ok so i have 3 dogs, toy poodle(3 yrs), wire hair doxie(3 yrs), and a yorkie(2yrs). for the last 3 months the doxie and yorkie have been getting in terrible fights, like ferocious trying to rip each other apart fights. ive had them all since they were puppies and this just started recently and its been getting worse, almost on a daily basis now. not only am i concerned for their safety (my yorkie weighs 3.5lbs) but im also expecting this july and im scared if this continues i wont be able to let them around the baby. not for fear that they will bite the baby but for fear that theyll start fighting around her and shell be an innocent by stander, which ive already been caught in the cross fire. the poodle is an angel, no problems there, i just dont know whats gotton into the other two??? do you think they sense somethings differnt since im pregnant? i cant think of anything else thats changed in their enviroment. they can be across the room from each other and all the sudden they start mean mugging each other and next thing you know they are at each others throats, its never about food or toys...... im lost and i dont know what to do. please help.

[lil mutt]

let them have their own space in the house... allow them socialize when its time to play...

are these dogs all neutered? are the two that are fighting females?

how many walks a day do they each get? do you do any activities with each of them?

I have no idea what "mean mugging" is but if you are seeing some preface to the fighting, that is the time to stop it.

small dogs are not a good choice around small children & just from the noise standpoint of these dogs fighting - when your baby is sleeping - sounds like a train wreck looking for a place to happen. what will you do when you are feeding the baby & a fight starts?

sounds like these dogs are very bored

they are all females and spade. we live in chicago and weather has been so bad lately i cant let them out(the one time i did for 1 minute they were holding thier paws up cause they were so cold and wouldnt walk) right now they are usig wee wee pads till weather get better. mean mugging means give each other hard looks, when we catch this we grab them just in time but they still are snarling at each other and it takes alot of yelling to get them to stop. they have alot of toys that we play with them with and since theyre all lap dogs they constantly get attention. small dogs arent a good choice for kids but i got them all before i got pregnant, and what should i do give them away just cause i got knocked up? id rather give away my kid before id give away my dogs, so that is neither here nor there with the question. i just want it to stop so i dont have to fear putting the baby on the bed when they are around. they may be bored and i would think it normal if it were just rough housing but it has gone beyond that and these are very vicious fights. maybe they are stir crazy from being inside cause of the bad weather?

just needed to know if anyone had any real suggestions out there?

Originally Posted by suebgone

are these dogs all neutered? are the two that are fighting females?

how many walks a day do they each get? do you do any activities with each of them?

I have no idea what "mean mugging" is but if you are seeing some preface to the fighting, that is the time to stop it.

small dogs are not a good choice around small children & just from the noise standpoint of these dogs fighting - when your baby is sleeping - sounds like a train wreck looking for a place to happen. what will you do when you are feeding the baby & a fight starts?

sounds like these dogs are very board

well of course you never leave any child unsupervised around any dog.

having 3 females is probably a large part of the problem as they are known to fight much more than males.

you are going to have to crate & rotate & never let those 2 loose together.

I would get an evaluation by a behavorist asap

can you buy them boots & hire a dog walker?