Hello peeps. I have a question. More of a dispute really. Some context first. I have a small dog (Chihuahua mix recently fixed) named Buggs. I recently moved in with my boyfriend (who lives with his parents) and brought Buggs with me. His parents own two large dogs (Mutts as well, although I'm not sure on the breeds, and they are also fixed). There are rules in place that the dogs must follow, such as no jumping on the upstairs furniture, no going in the kitchen, sit and wait for your food, ect.
Recently, I noticed the male dog, Roscoe, chase Buggs away from his food bowl and then eat all the food before moving back to his own. He only does this when my boyfriends dad, who for the sake of simplicity I'll call Ted, is out of the room. I have brought this to the attention of Ted who says that Roscoe may be doing it because he knows that they can't eat with people in the kitchen eating, but I asked my BF about this and he says they all used to eat at the same time, so that's not it. I have tried saying that it simply comes down to the primal pack instinct of 'small dog is lower rank in pack so small dog eats last' but Ted claims to know what he's talking about because he watched Cesar's Way, the show where Cesar Millan helps people train dogs. But I grew up raising dogs so I feel that I know what I'm talking about. I feel that Roscoe is bullying Buggs because he's smaller.
This isn't the only time I've seen behavior like this. When outside, Buggs isn't allowed near Daisy, the large female. If he gets anywhere near her, Roscoe will charge Buggs and growl at him. But, as with the food thing, he only does it when Ted is not with them. He has actually bitten Buggs before, but Ted claims Roscoe got a little rough playing and that it's 'perfectly normal'. I'm at my wits end with this. My poor Buggs, who is only 2 years old, is beginning to get grey around his muzzle. He's scared to be in the same room as Roscoe and constantly hides from him. I honestly don't know what to do anymore. I know I'm right. Or at least think I'm right. But am I? Is this all just the primal pack instinct, or is Ted right? This is more peace of mind before I confront Ted with the evidence.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/c8aw5b/my_dog_is_being_bullied_and_i_dont_know_what_to_do/
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