For the last few months...

For the last few months my pack has been really unstable. Before that they were doing great together - getting along, and any "fights" that happened were mild and resolved by the dogs before I even needed to step in. I would say they were more disagreements than anything. I thought that the cause of the instability was all of the foster dogs coming in and out - and especially with a few feisty ones thrown in most recently. I decided to take a break from fostering in order to give them a chance to chill out. The last thing I want is to stress my dogs to the point of fighting. Their well-being has to come first.

So I'm down to one foster, Lowrider, who's been here for two years and is no trouble. Yet, the fights have continued between my two largest females, Emma and Natasha (Nappy), and the severity is escalating. Thankfully, no one has been seriously injured and I'm playing musical dogs with those two for the moment to ensure their safety. I recently found out that Tash has arthritis and hip dysplasia. From all of the reading I've been doing over the last few days I really think that Emma has been sensing Tash's weakness / ailment and challenging her, and that Tash has a shortened fuse because she is often in pain. Emma is not doing anything that she hasn't before, but Tash would never fight her in the past.

I am certain that they don't fight if I am not in the room, but I think Em competes for my attention. If I see her doing the wrong body language to Tash - the kind that starts the fights - I can shout "Emma, NO!" and she'll stop. The 2nd to last fight was about two weeks ago when I was giving baths. I was drying Emma, Tasha came over, then fell on Em (the floor was wet, there were towels in the floor, and Tash is clumsy) so that was a weird one. I just didn't see that coming because until Tasha fell there were no signs that it was about to happen. The last fight was Saturday when I was trying to get Scooter and Scruffy out of the dog room for a walk. Tash and Emma were both pushing at the gate to get through and before I could notice that a fight was about to happen, it did. I blame myself for that one because I am fairly confident that if I pay more attention to what those two are doing I can stop a fight before it starts.

I'm glad that I have some idea of what's going on here, but I can't find any info on exactly how to handle this. From what I've read I should reinforce and protect the Alpha - who I've always believed to be Tash. If Em was the Alpha she would not be challenging anyone, right? So, if I'm stopping Emma from challenging Tash does that count as reinforcing Tash as Alpha? I know the whole feed one first, pet one first, etc., thing. Emma seems to defer naturally to her in all of those situations without me stepping in - yet again leading me to believe that Tash is Alpha.

Right now Tash is on shots to help lube her joints and hopefully help with the pain. She's got another vet appointment for the 1st of December so I will do whatever her doc recommends at that point. I will use my Christmas bonus to have her first surgery, if necessary. She can recoup for a few months and have the other hip done as soon as February or March when I get my taxes back. If it really is a "weakened Alpha" thing going on and she is better after surgery, then that would, hypothetically, make the situation better, right? I'm really hoping so. But what to do until then?

Another thing I have been a little unsure about is separating Tash from the group for recovery (when the time comes). I feel like I should so she can rest and heal, but I've also read to not separate the pack. Which leads me to also think that the musical dog thing I'm doing might not be for the best, either. So, that is why I need advice. I come across so many conflicting views on the web and I just want to do what is best. If you have ANY experience at all with this, please share it with me.

I really hope that no one thinks I'm a horrible fur-mom. Just like with Shadow I'm learning as I go and he's turning out ok. I want to be clear that I will do whatever I have to in order to ensure everyone's safety and well-being - I just need a little guidance. The way things are right now they can and do get along for the most part, but I don't want to see things get any uglier and I feel like things are getting trickier with the state that Tash is in. When the fights happen they stress me (and I'm sure the dogs, too) to no end. I hate seeing my girls trying to hurt each other like that. 🙁

Btw, if you actually read all of this, thank you. ❤