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