Yorkies Fighting??
 

Well..my Maddie is 11mos old, and Miley is 3 yrs. They have always gotten along. The last 3 wks or so I have had to keep them separate, or they fight..viciously!! What is causing this..and how can I stop it?? It's just HORRIBLE to see and hear, and we've almost gotten bit splitting them up!! Help!!


Thanks,

Not sure, but I know they can kill eachother. Are you favoring one over the other? Does the fighting begin during excitement?

Is Maddie spayed?

Sometimes walking them together (but on separate leashes, one on each side to start off) can help them to bond again, if there are no other problems going on.

Do you know what their first fight started over? Sometimes they hold a grudge....

We had this issue with a foster that we introduced into our group. We were originally going to keep the foster boy, but after working for a year, we finally gave him to a friend.

One of the reasons that the vet gave was that our "alpha", Piper, and the new one "Bentley" were trying to assert their dominance. Piper was, is, will always be the "alpha" in our place and at age 7 didn't like the new guy trying to assert his dominance.

He kept attacking her and I received a couple of good bites while trying to separate them.

We tried water bottles (spraying them) and cans with coins (shaking loadly) and the two would not separate. We even went to the point of the puppy "prozac" with him and he would still attack her.

We ended up at the vet three times and had to keep them separated constantly. Even when we were in the room he would sometimes just "snap" and go after her.

We initially tried to determine what the cause was (toys, treats, food dish, too much attention to one, etc..) but there were times that we took away all toys, no treats, bowls up, and they were on the floor across from each other (about 15 feet apart) just staring....he growled and took off after her.

I know that they are small, but they knocked over a lamp, pictures, etc...and sounded like little demonic monsters. Scared us to death!

You might want to try obedience training with BOTH of them taking them individually and then together...we tried it, but it didn't work for us, but could for you.

A lot of the time the "new" atmosphere is so overwhelming that they don't focus on each other.

Let us know how it turns out! Best of luck to you!

I would suggest contacting a trainer or an animal behaviorist in your area for help.
I know the question was raised if they are spayed? Also are there any medical issues going on?

I saw an excellent episode of Victoria Stillwell where there were two dogs, a chihuaua and a yorkie who were constantly fighting, I talking bout vicious attacks where blood would be drawn. I can't remember the episode but she solved this lady's problem. She couldn't even take them on walks together but by the end of the episode they were able to walk together and while they weren't best buddies, they were able to coexist peacefully. This poor lady was in tears because she was so terrified that she would have to give one away.

I can't remember all of but the gist of it was whenever the two dogs would even start to growl, she would remove one of the dogs or both of the dogs to separate rooms. She did this repeatedly until they were able to at least be in the same room with each other. After awhile the dogs learned that fighting would get them ban and they eventually stopped. She also took them to agility classes to help burn of energy. She also would play with them individually so that each felt like they had her undivided attention. If you go to her website the have a listing of her It's Me or the Dog episodes.

:thumbup::thumbup: The above has worked for me! I have two females who will fight once in a while now but thankfully it is rare. They were awful for a time. I simply would snatch them both up at the same time and put each one in a room by herself. Their time outs would only last about 5 minutes. If they started again, immediately back to time out. The trick is to do it immediately. They quickly learn what is acceptable and what is not!

One thing I will caution you about is to NOT leave them alone together unsupervised! You could end up with a severely injured or even worse, dead dog.

I have been doing this already..They cannot even SEE each other or they will go after each other. I have been doing this for about a month..which is how long ago this started. Maddie has always been possesive(food, toys, ME)and I think that SOMETHING happened that made them go off on each other..don't know what it is. Thanks for all the suggestions..I pray that this is temporary!

Thanks Again,

[QUOTE=moYother or they will go after each other. I have been doing this for about a month..which is how long ago this started. Maddie has always been possesive(food, toys, ME)and I think that SOMETHING happened that made them go off on each other..don't know what it is. Thanks for all the suggestions..I pray that this is temporary!

Thanks Again,[/QUOTE]


That sounds pretty scary. You might need to consult with a behaviorist.