Help!! My dogs are fighting

Beccy2sweet · 10-21-2011

Ok so here's the story, about a year ago I adopted my dog rocky he was 3 months old he is a staffy cross cattle dog, we have trained him very well and socialized him with other dogs his whole life, he is a good natured dog that loves everyone and other animals. He is still quiet younge and FULL of energy. About 3-4 months ago I adopted Cheif, he is 6 yrs old and a bullmastiff cross, he is also a very gental dog and good natured around everyone and other dogs he has become very attached to me and follows me around all the time. Both of my dogs are male and have been neutered. They got along very well from the start and loved each other but about 3 weeks ago they have started to fight each other and it's getting worse.... Most days I come home from work and have to check which dog has been injured.. Some days there is alot of blood and others they won't have a scratch on them. I'm worried I will come home to find one dead. They still seem to get along fine ( playing and sleeping with each other, happy) but they are still fighting while I'm at work and on the odd occasion they will do it in front of me and won't stop on command... Please help me I don't know what to do and are very upset that my dogs are hurting each other

dogs rule · 10-21-2011

First thing that comes to mind is, can you rule out any health issues with either dog? If one of them is in pain or not quite feeling right, this may trigger the fight.
Also, which dog seems to be the one to start? Watch for body language, not the actual fighting.
Is there anything different in their or your routine? Are you leaving for work at a different time of day? etc. Anything, even the smallest detail which may not seem important to you, would be a big deal in the dogs eyes.

I'm sure you will get more replies, and hopefully something will work for you.
All the best

piratekitty · 10-21-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beccy2sweet

Ok so here's the story, about a year ago I adopted my dog rocky he was 3 months old he is a staffy cross cattle dog, we have trained him very well and socialized him with other dogs his whole life, he is a good natured dog that loves everyone and other animals. He is still quiet younge and FULL of energy. About 3-4 months ago I adopted Cheif, he is 6 yrs old and a bullmastiff cross, he is also a very gental dog and good natured around everyone and other dogs he has become very attached to me and follows me around all the time. Both of my dogs are male and have been neutered. They got along very well from the start and loved each other but about 3 weeks ago they have started to fight each other and it's getting worse.... Most days I come home from work and have to check which dog has been injured.. Some days there is alot of blood and others they won't have a scratch on them. I'm worried I will come home to find one dead. They still seem to get along fine ( playing and sleeping with each other, happy) but they are still fighting while I'm at work and on the odd occasion they will do it in front of me and won't stop on command... Please help me I don't know what to do and are very upset that my dogs are hurting each other

First off I dont think I would leave them alone if their fights end up with drawing blood, its not if one of them might really get hurt or death to one, its when its going to happen. If you can seperate them when you cant be with them that would be my first priority till you find out what is trigering the fights and resolve it.
I have two small Terrier breeds and I have had to spilt them apart from a fight, no dog gets hurt but still pretty intense. What trigers their fights is chew toys, toys that have their fav treat in them. So I never leave any, and I mean any food, and toys down or in their sight or smell when Im not there to supervise them at all times. The funny thing is I can feed them side by side with no problems. They are both very dominate dogs. When I see them becoming overly dominate, like Hunter ( min Pin ) wont Nina ( mixed Terrier) up on the couch, I stop him and make him get down. When he shows good behavior, then I let him back up with her.
And then Nina can get mad and growl at Hunter because he licks her face, or their play will some times get wild and one dog is done and the other is still wanting to play, these sort of things they sort out and respect each others warnings and stop.
I have seen some dogs change as they become a yr old, and can create conflicts that were not their before. Main thing is watch them closely to see what and who is trigering these fights, it could be something very simple. Good luck and I hope nobody gets hurt.

lange · 10-24-2011

I agree with Kitty. They need to be separated when you're not around. If you're not around you can not correct behaviors or redirect. You don't even yet know what the triggers are. Fights aren't good but you can at least learn what from them. So as weird as it sounds, you'd only want a fight to happen in your presence so you can see what the problem is and solve it. Really, it's just like potty training or other unwanted behaviors. You want to be involved & present with it in order to teach them. You'll definitely need to watch the body language. See who or what is triggering and then stop and redirect before either one escalates. Once a fight is on, the training window is over.

Dogs rule, brings up a good point on having them checked by the vet because health problems can be the underlining problem as well.

And all that aside, make sure each part of your dogs lives are being fullfilled to keep both on their best foot forward. You want to make sure they are being taken care of on: health & nutrition, exercise, mental stimulation, leadership (you), daily structure, healthy outlets for them to work together in, ect..

Good luck, and please do keep them separate until they work through the issues.