[DXMorris]

Hey Gang,

Since we've gotten our new guy (Petey), the other guy (Louis) occasionally snaps and growls at Petey, my wife (Melinda), and I under (so far) certain conditions and has also been a little aloof (although he's sound asleep with his head in my lap right now). The snaps have been gentle and seem to be intended as a warning with no intent to inflict harm. The conditions are when both Petey and Louis are in the back seat of the car at the same time or when Melinda or I get too close into his personal space. He was also recently in his first fight ever, at the doggie park, since Petey came to live with us (no injuries).

Some background info and some random neural firings:

* Louis, male, 9 months old, fixed, been with us for 6 months since we got him from a breeder.
* Petey, male, 18 months old, fixed, been with us for 3 weeks since we got him from rescue.
* Louis has been to basic obiedience training, doggie parks since he was 4 months old, and a few times, doggie day care.
* No incidents at all pre-Petey. Perfect puppy.
* Petey's a perfect gentleman. Was fostered in doggie daycare for a few weeks before we got him. No observed or reported incidents. Fit right into the family.
* Petey and Louis play for hours and seem to be best buds except for when they're in the back seat together. We've watched them very closely at (almost) all times initially and less so after the first two weeks.
* Louis sometimes mounts Petey who does nothing or walks away.
* Petey is about 4 inches and 20 lbs bigger than Louis.
* Louis seems to be the "bratty kid brother" who is constantly trying to get Petey to wrestle. Petey ignores him, takes the bait, or walks away but is always nice.
* Both were recently given a clean bill of health from a good vet.
* We've slacked off with Louis' training but not on giving him attention.
* We've paid more attention to Petey recently to ease his transition into our family but have still given Louis plenty.
* The snaps have been at Melinda and I and everyone has gotten the growls. Snaps usually very closely follow the growl.
* Louis occasionally mounts and is mounted at the dog park. When he has been mounted, it has been without incident (not sure about pre/post Petey). In all cases, it's quickly broken up.
* When they wrestle, Petey is very much the bigger, stronger, faster of the two although Louis is no slouch.
* Pre-Petey, Louis was very much spolied in every way imiagineable (aren't they all?) but dicipline maintained.
* Louis still goes to his crate when told (with a little coaxing), responds to "leave it's", is tethered during meals, and so on. All at about the pre-Petey rate.

My best guesses as to what's going on:

* General "new family member" issues (anxiety, needs space, ...) resulting in a lower threshold of annoyance.
* Louis is unsure of his place in the heirarchy because of us slacking off on training and the arrival of the Petey. Testing the waters of dominance.

What we've done:

* A loud "NO!", angry glare, and walk away.

What (else) we should do:

* More training.
* ????

Other stuff:

* We'll possibly be moving soon and won't be able to spend too much time on this for the next few months unless it turns out to be a symptom of something serious or becomes more pervasive or intense.

Apologies for the deluge of bullet points. Many, many thanks in advance.


Cheers,

Dave