I just do not know what to do
 

I am so upset that all I can do is cry. I may have to re-home either Little Bit or Thor. For three days now these two have been tying into really bad fights and it is getting harder and harder to seperate them when it happens. I think they may be fighting for Alpha male but I am just not sure. It is so weird because they will be getting along just fine and then just start going at it. I do not want to lose either one of them I love them so much but I just do not know what to do.Please someone help me here.

Are there any behaviorists in the area that you could bring in to observe them?

Yes I would also say check out a few trainers and behaviourists....

Trainers are just like breeders, you need to make sure you trust them and are comfortable with their methods... everyone is different, good ones will allow you to come watch them in action with someone else's dogs.

Hopefully it's something they can solve.

I only have one lonely boy at my house, so I've never had two dogs trying to be head of the household.

can you watch the 'dog whisperer' on tv? it's a great series....alot of wonderful help and tips....i think it's on NATGEOW

Are they neutered? Has anything changed in the house hold? How old are they?

I know that I am new here, but I have had dogs for many years. So here is my 2 cents worth. I know I would do everything possible before rehoming one of my pets. If they are not neutered, see how they are after neutering. My only other comment is make sure that there are no underlying health issues with one of them. Years ago one of my greyhounds, that was as sweet as could be, out of the blue began snapping at the other greyhounds when they came near her. It ended up that she did a health issue that was undetectable to me. Hope that it works out for you and your pups.

I would sit back and watch the body language that is going on between your two dogs.What happens just before an episode breaks out? Does this have to do with food or territory? Sometimes the looks and the moves a dogs makes that signal aggression are very slight and can go undetected unless you watch carefully. Once you find out who the aggressor is you can start dealing with the issue. First of all stop the behavior before it turns into a battle. If these guys are not neutered then that is your first problem. I'm assuming they are neutered so a health check may be in order as well. Have you changed their diet? Is one possibly eating the others food without you being aware of it? If this is food related you may need to feed them in different rooms. Don't let them play aggressively with each other as it can lead to dominance issues. If you cannot get to the root of your problem then you may need to bring in someone with experience with dog aggression.

This is what I would try: Separate them in different rooms for 3-4 days. Then, to put them back together, have each on a leash and go for a walk... 30 - 45 minutes. Maybe 3-4 walks per day. This will help to reestablish YOU as the Head of Household.

When they are together, watch them for any signals that they will give before a fight starts. If you can identify who is starting the fights, make corrections to that dog first. If the other retaliates, then correct that dog also.

You may need to leave the leashes on in the house for a few days to make it easier and safer to separate them. Two days of intensive work may break their habit, sooner if you can spot their signals quickly.

Once you break up a fight, keep them both in the same room, but not where they can get at each other, until they calm down. If you put them back together too soon after a fight, they will continue to fight, and you will know you didn't separate and control them long enough. Just try again a bit longer till they forget about fighting.

Two of mine got into fighting, then it was over any little thing, just to fight. Now, the most they can get away with is verbal arguing, mostly when I let them outside. It's always a competition about who gets out the door first. This is between a male and a female, who, I have read, are not prone to battle, lol. If their arguing gets to be to loud, I intervene immediately. I still have to watch them, but now the fights are few and far between.

Maybe this method will work for you. Hope so.

Both the boys are neutered and have been since they were 3 months old. The only change in the house is Molly but they all seem to get along good with her except her and Sadie have words from time to time. I am going to try the leash thing and see if that helps. It will kill me to have to re-home either of them because I love them so much. I have had then since they were born and they are my babies. I hope we can work through this.

I think all are great ideas.
I own an American Pitbull and a Yorkie. They LOVE to play, however my pitbull is 50lbs and sometimes gets to playing too rough, NEVER any aggression issues and he'd never fight with her. But when they get to playing to rough I treat it as fighting for her safety. Here's what I do...

I make Leonidas [pitbull] sit, lay, stay. He's amazing with these commands. Then Maci has to come sit on my lap. I keep them like this for 10 min or until I can tell Leonidas has calmed down. Then they are free to roam again. Mind you this isn't for fighting it's for getting too hyper/rough.

For fighting...
Having multiple dogs can sometimes mean you will need to "crate and rotate" this is a permanent thing for some dog owners, temporary for others. Either way it's is good for being able to work with the dogs one on one to establish who's the leader [YOU.] One dog goes in the kennel for a couple hours while the other gets to hang out with you. Then switch and repeat all day. Only do this when they fight. It needs to last the whole day/the rest of the day. And you can continue it through the next day. Some people live this way, crate and rotate, personally I couldn't crate and rotate my dogs my whole life. So for me it's a 1-5 days thing as a learning tool/control tool.

Also, a trainer/behaviourist would be an awesome "investment" for the sake of keeping your babies.
I make my dogs do EVERYTHING together, they walk together, go outside for potty together, get treats at the same time, fed in sepereate bowls at the same time, go to bed and wake up at the same time. Everything in our home is equal.
YOU MUST know your dogs body language. You can google body language charts, which are helpful but a lot of dogs have their own individual body language that you need to know. :D
GRACIE AND KJC: GREAT ADVICE IN POST REPLIES!

Victoria Stillwell had an episode where a chi and a yorkie hated each other and were constantly fighting. The owner had to keep them separated at all times. One of the things the Victoria did was everytime they started growling or fighting she would immediately remove the initiator to another room. After enough times, they both started associated being removed with fighting. Look up that episode on her website to get some tips. It took some time but eventually they stopped fighting.

Mine get along fine unless there is food in the same room with them. Then they start growling at each other and if I don't intervene, they will fight.

But it's only when there's food around. Otherwise they are fine.

Here is a thread that might help as Rachel has a similar problem http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...ggression.html
I hope you can find a way to work things out as I know you must be devastated. Best wishes.

Thank you all for all the great advice, I am trying the leash and making them go to seperate rooms when they fight. They tied into a bad one again tonight and my daughter was trying to break them up and she got bit in the face. No blood was drawn but it was scary. I am taking them both to the vet to make sure there is nothing going on there and my sister has a friend who works with animals and I am calling her on Monday. I have to get this to stop it is tearing me up.

I'm sorry but if a dog is willing to turn and bite a person, no matter what the situation is, to me there is something very wrong with the dog behaviour wise, and that kind of action is completely untolerable.

I would put any dog to sleep that bit my child, OR send it off to a breed specific rescue with a trainer/behaviourist on staff. I would not keep that dog in my home. IMHO.

I def. suggest seeing a professional trainer/behaviourist even if you can only afford a week worth of appointments. It will be worth it if the dog never bites your kid again even if he does scrap with your other dog.

I disagree. The OP said her daughter tried to break up the fight. When dogs are too hot (fight), they are too focused on each other and the world disappears. When you try to stop the fight, two people would be ideal to stop the fight by getting a hold of the dogs from behind and pull them apart at the same time. Understanding the dog's body language is so important.

OP: i would get help from the behaviorist and have him/her to work with you. I think it is fixable as long as you are determined and patient to work with them. :)

I agree with Blue Sake. The dog did not intentionally bit your daughter. When trying to seperate dogs that are fighting, there is always the risk of getting bitten, even by the most loveable of dogs. How about trying a broom or a string mop to get in between them (of course not to hit them with) so no one accidentally gets bitten.

It's always dangerous to break up a dog fight-----even if they are small dogs. They may be small but their teeth are sharp! You need to get a crate and keep them separated until you get things sorted out.
If they do happen to get near each other always use a broom to get between them----not your hand or any body part. If you have to put one in a bedroom then do it. You can't let them be in the same room together anymore.

[QUOTE=maci_mace;3754659]I'm sorry but if a dog is willing to turn and bite a person, no matter what the situation is, to me there is something very wrong with the dog behavior wise, and that kind of action is completely behavior.

I would put any dog to sleep that bit my child, OR send it off to a breed specific rescue with a trainer/behaviourist on staff. I would not keep that dog in my home. IMHO.
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I do understand. I think the missing factor is deliberate bite, Or deliberate attack. The child in this post was bitten accidently.
A while ago, I upset many people on a thread. It was when a Lab attacked and killed a smaller dog that lived in his own home as part of his own family . I said the dog should be put down. ( I have studied animal behavior for years. I used to breed, train and compete with Labs. I also worked with pups that would be trained as service dogs . We had a strict criteria that each dog was tested on. I saw all kinds of flashing red warning lights, on the other thread. So I blurted out, I would put that Lab down. I should never have said that, I was not asked for a professional opinion. I was not seeing the events first hand, and had not even met the dogs or owner. I should have simply advised the OP to get professional help ASAP. There is no going back once a dog is put down) Here I do not see this as an attack on the daughter. I would suggest an in home visit from a trainer/ behaviorist. An experienced trainer will be able to see what the trigger is and how to work with the dogs and to stop their fighting.

Not to solve the problem but to better to control it short term I would keep both dogs on lead at all times. Faster to correct them and safer to pull them apart if needed. I am still in training with Angel, and there are days I think that will last FOREVER, and I made her a 15' lead for in the house.

Good luck and do find a local pro. My friend had an aggression problem and they were able to solve it in a couple of weeks. If you have problems finding one ask your vet.

This is very helpful to me. I have a 3 year old male, neutered yorkie and got a 5 month old female puppy who has been spayed and my boy plays very rough, he is 11 lbs (LOL - not a good breeder), anyway she is 3 lbs and he plays very rough. I have her in the crate because of the surgery but am terrified he is going to hurt her. I was thinking of calling in a behavioral specialist to tell you the truth. The baby just wants to play and nips and jumps and he does not like it. He will chase her and they make loud noises but the other night I think he nipped her I am not sure it happened so fast but she screamed. I am at a loss. I dont want to rehome either of mine. thank you

Since this is a new thing that has started since you've been fostering the female, I would think that it may be related to her presence. Even though the boys are both neutered, testosterone is still produced by the pituitary gland. It sounds to me like you may have some good, old fashioned male dominance going on.

If the crating/separating is not an option perhaps you could consider the soft muzzles on both boys until you get this figured out. I had to do it with Zoe (my daughter's 45 pound dog) for about 6 l-o-n-g months to keep her from attacking Rhett and Scarlett. Now, they are the best of buddies.

You have had some very good suggestions here. You have to do something. Doing nothing is obviously only going to result in more fights and injury. I hope you take steps now to protect yourself and your family as well as the dogs. You just can't let it go any longer.

I think you've gotten lots of good advice and I really hope your situation can be resolved without re-homing. Sometimes it is necessary, of course, but it's such a painful solution for all involved.

In the meantime, a nice trick for breaking up a dog fight is to throw a blanket over them. It usually stops them pretty quickly and there's no risk of someone getting hurt trying to break it up.

I would like to let everyone here know that my daughter is 35 years old, she is not a child. I am sorry I did not specify that at first, secondly, How in the world can you just give advice like have the dog put to sleep? What are you thinking? There are so many other things to try first. I have someone coming Monday to hopefully help with the situation, we have been seperating and using leashes and today was a good day. After all these boys are still puppies they are only 9 months old. I think I will try and train them not to fight before I just run and put them to sleep. Thank you all for all the good advice. I will keep everyone updated.

I REALLY don't think she was suggesting you put your dog to sleep. She said what she would do if such and such happened. I think everyone really misunderstood what she said.

She gave several suggestions on what you could do. Just hate to see people get upset over misunderstandings.

Bitsty: That comment above had me to respond. Dogs fight with each other definitely is a concern and should take care of the problem ASAP. In OP's post, I did not see anything to say something is wrong with the dog because it bites a person. I don't see any misunderstanding on this thread, only telling maci_mace that the dog did not attack OP's daughter on purpose when she tried to break up the fight.

I saw what your response was and I agree with it. I was referring to the response from the OP to maci_mace.

Oh, gotcha. :)