Some good news, and bad news.

[IceyBlueSibes]

Alright people, I'm a bit short on time... so this may be a bit brief and I'll explain more later if I need to.

I'll start with the bad news first.
Well it turns out... Lilly isn't working out in her home. The last email I got (before she told us things weren't working), she said that Lilly was becoming very rough with Taz (her JRT) and couldn't leave them alone much anymore. She is also in the process of moving which is putting a lot of stress on her, and I think that having a pup like Lilly isn't the greatest idea.

The good news is.. she kept her word and is giving us the option of having her back. She's going to be in central florida soon, and we still haven't heard from her yet (just got the email yesterday) but will be picking her up sometime this week or next week.

I spoke with my mom and we are giving things a 2nd try. We are going to see how things go with the other 3 and I'm REALLY going to work hard with her. I'm going to find some books on jealousy in dogs and I may look for help and pointers on here. One issue became bones or certain toys... so stricter rules are going to be enforced. If Lilly gets a bone, she is going to be put in her cage until she's through. Once all of them are finished chewing, the bones are being put UP. Same goes for food and other toys. I'm going to be sure the others are first at getting whatever (treats, pats, snuggles, greetings, etc).

And I would like your opinion on this.
Denali doesn't use her crate much now that Lilly has been gone. When we did have Lilly, she guarded things and also went in there to pout. We need to take it out since she's not using it and also since we need room for Lilly's crate, who HAS to be crated. Do you all think this may help and keep her from having a space to "pout" and be isolated away from everyone?

Any tips or suggestions are appreciated and will explain a little more later.

I'm so excited!

[oc_spirit]

That's too bad that Lilly didn;t work out with her new home but I'm glad she's getting to coime back to you!

As for the crate thing, I think you should keep it out for Denali. Her crate after all is her special place even if she isn't using it much and if you take that away she may become stressed and will only end up designating another spot as her place.

[Giny]

I agree, I would also leave the crate out for Denali. I'd also only give them treats while in there own crates if treats were a cause for fights in the past.

Congrats on having her back. Hope everthing turns out OK.

Here's a great link on how to handle multiple dogs in a home. It helped me understand a few things.
http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/2525/multidogs.htm

[IceyBlueSibes]

Thanks both.

Giny, that was a really informative site! Thanks for sharing. I see where I think things were getting in upset, cause when they'd fight, we of course would talk as we broke it up, and we seperated them.

The tension is between Denali and Lilly. Lilly knows that Sheiba is alpha female, and she knows Sarge is alpha male. If Sheiba gives her a warning growl such as to leave her alone, or don't walk near me, etc. Lilly backs off, but as soon as Nali does something like that, Lilly "huffs" and starts growling. So I know the two of them are competing for that rank of subordinate.

My family and I wouldn't be able to sit there and let our dogs fight, so we would probably do the interfering but not saying anything while doing so, and not seperating them. I liked the sound of the hairspray idea.

If any of you have any other info or tips would be appreciated.

What training do you think would be most important for Lilly at this point? Now I don't know what all she has done with her or taught her.. and I would take her to obedience classes if I had the money.

So anyone else.. what do you think I should read up on? Things about pack order and having multiple dogs?

Sorry for so many questions. I just really don't want to give up Miss Lilly a 2nd time and I really want to make things work. I know it's going to take time.. I just would like any help I can get.