KatieK
New Born Pup
Hi Everyone,
I have a problem with my 10 month old boys. I have had them since end October (they came from the Blue Cross) - they are brothers and have always been together. They are both shy - one (Otto) is incredibly skittish and literally still runs away whenever I approach their cage. The other (Toto) is skittish, but less so. He will eat from my Hand. They both hate being picked up but are calm and relaxed when held. When I got them Otto was a lot smaller than his brother, but he has now grown into the bigger of the two. This is where the problem has started as he is now “throwing his weight around”. They have always been slightly argumentative about food so I give them separate food bowls. Over the last week Toto has noticeably increasingly been keeping out of Otto’s way where ever possible. However, Otto will not leave him alone. He chases him and will chase him away from hay (for example - this is the only thing other than a water bottle which they share). He also positions himself outside Toto’s hidey. Body language wise, it looks to me like Toto is trying to be subservient to Otto - he slinks around and makes little whimpers but Otto will not leave him be. He runs up to him all the time (sometimes teeth chattering and nose in the air, aggressive stance). This is clearly dominance behaviour. Toto runs away from these encounters. So this is my dilemma - are they just sorting out who is the alpha pig and do I leave them to it? At what stage should I step in and separate them? I feel so sorry for Toto as I feel he is being bullied. I am also out at work all day so cannot supervise them all the time. Advice would be welcome! Thanks.
I have a problem with my 10 month old boys. I have had them since end October (they came from the Blue Cross) - they are brothers and have always been together. They are both shy - one (Otto) is incredibly skittish and literally still runs away whenever I approach their cage. The other (Toto) is skittish, but less so. He will eat from my Hand. They both hate being picked up but are calm and relaxed when held. When I got them Otto was a lot smaller than his brother, but he has now grown into the bigger of the two. This is where the problem has started as he is now “throwing his weight around”. They have always been slightly argumentative about food so I give them separate food bowls. Over the last week Toto has noticeably increasingly been keeping out of Otto’s way where ever possible. However, Otto will not leave him alone. He chases him and will chase him away from hay (for example - this is the only thing other than a water bottle which they share). He also positions himself outside Toto’s hidey. Body language wise, it looks to me like Toto is trying to be subservient to Otto - he slinks around and makes little whimpers but Otto will not leave him be. He runs up to him all the time (sometimes teeth chattering and nose in the air, aggressive stance). This is clearly dominance behaviour. Toto runs away from these encounters. So this is my dilemma - are they just sorting out who is the alpha pig and do I leave them to it? At what stage should I step in and separate them? I feel so sorry for Toto as I feel he is being bullied. I am also out at work all day so cannot supervise them all the time. Advice would be welcome! Thanks.
