Pet Articles
Dogs – Canine Rivalry – Dog Fighting
What is Canine Rivalry?
Canine rivalry refers to repeated conflicts between dogs living in the same household. Animals that live in social groups establish a social structure within that group. This social structure is hierarchical and dogs determine their place in the hierarchy through control of and access to various resources, such as food, toys and attention from people. A stable hierarchy in which each individual knows and accepts his rank provides dogs with a sense of comfort and belonging. Conflicts arise between household dogs when there is instability in the social structure; that is, when the ranking of each dog is not clear or is in contention. Dogs may warn each other initially by snarling, growling or snapping, but not causing injury. However, the conflict may sometimes intensify into prolonged bouts of dangerous fighting, which may result in one or both dogs being becoming injured.
Getting Professional Help
Ongoing canine rivalry is potentially dangerous. Dogs or human family members could be severely injured as a result of fighting. Because resolving rivalry problems requires managing the dogs’ somewhat complex social behaviors, it’s often necessary for owners to obtain assistance from a professional animal behaviorist. Certified animal behaviorists are trained to observe, interpret and modify animal behavior.
Why Conflict Occurs
Conflicts between household dogs develop for a wide variety of reasons. Conflicts may occur if:
- A new animal has been introduced to the household.
- A resident animal has died or no longer lives in the house.
- A resident animal is re-introduced after an absence.
- A young dog reaches social maturity, which is usually between 10 months and 2 years of age, and challenges the established higher-ranking dog.
- A high-ranking dog ages or becomes ill and cannot maintain his higher status.
Understanding Status Seeking Behavior and Social Structure
The dogs’ positions in the hierarchy are determined by the outcome of their interactions. The results of this complex and dynamic process will depend on the dogs themselves, without regard to your preferences. Any attempt on your part to interfere may result in increased conflict.
How dominance is established:
Dogs usually determine their social ranking through a series of behaviors, which include body postures and vocalizations that don’t result in injury. Examples of these behaviors are one dog “standing over” another by placing his paws or neck on the shoulders of the other, mounting, lip licking or rolling over onto the back. Some dogs may take toys away from other dogs, insist on being petted first or exercise control over other resources. However, because of past experiences, inadequate socialization or genetic tendencies, some dogs may escalate these displays into aggression with very little warning.
The Social Structure:
Do not attempt to influence or define the dogs’ rankings by treating them equally or by preventing a higher-ranking dog from asserting his position over another dog. The social hierarchy of the dogs is dynamic and complex, so even attempts to “support the dominant dog” may be counter productive. The dogs should be allowed to determine control of resources, such as toys and favorite sleeping places, amongst themselves. As much as possible, refrain from interfering in the dogs’ interactions with each other. But most importantly, establish yourself at the top of the hierarchy. Practicing “Nothing in Life is Free” is an easy and non-confrontational way to establish leadership by taking ultimate control of all resources the dogs find valuable. If your position as leader is clear, it will help the dogs sort out their lower places in the social structure more peacefully.
Breaking up a fight:
If you need to break up a fight, do so by squirting the dogs with water or making a loud noise to try and interrupt them. Never attempt to break up a dog fight by grabbing the dogs by their collars or getting any part of yourself in between them. Touching dogs while they are fighting can result in what is called “redirected aggression,” where a dog may bite you because he thinks you are part of the conflict. If you’ve had a dog fight, contact your veterinarian for a referral to a professional animal behaviorist.
What You Can Do To Help
- If the dogs involved are intact males or females, spay or neuter both dogs.
- Make sure that all of the humans in your household are at the top of the hierarchy by practicing “Nothing in Life is Free.”
Establish fair rules and enforce them consistently. This helps all the dogs feel more secure and also reinforces your role as leader. With the help of a professional animal behaviorist, elicit and reinforce non-aggressive behaviors using counter-conditioning and desensitization techniques. These procedures must be designed and tailored to specifically meet the needs of each individual case and require professional in-home help. Punishment will not resolve the issue and can actually make it worse. You should be aware that if you respond to this type of problem inappropriately, you run the risk of intensifying the problem and potentially causing injury to yourself and/or your dogs.
Article courtesy of Dumb Friends League
Reproduced by permission
www.ddfl.org – All Rights Reserved.
Other related articles of interest may include:
WHO’S IN CHARGE HERE? A lesson in becoming Alpha
Puppy socialization – socializing your dog
Nothing in life is free
I have a german shepherd, beagle, and a italian mastiff. Mastiff used to go after the beagle, which has been in the household the longest. fights were bad, and then the beagle started to stay away. Then mastiff and german shepherd get into it. German Shepherd has been getting beat up severely. What should I do? Hard to break up their fights, know not to get in between too much. Is the only resolution to have to part with the mastiff? looking for any other solution.
Mastiff was brought up in a different home as the only dog, when he was about two years old, moved back home where the other 2 dogs reside.
Beagle: first dog, oldest, 12
German Shepherd, 2nd, 8,
Mastiff: 2, biggest. dangerous.
All of the dogs were raised in a loving home. No abuse.
If this were my situation, 100% I’d be calling a REFERRED pro dog trainer.
Your dog needs to obey you when you say stop beating up the other dog! Without a doubt there are issues that can be solved and need to be solved for the sake of safety!
A referred pro dog trainer will see the interaction between you and the dogs and recommend solutions. This is solvable, but by a pro. Ask your vet or someone you trust for a reference.
Good luck.
I have 2 dogs, one 6 year old border terrier and one 10 month old Akita. They seemed to be the best of freinds until a horrible fight last night. Both had minor bleedy injuries. Not knowing that I should not have break them up I pulled my terrier out from under my akita. Today my terrier will not leave my side and is very clingy. I keep telling myself not to judge on human emotions but she seems to be afriad of the other dog now, like her feelings are hurt. She is either trying to be on my lap or under my feet. I learned my lesson but I was bite (minor) while breaking up the fight by my terrier. I had never given them real bones before only rawhides . Last night my neighbor gave them real bones with meat on them. Do you think that caused the fight?
Be VERY careful with the Akita. They were bred to hunt bears and are known to be aggressive to other dogs. It “could” have been the bones that set the Akita off, but it might be something else in the future.
The terrier is right to be clingy, it is in shock. It is right to be afraid of the other dog as the Akita could easily kill her. Easily. This can happen again, do NOT ignore this warning sign.
Personally, if this were my dog it would never be left with the terrier alone without my direct supervision – until I was 100% sure that this won’t happen again. (and that may be never)
The only way to solve this imo, is with PROFESSIONAL dog training by a referred trainer. If he already had training, he needs more.
Good luck.
Thank you Marko for you words of caution. I am taking this matter seriously. Things seem back to normal but I am still leary. Tonight, my terrior took dog food away from the Akita. There was no incident. My Akita, Stella, has been sweet tempered until this fight. I probably will never completely trust her again. I love my pets so much but it is not lost on me that they are animals. I had a small child visit and I would not allow the dog in the house. My family thinks I am over reacting. I cant help thinking what if a child unknowingly did something that the dog did not like. I will get professional help ASAP, Thanks again.
I have 2 dogs- females- 1 mini dachshund and a mix breed (not really sure what the mix is) They have been in the same house together since they were 8 weeks. Lately the mix has been “attacking” the doxie even bitting and drawing blood. It seems to come out of nowhere. I can break them up but the doxie has gotten many many scars on her face from bites from the mix. I have tried putting the mix in a cage after the attacks and scolleding her. It is getting more frequent and severe. What can I do to keep my doxie safe?
Putting the mix in the cage AFTER this is happening will never ever work.
The “punishment” must come AS THE EVENT is happening or it’s useless. In this case a loud and firm “NO”! as the attack is happening might help.
Punishing after the fact is detrimental to your relationship with the dog. Dogs cannot process “WHY” they are being punished if it happens after the fact.
Aside from that, this issue is too big for a comment in a blog post. I HIGHLY recommend a consult with a professional referred dog trainer who sees these issues all the time. An alternative would be to post this in our pet forum for a better back and forth between members.
Given the current situation though, if these dogs were mine, they would NEVER be left alone when unsupervised. The aggressive dog would be locked in one room while I was away.
Good luck!
hi i havea 4 year old short hair pointer and a 2 yr old cross of multi breeds. my small cross breed has been for months sitting on my top of my pointer, the last few nights they have had fights and i end up breaking them up with shouting no, however they have drawn blood in small cuts the last fight. i have spoken to a trainer and they said it will pass but im afraid of one of them killing the other. i haven’t been treating them differently and within minutes after the fights they are back next to each other licking each others wound and playing. Will they pass through this stage by themselves?
Hmmm this is a tough one. If these were my dogs, I don’t think I would let them have access to each other while I was sleeping (if that’s when it’s happening)
They would be in different rooms or one with me in a room and the other in the house. and I’d consult further with a trainer. Aggression is serious.
Only you can judge how aggressive the dogs really are and the potential outcome – fatalities do happen though. I always err on the side of caution.
Good luck.
We have three cairn terriers. We had two, but our boy dog that was 12 (and the Alpha) died suddenly June 1. That left a 10-year-old female that weighs about 19 pounds (very sweet, will turn 11 in about 2 months). About a month later we got a 7-month-old female that turns 1 year tomorrow. She is very sweet, but still is not potty trained to go outside and she goes hyper, grabbing one of the other dogs’ leashes (or her own) and growling when we take her out to go to the bathroom. She also picks on the older dog quite a bit. She now weighs about 13 pounds. Then, about a month after getting her, we got a male puppy that is now almost 7 months old. He is full of energy, goes into his kennel when told, constantly seeks attention, and is very talkative (not just barking, but whining, growling, and anything inbetween). I think he is kind of hypervigilent, in that his attention is short and he is always looking to see what else is going on when being held. He is growing fast and is now is larger than the one-year-old. They have gotten along fairly well, but the younger dogs play-fight with each other (nothing serious) and they pick on the older dog, especially the female despite her smaller size. The older dog has basically “taken it.” About a week or so ago, the older dog had apparently taken it long enough and snapped back at the 1-year-old. They have gotten into real fights where one ends up clamped onto the other’s upper jaw. This has happened about 5 times, twice today. Tonight when I got home from work, my daughter was crying, my wife’s finger was bleeding, the two dogs were clamped together, and both had blood on their faces. My wife said the boy dog instigated it against the older dog, but once the 1-year-old joined and it got serious, he got out of it. This morning, however, the older dog was laying with a piece of rawhide in front of her, the younger female was giving her a stare-down, then pounced for her or the rawhide and a fight ensued. So far, we had tried to stop the fighting incorrectly, by picking one of them up. Tonight, however, I screamed “knock it off” and they let go. As I cleaned them up, I found only one place where the skin was actually broken (on the 1-year-old), so I don’t know where all the blood came from. Finally, the old dog has run of the house and sleeps in the bedroom. The puppies sleep in kennels in the living room. The old dog sleeps by the puppies when they are in their kennels during the day. Among other things, we are real concerned that one of them is going to lose an eye. Suggestions?
I recently had my dogs spayed/neutered, about 2 months ago. Until then, just the occasional scuffle between my 2 males doxies (ages 6 and 1 1/2). Now, since the neutering, the boys fight constantly…to the point that they cannot be in the same area loose together. They have to be muzzled, and then still try to fight. I have had to take to kenneling them, one while the other is loose, and vice versa. But they still try to fight through the barrier, muzzled or not. Their personality changes are so extreme, it’s like I have 2 completely different dogs now. I can’t enjoy them the way I used to…no walks together, etc. The younger’s personality has changed the most, to the point where he cowers and won’t come out of the kennel at all, not even when the older dog is outside. I HATE THIS! I’ve never had to muzzle my pets before this, and I regret neutering them. Things were fine before this. The only advice I could get from my vet was to muzzle/separate them. Great. I’m having a hard time finding any referred trainers in my area. What can I do? Am I doomed to have to get rid of them?
Hi Krista,
I’d post this on our forum for free for a better back and forth. Our members offer great advice and this is a little complex for a blog post.
Thx – marko
I NEED ADVICE ASAP!!!!!!!!
I have (2) 1 year old male dogs from the same liter (brothers). They are a mix of breeds. Treeing walker coonhound, husky and english shepard mix. My husband and I had them ever since they were 8 weeks old and they just turned 1. We havent had any issues with them other than the basic puppy things such as: chewing, nibble here and there, barking. With in the past 2-3 months they have had a few fights where blood was involved. Neither of them have got seriously hurt or anything but I am worried one of these times something very serious and bad will happen to one of them. I have tryed spraying/dumping water on them, i also tryed putting about 20 dimes in a water bottle and throwing it right near them. NOTHING seems to break them up or stop them from fighting. My husband and I bought muzzles and that works but we cant keep them on 24/7. One day our dogs will be fine and the next day they are fighting non stop. Do you thinking getting them neutered will stop this from happening? I need all the answers and suggestions i can get. This is causing my husband and I so much stress with constantly dealing with our dogs fighting. We are about to have nervous break downs. We do not want to get rid of either dog if there is ways to solve this.
I will assume that these dogs have never had obedience training which they desperately need….especially now that they have reached sexual maturity and are getting out of control. Please make sure the trainer comes referred from someone you trust like a vet.
And YES!!! please neuter these dogs ASAP – Both these should help the situation
Good luck!
We have 4 dogs…. 14 yr old male poodle mix we have had since he was a yr and a half, neutered…. 12 yr old male cocker spaniel we have had since he was 9 weeks old neutered….. a female catahoula leopard dog born 9-30-2012, we got when she was 7 weeks old…….. and a doberman pinscher born 10-08-2012, we got when she was 8 weeks old…. So the catahoula is 1 week older than the doberman and we had the catahoula for 2 weeks before we got the doberman……. the 2 older dogs have never had a problem with fighting, once in a blue moon over a rawhide bone, but nothing serious…… the catahoula and the cocker have had words a couple of times….. the poodle mix pays no attention to them and snaps at them both if they get too close, the doberman bows down to him and they kiss each other, the catahoula just dont pay any attention to the poodle…… HOWEVER, the doberman and catahoula play and play and play and FIGHT ! they get into it more and more often. I yell “STOP IT” and bang on something and they usually stop. My husband will make them go outside or grabs them both and lays them down away from each other until they relax and submit…… they are getting very large though……. They are both very sweet and docile most all the time…. They are all house broke, with a doggie door….. I just cannot stand the fighting and as they continue to grow rapidly, I am affraid the fights will worsen as well…….. We have found a trainer that a groomer recommended, we are about to start…… they do sit and stay pretty good but they dont come to you when called all the time, especially the doberman….. what could be the fighting problem and what can we do to correct it ?
You have made a FABULOUS decision by getting a trainer – KUDOS!
The fighting problem could well be a dominance issue and the TRAINER is the right person to ask these questions to as they can observe the body language going on at the time of fighting.
Your trainer should also have VERY concrete solutions for correcting this problem. and the Trainer should suggest remedies for them to come when called. This situation is MUCH too complicated for a blog post comment so again, very happy someone refereed is involved.
Good luck!
HELP! I have 2 Akitas, 9 yr old male & 6 yr old female, both neutered/spayed. The female has started triggering fights, firstly food related where if she was the first on the scene the male could not come near and then last night because she was cornered by the back door. They have had shouting matches previously, when female was intact, this has now escalated to full contact. After the shouting matches they would come back together licking each others muzzles, now the female is avoiding the male’s eyes and her hackles are coming up. She is acting nervous of him and the relationship that was previously a tight pack has gone. I can only think that either being 1 year -ish from her spaying she is going through a phantom season, has a behavior problem or is sick. My husband is close to finding her a new home and even writing this I am beside myself. Any suggestions? Note that I have no choice but to pull them apart as noise etc will not stop them once they have got this far, it is also hard to spot signs as there are no growls- Akitas give no warning.
Hi,
I have two neutered mixed (Alsatian + Labrador) dogs who have been living together in peace for 6 years. We recently adopted a 4 month brindle boarboel. Them three have been living together with no worries, although the older one always growls at the boarboel to establish that he’s the territorial head etc. But now, the youngest one is much bigger and stronger and the older one tries to bully him and they get into a fight. This has happened about 4 times within the space of 2 weeks. The youngest one has realized that he’s stronger now and can beat the older one. So when they fight, they always sustain injuries, and most especially the older one. The new dog is not neutered though. And everyone keeps saying its too late to train them both. What can I do???
Who is everyone? Are they trainers?
I would 1 jillion percent neuter the dog immediately and take BOTH dogs for obedience training.
I’d ask my vet for a recommendation first and make sure to mention that this invloves an aggression problem. Then I’d call the trainers and ask these questions directly.
If these were my dogs they would all be fixed and group obedience trained regardless of what age I got them.
Good luck.
We have 6 dogs in total. 1x daschund 7 years old spade female 2 x jack russell terriers sisters from the same litter 4 years old spade females 1 x daschund 2 years old spade female and 2 x great danes 1 x male neuted and 1 x female spade at 1 year old. The 2 jack russells have started attacking the older daschund and has got so bad that she ended up with stitches and is now temporarily living with my mother for recovery. The Jack Russells have now started fighting with the younger daschund. The fights were completely a surprise. The dogs eat together, sleep together, lie on the couch with us and have their morning treats together without even as much as a murmer. Why would they suddenly start this fighting and what can we do to stop it. When they fight i do seperate them and tell the Jack Russells NO so they know what they are doing is wrong. please help.
Again this is complicated for a blog post comment – please post this in our forum where members can easily and freely share their experiences on this common issue.
Good luck.
We have two dachshunds (father and son) we recently got a small Chihuahua. a week after we brought him home the younger dachshund began putting his paws on his fathers back and the hair on their backs raise up and they start growling at each other. they do not show any aggression towards the Chihuahua.
Pretty interesting – Hmm – this might be a transitional thing and as long as it’s just growling that subsides, maybe they are just working it out themselves.
Feel free to post this on our forum as well. Lots of experienced dog people there.
good luck!
I have 7 dogs in my home. All are spayed or neutered. I have 5 rescued terriers and two female dobermans. The oldest doberman is 2.5 yrs old, the younger one is 6 months old. Terriers range in age from 3 yrs to 14 yrs old.
My oldest doberman (the Alpha dog) gets along great with the younger dobe and two of the terriers. Two other terriers, she totally ignores–it’s like she doesnt even acknowledge that they even exist. She doesnt appear to like or dislike them. But the terrier that is closest to her age is the one that she has the problem with. This terrrier weighs about 20 lbs, and is very feisty, barks a lot, makes toothy faces at the other dogs when she feels insecure for any reason, and will run and charge at the glass in the back door when the dobermans are outside and snarl and bark at them through the glass. She is definitely NOT big enough to back up her attitude.
The older doberman has attacked her on three separate occasions over the past 2 years. Never to the point that the terrier had to have stitches, but still, when the dobe has had more of the terrier’s attitude than she can handle, she grabs her by the back of the neck, and holds her down to the ground and it’s all I can do to make her let go. She does draw blood at the puncture sites, but the injuries are never deep enough to cause profuse or uncontrolled bleeding. They got into a fight again last night (it’s been about 3 months since they tangled last, and since that time, I have been keeping them separated if I’m not right there with them at all times) in the house (always before, they were outside if a fight occured, and ALWAYS when I am nearby) and it happened while I was at the computer, so my back was to them so I have no idea what provoked it. I had to grab the doberman by the back legs and flip her upside down in order to make her let go of the other dog.
My wife is about to have a nervous breakdown over these dogs fighting, and she wants me to get an electronic collar to ‘zap’ the doberman every time she looks at the terrier. I hope that there is a solution to this problem, because I cant bear to get rid of either of these dogs. I dont want the next fight to be worse. The terrier is the one that always gets beat up. How can I prevent it from happening again? Do I need to just constantly keep the two of them separated at ALL times now? Please help. It’s driving me and my family crazy trying to keep the peace.
Hi Paul,
This is much to complicated for a blog post comment. Please post this on our forum where other members can help offer advice.
Good luck.
We have 3 dogs in our household. The mother (Rayni) is almost 7 yrs. old; a mix between dashchund and jack russel. And the 2 others are her daughters. Their father was part dashchund also. They will be 3 yrs. old in December. We are now experiencing the mother and one of the daughters (Daisy) with nonstop!! fighting!! Its as if Daisy is fighting to kill. She will lock onto Raynis neck and will not let go!! We have shed our own blood now several times trying to brak them up! Rayni is a fairly small built dog. She basically has the jack- body build- but maybe alittle more fragile. To where Daisy out grew her mother and father. She is our biggest dog. She’s prob. 2X’s the size of her mother. – maybe 3x’s- I cant help from wonder if this is what the fights are all about? I know Rayni has dominance. But Daisy. She is really quite the BULLY!!. EVERY! toy in the house belongs to her! (I am not kidding!) I sometimes get the feeling that she even tries to bully us by the way she gets in our faces when she wants to be pet! Her nose will almost be touching ours. And its not like she lacks any attention at all! I guess what I am wanting to know is this a power struggle over placement? If so what are the usual end results?? I love both dogs (all 3) very very much and can’t even think about getting rid of one! I would assume it would end when Rayni might give up her position??? But will she?? I have to say she is the one getting the worse of it after their fights! Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated..
Aggression like this is serious. IMO, you need a referred trainer that has experience with aggression to go to your house and see what is going on.
There are leadership issues for sure and the trainer will be able to help with this.
For one thing
Every toy belongs to YOU! Everything belongs to you but the dogs are not respecting your authority – likely because you are not acting like a leader in the dog’s mind.
here are a few general articles that can help – but my best advice is that trainer at your home ASAP.
Good luck!
http://www.pets.ca/dogs/articles/whos-in-charge/
http://www.pets.ca/dogs/articles/nothing-in-life-is-free-nilf/
Having issues with the temporary dog pack. We have a 11yrF-18lb Lhasa(rescued, untrained, barker, growler,lazy,doesn’t like toys, narcistic dog we have had for 6yrs and 11yrM-11lb YorkiePoodle since a pup (submissive, ocd licker, hyper, now diabetic and developing tumor) Recently, my college daughter rescued a 5yrF-42lb Shepherd Mix on 5/9/12. The dog will be staying until 8/19/12. Great dog. Just after her 1st wk w us she went into heat. Therefore, planning to get her spayed in August. We have had dog fights because my Lhasa just con’t s to growl at the Shepmix in passing. Both dogs are fighting for my attention. My husband, daughter & myself all help w managing daily care. My question, is it ok to be treating the dogs all differently because of their physical abilities/personalities? My dogs sleep in separate crates in the basement but my daughter’s dog sleeps in her room. We feed her dog in a separate area and avoid giving treats randomly because of the diabetic dog. We walk the dogs together 2-3x a day. Her dog and the Lhasa can walk w/o leashes but I never allow the Yorkie because he runs away. Her dog needs and enjoys more exercise. She loves going in the car. So we only take her to the park, for runs or for car rides. She even swims in our pool. Is it healthy to have different relationships w each dog?
We have an almost 7 year old female boxer named Tia and are in the process of adopting an 8 month old Boxer mix named Emmy. Emmy has been at our house for a week now. Tia has always loved having neighbor dogs to play with and playing at the dog park so I thought she would enjoy another dog to play with. She’s always been very gentle and only in the past year has she started standing her ground if a dog gets too aggressive with her. Emmy is trying to be the alpha dog and is constantly nipping at her muzzle, ears and legs and going on top of her. At first Tia just brushed her off as she has always treated puppies gently. After a few days she had enough and has been trying to put Emmy in her place, but rarely does Emmy back off. Boxers play rough, but it doesn’t seem like play to me and I am wondering if I intervene or just let them work it out. Tia weighs around 60 pounds and Emmy is 30 at the most, but Emmy is fearless!
I would say that you NEED to have control over both these dogs. This means that when you call either of them – they come.
When you tell either of them to stop – they stop what they are doing.
If you do not have this control then I would highly suggest some group obedience training. There you will be taught that YOU are the leader of both dogs…and dogs listen to the leader.
If it does not seem like play – it probably is not play and again group obedience (from a RECOMMENDED trainer from someone you trust)
I don’t know the level of aggression here – but it’s enough to say that I would be quite concerned if these dogs lived in my home.
For additional info, I recommend you post this as well on the forum. We have a number of members that are very knowledgeable in matters like these.
Good luck!
hi i have an 11 year old boxer who is a total mummys boy, if u want 2 find me, look 4 bruno as hes always by my side, even in the toilet, lol. i have been offered a 10 month old doberman, do u think my old boy would accept him? or would total jealously prevent this? space is not a problem, i dnt want 2 bring this young 1 in to our home if theres going to be rivalry…
Any tips would be great.
thanks
There is no way to predict rivalry imo, unless u already know that your dog is more of an alpha-dog that doesn’t get along with other animals…if this is the case – the answer is don’t do it.
If you don’t know this to be true then possibly an 11 year old doberman and a 10 month old doberman might not be the best match due to the age difference and energy differences the 2 will have.
Feel free to post this same question on on forum.
Whatever the case – I would not blindly bring that 10 month old home.
I might bring the 11 year old for a visit to the 10 month old (on THAT dog’s turf) to see if they get along – then I might have that 10 month old come over for a visit to see the reaction.
If I did in the end decide to adopt the dog – the introduction would be done methodically and slowly. This means that the 11 year old would have the run of the house and the new pup would be in a much smaller area….UNTIL they become buddies.
Good luck
Hi, I have 2 springer spaniels, one is 9 and the other is 4, both have been spayed. I got them both from puppies and they got along really well until the younger dog started to mature. I have tried every trick in the book to stop them fighting, feeding separately, being very strict with them, taking away toys so they have nothing to fight over, making sure they are well exercised, ignoring the younger dog when she demand attention etc, but nothing has worked, even had advice from a dog behaviourist and what she told us to try seemed to work for a few weeks then a massive fight occurred and the oldest had to go to vet as the younger one had ripped her eyelid . They are well trained and do what they are told, apart from when they are fighting. They get on with other dogs outside the home, they show no aggressive behaviour to people. There is very rarely any warning that a fight is about to start. The rest of the time they get on brilliantly together. I am in the process of re-homing the younger one as I feel she will take to new owners better. Having made this decision to re-home her we are now just waiting for a place at the kennels. This is really killing myself and my partner as we love both our dogs to bits and the younger dog is such a loving dog towards us. We want to make sure before she goes that we have tried everything possible. Is there anything else we can try before we let her go?
We’ve recently added a dog, previously we had a 13 yo golden mix, female, and an almost 4 yo Newf, female. We’ve had the golden for 10 years, and this Newf for 3. We just got a second Newf, 2 yo, male. Everyone is fixed. The male has had at least 3 families before us. Things are mostly ok at home, some quibbles over cookies, but he seems to be settling into the pack here. But, at the dog park we get into problems. Generally it starts when he gets a little dominant with another dog, chin-overs and the like. The other dog will signal that it doesn’t like that, sitting down, backing away, but he doesn’t seem to recognize those signals, so it escalates to snapping. We’re trying to redirect before that point, but if we miss it, I grab his back end and pull him away. (He was very weak when we got him, but he’s getting stronger, so I don’t know how long that’s an option.) We also try to tire him out a bit more by doing laps in the park before we let him have free play. I feel like he doesn’t understand dog language, and with his size the other owners are understandably not real willing to put up with his behavior.
My 1 year old male shar pei started attacking my 5 year old pit bull recently out of nowhere.. The first few fights my pit would pretty much just defend himself and stop when I said “No”… The other day out of nowhere my pit started full out attacking my shar pei and would not listen to us. We have appointments to have them both neutered this week in hopes that will help. We have been keeping then separated since then.. Any more advice I really dont want to get rid of our shar pei ?? Im looking into a trainer. I rescued a female pit a few months back from my neighbors who left her behind do u think shes the problem? Or is it a maturity/ dominance thing between the males?
I’d post this on our forum for a better back and forth.
Yes both should be neutered. Both should also be obedience trained from a referred trainer.
There is no reason to get rid of your dog – just get the obedience training.
Good luck.
We have a 15 year old neutered male shih tzu. When he was about 4 we got a young chihuahua female. They did so well together, even when she developed Cushings disease. She died shortly before her 9th bd from complications of the disease. We were devastated. Her passing left such a hole in our family that 6 months later we got another female chihuahua puppy. We got her spayed and she went through basic obedience training. She has a stronger personality than our previous chi and is overall just more dominant. When she got to be a year old we noticed her starting to pick on our shih tzu. I use the “leave it” command and she will leave him alone. However, in the last couple of weeks, she will leave her bone in the middle of the floor. If he goes anywhere near it, she will go and attack him.. Even though he is bigger and weighs a lot more than she does, he will submit. He is not trying to get her bone. In fact he doesn’t even seem to know it is there. If she has already started to attack, she will ignore the leave it command. Our shih tzu is yelping, so I grab her by the scruff and separate her from him by putting her outside for a few min. She is immediately barking to come back in, When I let her back in she immediately goes back to the shih tzu. I give her the leave it command. She will “leave it” for a few min. then goes back to him “sniffing his ears and walking around him. I give her the leave it command again, and as she leaves him, he makes a hasty exit under the table. The shi tzu has been starting to show his age, and he’s such a good dog. We don’t want him living his final years scared and bullied. Our chi. does not have any aggression with anyone else in the family ( we have 3 teenagers). She is a very playful high energy dog and thoroughly enjoys romping in the yard with the kids, playing catch etc. She can be high strung, and seems to be a bit hypersensitive to noises- the door bell, the garbage truck, etc. I am wondering how to effectively stop her bullying our shih tzu. I wish she could have the same relationship as our other chi had with him. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Hi Kendra,
This is solvable, but not here in the comments section of a blogpost – it requires it’s own thread.
Please post this for free in our forum. Thx and good luck!
i have 6 dogs. 14,13,7,5,5,1 1/2. all border collies. the 13 year old is sick and has a cone to keep him from licking an infected area.i was outside and i heard loud yelping in the house. the 1.5 year old was attacking the sick 13 year old. this happened again a bout a week later when i wasnt home.no ingury to the old dog just lots of wet fur where he was attacked. im keeping the old guy with me or isolated until hes better.
I have two female dogs in my house who fight often. The oldest is seven years old and is a border collie blue healer mix, the other is five years old and a black lab border collie mix. Since my yellow lab, died two years ago, and I rescued a black lab this past spring the fights have gotten worse. This last summer, the girls got in to it real bad. The lab/collie had the healer/collie by the neck and would not let go. The only way I got the lab/collie to let go was to put my hand in her mouth and yank down on her mouth, I tried pulling her tail, and her back legs and that did not work. Once I got the lab/collie to let go I had to lay down on top of her while the healer/collie ran to the door to be let in the house. They both suffered injuries to the neck and legs. I kept them separated and when they would growl at each other I would loudly yell “NO!”. Everything seemed to be getting better until last night when out of no where the healer/collie lunged at the lab/collie and punctured her upper left front leg. By the time I go up to stop the fight the lab/collie had the healer/collie by the neck again and was starting to shake her head. I put my weight the lab/collie while my brother grabbed the healer/collie and dragged her in to another room. While this was going on my rescue dog ran down stairs and hid.The growling and snarling has continued today but I separate them before anything could happen. I have no idea what to do any more. I don’t want to get rid of either of my girls, but I don’t want them to hurt each other or worse. What should I do?
I forgot to mention that all of my dogs are fixed.
my 3 year old german sheperd came in and managed get my husbands food off the side i herd growling went in and she had bittin my labrador puppy im worried because it was bad she’s never dun that with her before i dont know what do as im worried next time it will be alot worse x
Keep all dogs away from the kitchen during meal times. Some dogs are food possessive or aggressive. Don’t give them access to the food (maybe by having them in a locked room during your own mealtimes) and your problem is solved. Good luck!
I have two 10 year old jack Russell bitches. Q
We also now have a 4month old jack Russell bitch. Historically the older two have had fights, we have had them splayed and things did calm down for a while although they would still fight. Since the arrival of the pup the fights are happening weekly. I don’t know what to do? I have spoken to the vet for advice all he could suggest was a therapist. I am worried as when they fight it is very aggressive and if the pup is out of her crate I worry that the will turn on her. The dogs have always been part of the family and have never been aggressive towards us. Help as I don’t want to have to lose either dog. We have been told that by intervening we are stopping the dogs sorting out who is the dominant one. However, I cannot just them them fight it out. When fighting they do not respond to any commands when normally they are well behaved.
Hi, we have two female jack russells from the same litter. They are 9 months old and have been getting along fine..up until recently when they had started fighting. my husband and i broke up the fights the first times and told them NO, however we had heard that letting them fight it out so they can determine who is the alpha is better. So the next time they fought we let them, they had 3/4 major fights and had quite bad scrapes and cuts on their face and ears and i think its too much and am worried they could get more serious injuries. I have bought 2 muzzles for them for piece of mind and so we can try and get them used to each others company again. We are keeping them separated at bed time etc and when we are out so nothing serious can occur. They are both due to be spayed in 3 weeks time. We love them both and dont want to have them separated. Is there anything else we can do?
Spaying them is a great idea and the muzzling (until you can solve the issue) is also a great idea.
Many people on our forum have suggested that 2 female dogs are harder than male male or male female.
I’d post this on our forum if i were you so that people with experience in this matter can offer you their personal advice.
Good luck!
Once two females have started fighting each other, and especially if the fights have escalated each time, it’s very difficult to convince them to stop. Keeping them separated is the best thing you can do, and always, ALWAYS supervise them.
I have two six month old lab/samoyed mix sibling pups. Male and female, both were fixed at 5 months of age. They are always together, but the fighting has become more aggressive and I know they are probably establishing their order in the family. Most of the time they get along great, wag tails, and sleep together (she sleeps in the kennel, he sleeps on a bed outside the kennel, I believe he gets warmer as he has more Sammy fur than she does). The aggressive behavior started with giving them bones (I have given them soup bones, ham bones, etc. since they were pretty little) as they hit about 4 1/2 months. Before that, they were both able to chew on their bones and even trade them, without any squabbles. Now they fight and quarrel frequently, even without bones. No bloody wounds or aggressive behavior to us or the cat, but just wondered what else we should do. We try to tell them no and separate them with a stick (put it between them so we don’t get nipped). Any further suggestions? They’ve been fixed for a month, so there’s a chance it could decrease over time, right?
I keep saying this in many responses, and try to help with simple answers but this is the wrong spot for this question.
There are a whole community of members on our forum and some of them with experience with your breeds – Please post this question there for free of course.
Good luck!
We have a 10 yr old female spayed Cairn Molli and a rescue 2 yr old spayed female Cairn/ Wirehaired Dachsund mix Niki. We got Niki because we had another older spayed female Cairn put to sleep, Molli’s best friend. Molli grieved terribly so our Vet said to get another companion.When we got them together they played and played and had the best time. We did not know at the time that Niki was not spayed. Out of the clear blue one day during a thunderstorm Molli the 10 yr old just started fighting with the younger dog. They fought several times during that one week and a half. They were separated as we tried to figure out what was going on . We then realized that Niki was not spayed. So we got her to the Vet and spayed. They still were separated. We hired a very expensive Doggie behaviorist Vet. Her approach was quite involved and wasn’t working . Our Vet had no clue. We ended up at several other Vet and behaviorists and no help. Spent a Lot of money and the dogs are still separated for over “1″ year! Yet ,they have been walking together twice everyday ( mornings with several doggie friends and their owners) for over 6 months and NEVER have a problem of aggression at all! WE REALLY need to get them back together,but we are not sure what approach to take. We have choke collars which we were told to use and muzzles if we need them. We are just apprehensive in doing this. But, it really needs to be done. The older dog has no idea why she can’t be out an about with everyone. I am afraid they have been apart so long the animosity will escalate quickly? I am now just looking for an answer to what we do when we do put them back together and they possibly fight again? Do we separate them again or just let them cool down and put them together again? I know I can never trust the older Cairn, She fought with our deceased Cairn when we had them together, but only about 2-3 times a year. I keep thinking the first time Molli fought with Niki was because Niki was in heat and Molli was never around another dog in heat! Now that the younger dog is no longer able to be in heat maybe they will like each other again?
Hey, so I have a border collie cross kelpie and he is amazing, very intelligent , very observent but sadly every time he comes in contact with a male dog he sees red and goes nuts he gets very agressive with them and almost always ends up fighting them. I live him dearly and don’t wan’t the behaviour to continue. He is not neutered and I was wondering if neutering him would make a difference or is this a character problem? Please help me
Neutering may well help. Obedience training will definitely help.
I have a 5yo male neo mastiff x which is fixed, just got an 11month pure bred neo unspade. The 5 yo has been the only dog in the house hold for 4 years and is normally good with other dogs and younger dogs, they were fine in the introduction and it was tense when feeding but were feed apart and supervised, they were fine together when left alone exploring the yard, took them both for a walk on the lead no worries, but later on when they were recovered from the walk and wanted a little play in the yard a fight broke out after a rope was being played with and a tug of war between them both, I knew it was a bad idea but happened to quick, the male 5yo won the tug of war and the female walked away but the male then went for her and it was on. A hose was used to break it up a little blood on them both but we are unsure of what to do now please help with some suggestions.
This has the potential to be serious but is quite fixable imo.
That said – The people in our will have much more to say on this matter than i can, so I encourage you to post this question there for free. http://www.pets.ca/forum/
Good luck!
We have three dogs. Two are rescues. One is a Schnauzer. She stays away from the two bigger dogs because she is 9 years old. The two bigger, a dobie and a mixed breed, (both are 6 yrs old, and female) are close to the same size. Their stories are different. The mixed breed was mistreated physically, the dobie was starved and left out in sub-zero temps 24/7. We’ve only had her for a few months. The two big dogs played constantly, then out of nowhere, the Dobie attacked the mixed breed. The fight was pretty bad, blood was drawn on the Dobie. This has happened twice. The Dobie never was aggressive, she is a sweet, loving dog, she even lets the other two eat out of her bowl, or we can pick her food up and move it without an issue or even a growl. We separated them, but it is a bit scary. The last time they fought, my husband was petting the mixed breed when the Dobie attacked. The Dobie always seems to take the brunt and is the one that gets hurt. What do you suggest?
please help, i have a cross jack russel/poodle. we moved to a house that had a shared garden with next door,they have a jack russel,they are around same age 2, they got on really well playing garden going into each others homes,my dog had puppies by him,they all went,still after the 2 dogs got on well but out the blue they started fighting over toys,bones if the other dog gets attention by his owner,my dog seems to start the fights and there is no warning,i am now worried about letting her in the garden when other dog is out which is quite a lot,my dog is very disobediant barking at every thing even if people walk past house,she takes no notice of commands, she is trainable as we have made her sit and stay ect, but if she does not want to listen she wont,commands go out the window,hence trying to split up fighting does not work. as i have a heart problem this fighting is driving me insane and giving me alot of stress. please help with any advice.
I have 3 intact dogs, a 22 month old male boxer who was the initial dog in our yard from a puppy, we then introduced a 20 month old male boxer x cattle dog x shag approximately 6 months ago and a 18 month old boxer x (unsure maybe bull Arab or pitbull) about 4 months ago! The last two are trained hunting dogs. The boxer asserted dominance immediately but there were a few fights between the males initially and now just play fighting! However our female has started to stand up and fight the male boxer, it took a while to establish this as when I appear they break it up, but the instances of fights are increasing and both are starting to get minor injuries, more so the boxer! I don’t know what to do as they break the fight up when I appear but I worry about leaving them alone to go to work for instance and when we lock them up they bark and howl consistently being a bother to neighbors! What can I do and what could be causing the new fights?
First thing that comes to mind is spaying and neutering these pets. That often calms things down.
Next they’d be at group obedience training with a trainer that came recommended from someone I trust.
3 dogs is a lot to handle – you’ll definitely want some personalized instruction. It will likely be the best investment you’ll make for the doogers.
Good luck!
Sorry the 18 month old is female!
Also the female has an implant to prevent her going on heat!
I’m curious about the implant – Do you know the name of it or have a link?
Thanks in advance!