Help with aggressive female Kelpie

Hi Bec! I am hoping you can help me with a very aggressive female Kelpie. Libby is a five year old desexed Kelpie who chronically 'beats up' my seven year old whole male Kelpie. At times these attacks stem from food and attentionbut at other times, she appears to attack him for no particular reason. They are well exercised Kelpies (three 10km runs per week) and they have a large back yard. These attacks have started to worsen in frequency and damage in the past 4 months. I have tried putting her on a chain when she attacks him. Please help!
Posted: 26/06/2007

Answer: Aggressive kelpie
Problem is Kelpis are much smarter than what we give them credit for! I think you have answered your own question, "attacks stem from food and attention ..." so if Libby attacks her poor brother, she then receives attention after the attack. Good or bad, some dogs will take anything they can get. So she has learnt that this behaviour results with you and her together! Doesn't matter if you are cranky or putting her on a chain, she is with you! So you need to establish a iron clad routine for both dogs so Libby knows what is going on in her world. Schedule time with you and both the dogs, Libby one on one time, 'poor brother' one on one time and so on. Further more, while Libby must be controlled if she attacks: respond with no emotion what so ever. Simply remove her and place her in a quite spot for 5 minutes.
Posted: 10/07/2007