Edgar is a 2 year old Miniature Dachshund who has never known a day without his siblings Rottweiler Hannah and Pitbull mix J.P.
All of his life, he has deferred to the bigger dogs on everything from who gets to play with the squeaky squirrel toy to getting petted by their human companions. He was happy to just hang with the other dogs, occasionally engaging in a game of chase around the yard with them.
Recently though, something changed in the household. Hannah and J.P. were not getting along as well as they used to. There would be growling over the Nylabones. Hannah wouldn’t play with J.P. when he prodded her to. Sometimes Hannah would body check J.P. and then stand over him as if in triumph.
Edgar was puzzled by this new dynamic between his friends. It made him uncomfortable. And when Edgar is out of sorts or confused, he barks. And barks. And then runs in circles, barking.
So Edgar’s owner called me for help. The barking was driving her crazy.
It didn’t take long to figure out that Edgar’s barking was just a symptom of a much deeper issue: sibling rivalry between the two big dogs. Edgar, who had always treated J.P. and Hannah with the utmost respect, mostly barked now in his new, self-appointed role as referee.
When Hannah and J.P. looked at each other with hard stares, Edgar would jump up and bark, as if to say “Don’t go there, guys! Hey! Look at me instead!” If the big dogs tried to squeeze through a doorway at the same time, Edgar would bark frantically. It had gotten to the point where Edgar would preempt the potential of an altercation by barking continuously if his buddies were in the same room at the same time.
The dogs’ owner was surprised to learn that the problem wasn’t really Edgar. The relationship between Hannah and J.P. needed help before things escalated and someone – dog or human – got hurt. With a little probing, we determined that the change that might have precipitated the new behaviors was that the owner had begun working from home. Consequently, the dogs were spending less time sleeping downstairs during the day, and more time upstairs in her small office. Three dogs in a limited space created tension between the big dogs. Edgar, sensitive to anything out of whack with his friends, did the only thing he knew how to do to try and stop the spiral. He barked.
By designating separate places for each dog in the hallway outside the office, each dog had his or her space, and the freedom to roam the house if desired. The dogs’ owner, aware now of the interactions between all three dogs, could intervene if needed. For a short time, she kept Edgar on a leash next to her so that he could chill out. Once he saw that his friends were no longer sniping at each other, he began to relax and got out of the barking habit.
