Aggression Between Dogs In The Same Household

[tdierikx]

I seriously though about euthing my two after their last fight... but opted to establish a routine that means they are never loose with each other instead... been working for a few years now and all are happy with the arrangements... *grin*

T.

[halfthewords]

Carl and Jag have had some very, very minor scraps while playing - Jag has a tendency to get over-aroused easily and gets a little too insistent; Carl generally airsnaps and it's over. :laugh: Otherwise they get on fantastically.

Mischa (older) and Cleo (younger) are both desexed bitches, and cousins. They tend to have scraps that are just a lot of noise, no blood or wounds yet (11 and 9 years). But it always starts over something dumb, like one walking past while the other is on the couch. Cleo (underdog) tends to start it, too, and Mischa (alpha) generally ignores her but she is in her grumpy old lady stage :laugh:

Our old Bichon bitch, Jessie (RIP) nailed Mischa as a pup. I discovered it a few days later as a big flap of skin that was healing over on the back of her neck!

[HazyWal]

The only time my two really look like they are going to have a serious blew is when running together in the yard. Maddie snaps and nips at Stan when they are running around and only once took a nick out of his ear which bled like a biatch, she even goes as far as blocking him from coming inside when he's had enough of her crap and she wants him to keep "playing". It's the only time I've ever seen Stan's hackles up when she is pushing him. Maddie is my first female and as much as I love her to bits I'd say she'll be my last. Every greyhound foster I had was a girl and every single one gave him grief, luckily he is not reactive unless it involves food then all bets are off, they are fed separately so there's never been an issue there.

[dotdashdot]

I'm lucky and glad that so far nothing has happened, in a household with 3 bitches - 2 of whom are desexed (and the non desexed is only 6 months old). I think it helps that 2 are Dalmatians, who are much more interested in wrestling and playing bitey face. That said, I won't give pig ears or bones when all 3 are together - I either crate them or separate them so there is no chance of resource guarding.

I'm aware of the fact that females are more likely to fight though, and thought about this before deciding to get my last puppy.

When we finally get our own house, I want to have runs in the backyard in the event of needing separation. As it is now, I could separate them, but it have to revolve lots of rotation to make it fair re. which parts of the yard they could access.

[biker girl]

we have had 2 seperate occasions which resulted in the same dog "visiting" the vet................

the first time was just after we lost our 8yr old Gsd male, we were both at work when we received a frantic phone call from our neighbour who had heard screaming from the backyard Dell went to investigate & found Scout, our pointer/kelpie had been beaten up by our two other Gsd girls (mother/daughter) Scout was rushed to the vet's & stitched up.......luckliy it was mostly superficial wounds.

We don't know what triggered the fight, though Scout does not back down when things happen & unfortunatley for her, she only weights 18kgs compared to the combined weight of two Gsds

The dogs were seperated after that, with Scout staying inside while we were both at work & at night............

The other time, & much more serious, was when, just after feeding the 3 of them, we both turned our backs for a moment of two to wash up after feeding the dogs chick carcesses, when we heard an odd noise from the backyard..............Scout had been choking on what was left of a carcess & both Tasha & Seven had gone in for the kill

Seven had Scout around the head & Tasha had hit her on the breastbone, Mike picked up Scout & felt her over & noticed she was bleeding from that area and also could feel some bone damage................we rushed her to the vet, where intially they though the wound was minor.........x-rays later & Scout had an open wound about the size of an adult fist which went through to the lung!!! As well as the broken breastbone. The vet didn't even know if Scout would make it through the operation, she did though again they couldn't say whether she would even make it through the night..............again she did..................

Long story short, Scout made a full recovery, much to the amazement of the vet...........though $4000 later

That little dog has cost us more in vet bills than the 3 Gsds combined

Edited April 24, 2014 by biker girl

[Nekhbet]

I have 5 bitches, 2 entire, and an entire male. I must admit I practice separation of any new dog that comes in and it can't go free with the group until I have total attention and bonding. I have more 6 dogs that are separate then a pack that works things out amongst themselves. Resources are all mine, anyone tries to get snippy over anything and woe betide the offender...

I did have my rottie and bordeaux grab each other at one point but rottweiler had severe HD/ED and bordeaux wanted to lie on the bed. He hurt the rottie and it was on. Mind you they grabbed each other by the neck and just lay there. When we pulled them apart by the back legs (oh THEN the rottie had no leg problems...) the bordeaux's tooth got him on the leg and we had a gusher. No stitches required. We kept them separate after that with a baby gate and they would sniff each other with no problems, totally ignore each other etc. Once somehow rottie opened the back door and spent all day out with the bordeaux I came home they were best buddies frolicking together. The pain was the major cause of his snarking as he was very severe and hated other dogs being near him on bedding when he was laying as he found it hard to move himself in that position. Apart from that issue, no one's got a problem. When the pug throws a mental fit at one of the Malinois they just walk off .... you can almost hear the bitches sniggering at the poor old thing :laugh:

[raineth]

I have been very lucky, and had no aggression incidents.

Neither are resource guarders, and they are both very tolerant in their own way. Del doesn't complain if Digby sits on her, and Digby doesn't complain when Del is being a bit pushy.

[tdierikx]

I found that when I had a male in the mix, the girls have all been somewhat calmer... then again all the males I've had have been very mellow temperament-wise...

T.

[skip]

I'm not surprised girls are more trouble than boys.

I am so happy mine get on specially as the young dog is so much higher energy than the two small oldies.

Tdierikx... good on you for changing your set up for peace. Some would find it too hard.

[HazyWal]

3 policemen, 2.5 cans of capsicum spray, boots, and batons - were no use when attempting to get my 2 bitches to stop their last fight... so I've decided that permanent separation is my best course of action to make sure it NEVER happens again.

On the upside, my vets declared that last fight to be a "draw" - they charged the same amount for each dog to be patched up afterwards... *sigh*

T.

I'm gunna go out on a limb here and will no doubt get flamed for it but I couldn't live like that Owning dogs for me is supposed to be enjoyable not a constant battle to keep my pets apart for fear of them killing each other. When I was working at the kennels we had two cockers that came in that hated each others guts...with a passion, to the point that when they came in one was on the floor of the car in the front with the lady and the other was tied into the back seat with large pieces of cardboard blocking their vision from each other. The husband told me he wanted to return the second cocker, which was from the RSPCA, but his wife wouldn't let him. It caused constant grief not only for the dogs but had put a major strain on this old couple as they constantly argued about it. I could see the strain on their faces when they came back to pick them up after the weekend and the husband actually said when they got into their cardboard fort..."here we go again"

How is that an enjoyable life for all involved?

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

It's been very rare here and although not obvious at the time, has normally been due to an illness occurring or over food.

Never any injuries incurred except one tiny bit of blood once on a foster dog. This was caused by my own dog who had a brain tumour (not known by me at the time) beginning and he became aggressive with me and my dogs at different times. The foster dog was moved.

I normally move foster dogs or separate if there are any signs of discord.

I have also euthanased 2 foster dogs for aggression which I didn't allow to escalate, I believe both had brain damage (and so did the vets).

[Akayla]

I have had two bitches that one day decided it was on. I blame myself. A) For not understanding how anxious the other Bitch was that she would start to see any dog as an issue and B) for telling my other bitch to stop assuming she was the aggressor. Gave the other girl a chance to grab her by the throat. She kept squeezing and choking her out while I dragged her backwards (while she held the other bitch) to the run and slammed the door on her muzzle.

It was quite scary as I always thought there would be more obvious tension build up but right up until that point she followed the big girl around lovingly and always in a submissive manner. It was like a switch had been flicked. She could never be within eye sight, hearing or smell of the other girl again. She would attack the door if she thought the Bitch was on the other side. When she mistakenly launched herself at me we decided she needed to either be re homed carefully or pts'd. Lucky the perfect one dog home came up through a lovely DOLer.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Akayla

[dougal]

My two, both bitches have had the odd spat, with one trip,to,the vet. Always brought on by the younger one, generally resource guarding. I had them both desexed recently thinking it may be hormonal but it has only made the younger one more of a bitch. I continue to reinforce the older (only by 9 months) as number one which goes some way to keeping the younger one in place.

[Guest Clover]

We haven't had anything serious, mainly noise and never any injuries that have required vet treatment.

If they ever tried to pull a stunt like an all in brawl (serious one) it would be the last thing they did. I won't put up with anything like that.

[tdierikx]

3 policemen, 2.5 cans of capsicum spray, boots, and batons - were no use when attempting to get my 2 bitches to stop their last fight... so I've decided that permanent separation is my best course of action to make sure it NEVER happens again.

On the upside, my vets declared that last fight to be a "draw" - they charged the same amount for each dog to be patched up afterwards... *sigh*

T.

I'm gunna go out on a limb here and will no doubt get flamed for it but I couldn't live like that Owning dogs for me is supposed to be enjoyable not a constant battle to keep my pets apart for fear of them killing each other. When I was working at the kennels we had two cockers that came in that hated each others guts...with a passion, to the point that when they came in one was on the floor of the car in the front with the lady and the other was tied into the back seat with large pieces of cardboard blocking their vision from each other. The husband told me he wanted to return the second cocker, which was from the RSPCA, but his wife wouldn't let him. It caused constant grief not only for the dogs but had put a major strain on this old couple as they constantly argued about it. I could see the strain on their faces when they came back to pick them up after the weekend and the husband actually said when they got into their cardboard fort..."here we go again"

How is that an enjoyable life for all involved?

It's actually working just fine for us here.

I had 3 options at the time...

1. Euthanaise one or both dogs

2. Rehome one or both dogs

3. Work out a routine where they never had the chance to fight again

My choice was number 3 for the following reasons...

1. I couldn't bring myself to euth either of the dogs I had committed to loving unconditionally until the day they go to the Bridge (as naturally as possible)

2. I couldn't rehome either in good conscience, as I know exactly what they are capable of when pushed. Why should someone else have to worry about that happening?

3. I have the means to keep them separated but still have one-on-one time with me, and company of other dogs they DO get along with.

That said, these 2 dogs were perfectly fine with each other 99% of the time. We only had 4 fights over the course of 2 years... but as the nature of those rare fights was so intense, I decided that I really never wanted to have to go through it again. Separation means that all of us are safe, happy, and healthy.

Besides, once the routine was established, it's been pretty easy for us. I am the only human here, so I don't have to worry about others not following the routine.

T.

[Little Gifts]

It kind of makes me feel better to know that other people have experienced serious fights, sometimes over something very small, but are still managing to keep their dogs safe. Because I know it was my heart girl who started our fight I've always felt if she ever did it again I would have to pts. I couldn't let another innocent dog suffer simply because my heart would break if I had to euth her. But the experiences on here help me realise that there are other options if I am prepared to commit to them. Of course I wont reduce my vigilance or the strategies we are using now that are working, but I can see my thinking doesn't need to be as black and white.

[Dame Aussie]

I think it would be naive to think that it could never happen, even if the dogs are generally great friends.

[Henrietta]

I have had some minor scraps between Grace and Abby and it has only ever been over two different resources - food or me.

I feed separately now, but I have had a few incidents with dropped food on the floor and the one occasion I had thought I'd shut the door and I hadn't.

It's pretty predictable. Grace (13 yr old) will opportunistically try and claim the food, Abby (7 yr old) will see red and become a raging ball of fury, Grace will get her back up and sound furious. By this time, I have intervened and I've never seen it escalate into more than a scrap, but given the size difference I do my darndest to prevent them or break them up.

I have had Abby resource guard me on a couple of occasions as well.

I know this sounds stupid, but what I have noticed is that my girls tend to only really scrap if they are already tired. I don't know if this is a coincidence and as I said, I try to prevent mishaps but it is something I've noticed over a few years of living with them.

[Esky the husky]

Hate to admit it but we've had a number of incidents :/

Pup has come of worst both times.

A rip in the ear, and a small hole in the neck. Neither vet worthy but still scary.

Feeding is separate as incidents seem to occur with found food... So no feeding in the yard. No leftovers.. no fights.

Also we sometimes have issues travelling, if I turn a corner or something and Esky moves into Fritz's 'space' it's noise and grumbling :/ Hopefully getting a dog trailer or bike rack soon.. So they can both have more space

[*kirty*]

I've always had multiple dogs and never had an issue (with my own dogs) until a few years ago. I wasn't home when it happened so I'm not sure what started it, but my 2yo Great Dane ripped into my 2yo Greyhound. My husband struggled to separate them on his own, and the Greyhound suffered some very nasty wounds. I suspect the Grey may have triggered it because she can be nippy if another dog steps on her or something, but the Dane wanted to kill her from that moment on. We kept them completely apart for several months but when the Grey accidentally slipped out once, the Dane tried to kill her again. Our Dane had terrible HD and severe behavioural problems, and with two young kids in the house we opted to have her PTS. They Grey has never had an issue with other dogs since. I believe the attack was due to a combination of factors - two dogs very close in age, both female, and both similar size. Add to that one dog with an unsteady temperament. The Dane had NEVER showed signs of aggression towards the Grey before that first fight, in fact they were very close and always slep together.