Dogs fighting

Tranceypoo

We've had our 2nd dog for about 4 months now, originally a foster but we decided to keep her, she gets on great with our resident dog, they eat together, sleep on the same bed at night, play fight, chase each other round the garden etc, but just this evening, they were lying on their respective ends of the sofa (we have one of those corner ones) and she (new dog) got up and went over to lie on the floor which she does a lot I think she gets a bit hot and we have a wood floor, she passed by our dog and gave him a little sniff, nose to nose, he wasn't asleep or anything, but he just bared his teeth at her and went for her, serious not playing (big difference as we know), I was sitting next to him, they started fighting, teeth, snarling the whole nine yards, me & hubbie pulled them apart and kept them separated. I'm just in shock and so upset I really don't know how to handle this, should we keep them separated from now on, I'm worried about leaving them to sleep together tonight, worried that this is going to be an ongoing thing I'll have to watch them all the time.

To reiterate, he wasn't asleep so it's not like she woke him up and he got a shock, there's nothing physically wrong with him, he's a bit older, about 6 or 7 and she's young only about 1.5/2 years old.

Any thoughts or advice appreciated

Tranceypoo

Anyone?

Whispered

Oh please stop panicking. You poor thing, you must have had a shock.

I wouldn't read too much into it, and try fight the urge to police their interactions. It can be so easy to watch everything like a hawk and it can only create stress making it more likely to happen again. How are they together today?

I wouldn't keep them separate at all, this was one incident out of months of lovely times together. It's important, in my opinion, that you make things go back to normal as soon as possible. Of course you'll need to supervise and maybe have them sleep at night in separate rooms until you're happy they're ok together again.

Also be sure that there is nothing wrong with your older boy, or your younger girl is not coming into heat or anything like that. Sometimes things can be going on that we just don't have a clue about. Or he could have just been having an off day.


So today, if I were you, I'd act as if nothing has happened. Bring them for a walk together, let them play together, be happy with them. As it stands, it's not a big deal. If it happens again, then maybe think about getting someone in to see their interactions, but for now, just be vigilant and as normal as possible.

Wildebrian

If the problem persists,speak with you Vet.It may help to have the Dog castrated as it may reduce his aggression.

barbiegirl

Our two fight about once a day teeth bared snarling etc. Yesterday it was about a piece of cardboard. We pull them apart tell them that's enough and two seconds later their rolling on the ground playing. We liken it to a brother and sister relationship, they have the occasional row but overall get along fine.
Don't worry too much get the dogs checked in case it is physical. Otherwise relax, observe and hopefully it'll be fine.
Who knows maybe that nose sniff said "god but your smelly"

ppink

Did they hurt each other?

We have had the odd scuffle between our sheps. generlaly they get on very well together but the odd time they will be snarling teeth bared ferocious looking and then off chasing each other.......was it like that?

Or we have one little dog who just does not get our female shep and I could nto leave them alone together. there is little interaction between them and then you get the signs......little looks etc and if you do not intervene there would be a huge fight that would not happily!

not sure which one of those scenarios you have.

Scenario 1 frightened the hell out of me the first few times but there was no injuries.....it is all noise and who has the biggest mouth.

Scenario 2 would end in serious injury or worse and was incredibly scarey when it happened and it was a job to separate them and a lot of blood.

Tranceypoo

Hi guys, thanks for the replies

The female was spayed about 6 months ago, just before we got her, male was neutered before we got him 4 years ago.

Last night we left him in the front room and put her in the kitchen as normal with the cat.

This morning he was a bit off in general initially, wouldn't come over when I called him when she was there type thing, but I walked them together as usual and then went visiting and put them in the car together as normal, they seemed back to normal, she was licking his ear and they were nuzzling plus then they were play fighting at my relatives house.

Last night was definitely not play fighting. However I thought the best case of action was, as you guys advised, to carry on as normal and stick to our routine, tonight we will let them sleep together in the kitchen again.

On reflection I'm thinking she woke him up plus he has gotten quite grumpy as he gets older and I have a bit of a suspicion that he is actually a bit older than we were led to believe but I will ask the vet about this. He is due his shots next week so I will get the vet to give him the once over, he has a bad leg and a dodgy heart anyways so he's not the healthiest dog in the world!!

Oh, noone was hurt in the fight, it lasted about 5-10 seconds at the most.

Thanks again!!

barone

its noting really to be worried about, unless they are causing real injury to each other its noting to worry about

Justask

Dogs fighting sounds and looks a lot worse then it is most of the time.

Anytime mine have a fight I walk away...the more you panic the more they will react in my experiance. Its kinda normal for them to have the odd barney, like brother and sister fighting lol

unless it all the time I would walk away. Always worked for me.

DePurpereWolf

I tend to disagree with most people here. I don't think you should allow agression in your house. Agression, as in: not playing.

As the 'boss', you have to show that you don't allow agression in the house and take them apart immediately when they do show agression.

Mostly it won't be a serious fight, but you don't want to get in the middle of it, or god forbid have a kid get in the middle of it.

So I would definetely take them apart and show them that it's bad.

Discodog

DePurpereWolf wrote: »

I tend to disagree with most people here. I don't think you should allow agression in your house. Agression, as in: not playing.

As the 'boss', you have to show that you don't allow agression in the house and take them apart immediately when they do show agression.

Mostly it won't be a serious fight, but you don't want to get in the middle of it, or god forbid have a kid get in the middle of it.

So I would definetely take them apart and show them that it's bad.

I tend to agree. I have two females that were un-neutered for a while so potential for grief. One day it did kick off & I pulled them apart. I roared my disapproval & put the one that started it into another room. When I let her back in she was at great pains to apologise.

There were establishing their own little pecking order. Now I am not comparing dogs to Wolves but one of the most important members of a Wolf pack is the "peacemaker" who has the job of breaking up any trouble before injuries are caused. "Peacemakers" literally leap in & rarely get hurt.

They are your dogs, living in your house & that has to be by your rules not theirs.

**Vai**

Tranceypoo wrote: »

We've had our 2nd dog for about 4 months now, originally a foster but we decided to keep her, she gets on great with our resident dog, they eat together, sleep on the same bed at night, play fight, chase each other round the garden etc, but just this evening, they were lying on their respective ends of the sofa (we have one of those corner ones) and she (new dog) got up and went over to lie on the floor which she does a lot I think she gets a bit hot and we have a wood floor, she passed by our dog and gave him a little sniff, nose to nose, he wasn't asleep or anything, but he just bared his teeth at her and went for her, serious not playing (big difference as we know), I was sitting next to him, they started fighting, teeth, snarling the whole nine yards, me & hubbie pulled them apart and kept them separated. I'm just in shock and so upset I really don't know how to handle this, should we keep them separated from now on, I'm worried about leaving them to sleep together tonight, worried that this is going to be an ongoing thing I'll have to watch them all the time.

To reiterate, he wasn't asleep so it's not like she woke him up and he got a shock, there's nothing physically wrong with him, he's a bit older, about 6 or 7 and she's young only about 1.5/2 years old.

Any thoughts or advice appreciated

The worst thing u can do in that situation is panic, shout or get worried. I know its tough not to but it only adds to the tension. I wouldnt separate them afterward, just make sure the aggressor knows its wrong and go about your business. I usually put my dogs on their side and wait for them to calm but I know not everyone wants to do that. Saying that, mine dont fight so I reckon it worked You're right though, it sounds like a case of letting sleeping dogs lie, I wouldnt be too worried.

DePurpereWolf wrote: »

I tend to disagree with most people here. I don't think you should allow agression in your house. Agression, as in: not playing.

As the 'boss', you have to show that you don't allow agression in the house and take them apart immediately when they do show agression.

Mostly it won't be a serious fight, but you don't want to get in the middle of it, or god forbid have a kid get in the middle of it.

So I would definetely take them apart and show them that it's bad.

Agree with u totally except for the taking them apart bit. Thats giving in to aggression. Its like walking away from 2 of your friends fighting instead of telling them to cop on

Discodog wrote: »

I tend to agree. I have two females that were un-neutered for a while so potential for grief. One day it did kick off & I pulled them apart. I roared my disapproval & put the one that started it into another room..

Again, I wouldnt roar at them (or separate them), I know its tough (and Ive made that same mistake plenty of times) but its better done silently or at least with calm sounds.

Discodog wrote: »

There were establishing their own little pecking order. Now I am not comparing dogs to Wolves but one of the most important members of a Wolf pack is the "peacemaker" who has the job of breaking up any trouble before injuries are caused. "Peacemakers" literally leap in & rarely get hurt.

Why not compare them to wolves? They are domesticated wolves. Same rules apply in alot of situations. Not all of course but alot. My GSD seems to have taken on the peacemaker role so Im delighted with that!

Whispered

I tend to disagree with most people here. I don't think you should allow agression in your house.

All of the advice was to not panic, stop the fight, and move on. I don't think anybody meant that she should ignore the issue and allow them fight.

Totally agree with Vai, shouting and seperating is giving into the agression. Now if my two started I think my first instinct would be to let a roar, but in a perfect world I'd have the calmness to just wade in. Being calm, stopping it, moving on with things. If there is a fight and you separate them (as in take them to different rooms) you could cause another fight because being together is now an issue.

My mams dog attacks both Harley and Phoe whenever we take our eyes off him. Her solution - aggressively scream his name, throw him into another room, then when he's back out keep telling him he's bold. He's getting worse and worse to the point I don't like bringing them down anymore, because her dog is only going to end up in trouble.

kylith

Any dogs that spend a lot of time together are bound to have a bit of a scap occasionally. As long as it doesn't turn into a feud there's nothing to worry about.

Tranceypoo

The number one thing I want to do is NOT make it any worse.

We have been carrying on as normal, last night we put them both in the kitchen together, I put another dog bed in there as they usually share an extra big one I bought specially, put the extra bed near the resident one but far enough away so they have their own 'space' as it were, they have been completely normal with each other since apart from a very small growl from the male earlier when we were standing at the kitchen door getting ready to go out, I just said 'hey' and pointed at him (I was standing right next to him) and that was it. They have just come in from running around the garden together.

I guess it's just something I will have to bear in mind now and keep an eye without being stressed about it, forewarned is forearmed. I like the comparison of 'brother and sister' from other posters, it makes sense.

Thanks again for all the helpful comments and support.

Discodog

My ladies had two tiffs in quick succession. The second needing veterinary attention. I was really worried as I have to leave them together during the day. But I took a chance. That was 3 years ago & I have not had another problem.

Just to clarify a couple of points. The only reason that I shouted was to make them stop before serious damage was caused. Secondly I wanted to make it absolutely clear that I was not prepared to accept the behaviour & that, if they regarded me as a leader, then I was very displeased.

Dogs are pre-programmed to try & please us. In my case I suspect that there was an element of jealousy & after separating them, both dogs wanted attention from me to justify their actions. They seemed confused when I didn't endorse their behaviour. Now they sleep on the same bed, eat side by side & have no problems.

Discodog

Tranceypoo wrote: »

The number one thing I want to do is NOT make it any worse.

Well this is how Shaun does it with Wolves. I have had the honour of witnessing this in person & it remains one of the scariest & remarkable things that I have ever seen. Don't try this at home:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qjbwui-esQ&feature=related