave the other dog alone. It could just be his age.

I consider you that having the toddler bypass to the instructor, consular, or powerful has little or no longer impact on the bullying toddler. They constantly arise with some excuse. yet going into the college and telling them which you will take criminal action against them and the college usually receives somebody's interest. fantastically in case you recommend it. As for calling the police on the bully, I actual have performed it, had the toddler the two arrested or a jacket started out on him, reckoning on if my son grew to become into harm or merely hit and no harm. As for my son being a sissy, i think of no longer. He grew to become into constantly instructed that if there grew to become into no way out, then shelter your self and we are going to attend to the outcomes later. by skill of how, I used your comparable state of affairs with the powerful of his intense college, yet I reported that if he grew to become into in a bar could he merely enable somebody beat on him. His answer as no. It gave him something to think of approximately.

Your husband isn't "showing" that pup anything, except to avoid Dad, 'cause Dad is a bully. It won't stop him from going after your old dog.

You can't fight fire with fire here....

Try Googling it, I guess; I can't think of a website that has what you are looking for on it, except maybe www.k9deb.com . I think that's the URL.

The wrestling is a very bad idea.

Be smarter than the dog.