Do your dogs fight?

[Miakoda]

Yup. I've had several. All the fights that occurred here were due to dogs, that usually got along, deciding they now would rather fight then play or a breakdown of hardware on their chains resulting in a loose dog roaming among the others.

Many of my dogs liked to fight. I know that many would rather refuse to believe dogs could/would enjoy doing such, but they do/did. It's really that simple.

I've just always been super-vigilant in preventing those situations. All my dogs were on chain set-ups when all were/are outside. They were/are crated and rotated. And even when I had a few that did get along for the most part, play sessions were only with two dogs, and I was always standing there supervising and each session only lasted 15 minutes or so. No potential triggers, such as toys, spring pole, flirt pole, were allowed during play sessions. All my dogs had durable nylon collars on at all times as well.

But it doesn't bother me. My dogs werent fighting over me or over food (or other high value items), and I did not and do not consider it "disrespectful". While I don't allow fights here, I don't get all pissed-off alpha-like about it. It's a fight. Break it up, try to figure out where you failed or what failed (I.e. TB's swivel broke on his chain two days ago), and make the necessary adjustments/corrections to try and prevent it in the future.

 

[sassafras]

Maisy can get snarky sometimes, but hasn't started anything serious. Pip has started one serious fight with each of the other dogs, almost exactly one year ago. It coincided with Squash starting to mature. Maisy fought back, Squash didn't.

I'm quite certain there would have been more incidents if we hadn't started keeping them separate and working on DS & CC. After Squash was neutered and his hormones faded away, there was a noticeable decrease in Pip's interest in "policing" him as well, so that definitely helped the situation.

We've worked pretty hard and they are fine outside in the yard together with supervision, but still separated most of the time in the house. Our house is small and we have to be very careful about having them all together indoors, it's very easy for them to get crowded and overstimulated and get snarky. It works out well for us because with the layout of our first floor we were able to separate it into two spaces with hardware mounted baby gates without really isolating anyone. We have a routine where everyone gets their own "people time" and attention.

 

[kady05]

Nope, never. Piper can get a little snarky sometimes, but it's never more than a little growl. The boys know their place (below the Queen), and both are so laid back that no one is ever trying to climb the "dominant dog" pole.

Food has dropped on the floor before and never anything, new toys are never an issue, neither are new dogs. I'm very lucky.

 

[*blackrose]

Yup.

Chloe and Rose can't be loose together, period, or they will fight. Not just squabble fight, but fight for blood. Luckily, this isn't too much of an issue as Rose is an outdoor/indoor dog and very old, so even when they're both inside they're happy to stay in their respective parts of the house, and when they're both outside Chloe is on lead.

Gracie, Cooper, and Cynder, no. Never. If they got into even a squabble over something I would be floored. All three dogs are so mellow and submissive/nonchalant that they don't even get huffy over chew bones.

If/when Chloe comes to live with me and not my mom, I am expecting a few squabbles between her and the other three. Chloe's just a bitch and has already snarked at them a few times when they come up to her and she's laying down. Luckily the girls are smart enough to just leave her alone/avoid her and Cooper is so submissive he wouldn't even dream of retaliating.

 

[Doberluv]

Nope. Never. The closest thing to disagreeable that ever happens is if Jose` gets on the couch in such a way that Chuli, buried under the covers thinks she's going to be stepped on by him, she gives a little, short growl. He is careful not to step on her, finds a good spot to lie down, and that's the end of that. They really are crazy about each other and Jose` is extremely accommodating...never snarks back.

 

[maxfox426]

I only have one dog, but he's not a fighter. He's been picked on by other dogs (friends' dogs, family's dogs, dog park dogs), and he's the type that just lies down and cries until I save him.

 

[OutlineACDs]

Yes and no. I had two bitches that eventually had to be separated. The oldest would not let up in a fight, but never started one, and the younger bitch was constantly challenging her position in the 'pack'. One of them went to live with my brother, and the other one passed away a year ago.

The two I have now, Zen and Rumor. Rumor is a horrible resource guarder. I don't leave toys or bones down but she can find stuff to guard. Crickets that wander into the house, a spot under the table, etc. Zen is pretty respectful of her, but if she tries to take something from him he has gotten to the point he will stand up for himself. He's not a fighter, and really, neither is Rumor, so it ends quickly with no injuries. I've never had to split up a fight between these two, but they do squabble.

 

[jenv101]

They've never had an all out fight where I've had to intervene. They get snarky sometimes but will back off and respect each others boundaries. They have some major brother and sister love going on, which I'm thankful for!

 

[stardogs]

Maggie used to have major interbitch aggression issues with my parents' dog at home, then was developing some similar issues with Z when we lost her to cancer - I think the issues with her and Z were probably because she was feeling like crap and I didn't know it.

Z does not fight with anyone, though she is mistress of the appropriate snark. Kestrel does not fight with anyone in our house, though he's started some stuff with a friend's dog who was being too pushy. Both don't hesitate to fight back if someone goes after them though.

Aeri went after Z once, but tbh I think she thought Z was Snipe. Aeri has gone after Snipe a few times, but I'm pretty sure Snipe's the one who started it.

Snipe's a b*tch tbh. When she first came home she tried to start stuff with every.single.dog in the house. >.< That's one behavior I am not above using positive punishment for when I can catch it as it develops, and she got the idea quickly. She doesn't attempt pulling anything with Z, but does still do some weird things with Kes and Aeri that I break up to avoid escalation, but that has lessened in the last few months. She's the common denominator in all the actual fights that have happened in our house with the current dogs.

I'm confident leaving Kes, Z, and Aeri loose together unsupervised, but Snipe is crated and probably always will be unless I'm home to supervise interactions.

 

[Brattina88]

My two never fight. They 'communicate' very well, if Bailey is being annoying Maddie will tell her and she'll back off. They sleep together, and play together a lot... and Maddie's never really played with other dogs like this. I love it!!
With that being said, we've had fights before... When I lived with my parents and had a multiple dog household. That's how Maddie got her eye injury... Hope to never go back to a situation like that

 

[Kilter]

At the moment not really. Kilt is the bratty puppy at nine months and tends to snarl and growl and so on at Storee, who is 5, but Storee does not usually correct it and just ignores her (quite funny really). The odd time Storee will get annoyed and tell Kilt off, but there's never any blood or damage done, all noise. Ticket stays out of it, I think he's scared of those crazy girls. But he has started in the last few months being the enforcer, he'll split Kilt off and move her into a corner and snark at her if needed while she's in a time out.

The only time we've had major issues was with the two boys, with one being quite old and growly, but it was only if they were outside alone that there was issues. In the house they knew better than to act up.

I did have some major issues with fostering dogs though, the last one being a dog who would be fine with my group for days at a time then for no clear reason she'd have a fit and start a fight. Ticket would tell her off then ignore her so by the time I got to them it was over, but Storee got to the point where she'd react first to whatever signals she thought might be the start of the foster's attack. Which was anything from eye contact to breathing depending on the time. It was a long few months of total separation between the two and took me getting fed up with the rescue and informing them she was getting dropped off to get her out of the house (I had asked nicely for three months for them to find a different home for her).

I don't foster anymore, I dog sit for a few people and quite often my dogs come (other than Ticket anyway) to work and go out with the boarding dogs to party and socialize. The result is the girls are pretty good about new dogs.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Well, when I live at my dads house there's three dogs (I'm there about 3 nights a week). Buddy the Dachshund mix, Lilly the JRT mix and Jackson.

Jackson and Lilly got into once over a year ago. Lilly was jealous because I was doing tricks and giving Jackson treats and she was in a mood and decided she wanted to attack him. So of course Jackson fights back and in the process of me breaking them apart, my boob got bit by Lilly - yeah, didn't feel so great. Then he had one fight with Buddy when they both jumped on the ground for a bully stick at the same time.

So one fight with each dog lol. But for the most part, they tend to ignore each other, occasionally engaging in tug of war or something, but the 3 of them don't really "mesh" well. They're all very different. They are left loose in the house together when we leave and are fine.

 

[Laurelin]

Mia is the instigator of 99% of fights between any of the dogs and the only ones that will ever fight back are Nard (once) and Beau. Beau and Mia fight the most, which kind of sucks and is part of why I still haven't been able to fully integrate him here. Mia very easily redirects onto the other dogs when she's excited about anything, and I have to watch that like a hawk. Prior to Mia being around we really had no fights. Most of Mia is all noise but if they boys engage it can get pretty ugly pretty fast.

 

[Linds]

Kaylee and Hannah have had a couple bad fights (two people two break it up and lots of holes) lately so they've been separated completely for the last month and just recently allowed back together supervised inside.

Traveler is loved by all and loves all.

 

[Bahamutt99]

My dogs would fight bad, given the chance. They're fully segregated. Loki and my dad's dog Cimba can be around each other for potty and the like, but he is too blind/senile to know when he's about to step on a sleeping crocodile, so we mostly keep them apart, too. Baby gate is sufficient for the latter, and they can still walk past each other for rotations and such. Terra had a scary predatory drift thing one time, and while I don't think she meant it, it was bad enough that they are separated as well, by more than just a baby gate.

 

[Miakoda]

My dogs would fight bad, given the chance. They're fully segregated. Loki and my dad's dog Cimba can be around each other for potty and the like, but he is too blind/senile to know when he's about to step on a sleeping crocodile, so we mostly keep them apart, too. Baby gate is sufficient for the latter, and they can still walk past each other for rotations and such. Terra had a scary predatory drift thing one time, and while I don't think she meant it, it was bad enough that they are separated as well, by more than just a baby gate.

You know, I could always kennel my dogs side by side. When I had 14 dogs, they had no choice but to be kennel-to-kennel (then I hung sheets to cover the back half of the cages to give them a "no see" zone). And those same dogs would yip and wag their tails and even lay back to back (as much as two individually kenneled dogs could). But as soon as the doors open, it was fair game.

I've only had a couple that were noisemakers (I did have a screamer, and he drove me NUTS! Too bad he was the best darn catch dog I'd ever owned, so I was stuck. lol). The rest of my dogs are pretty silent. To the untrained eye, it would seem like regular "I'm happy, you're happy, let's be happy together" behavior, but I knew better. With my dogs, when they saw another dog and started wagging their tails, it meant they were ready for a good ol' fashioned rumble.

I also had a few that weren't the instigators, but they weren't gonna let anyone say they would back down from a challenge.

Dogs. Gotta love 'em.

 

[Laurelin]

Nikki and Trey fought twice and it was very nasty. Nikki grumbled at Trey all the time and a few times he snapped back. We had to pull them apart.

Nard went after Beau a couple weeks ago and I had to pull them apart. That's the first time the two of them have gotten into it.

 

[mkj2013]

Addie is toy possessive unfortunately and we aren't around other dogs enough nor am I educated enough to redirect her successfully and solve the issue. So, I just pick up all toys when another dog is present:/

She has gotten into a fight with my mother's Yorkie though, and if I hadn't pulled her off I do feel she would have hurt him/drawn blood. She just doesn't know when to stop, and has a very high pain tolerance. I get upset with her, because she is so intense and can be such a bully.

So, yes, she has gotten in fights, but other than my mom's dog Tucker- she loves to play and loves meeting new dogs.

 

[ThoseWordsAtBest]

Being very multi-dog house over here, if I think about it I can only remember off hand two serious fights that would have resulted in serious injury if I wasn't the best dog fight breaker upper north of the Mason-Dixon.

One serious fight between Smalls and Magpie. Magpie did not fight back and Smalls had her by her poor face. Unfortunately I was alone for this one and I basically had to slide Smalls across the room and throw Magpie on my shoulders. Smalls had an issue with a new gal in the house and they were kept largely separated, reintroduced over time, never an issue since. Not even a small squabble between the two in nearly three years.

One very serious fight between Shambles and Smalls. Minor injuries, small gum and face abrasions, a bloody tongue, and a split ear. Smalls and Shambles are both previously severe now managed resource guarders. Shambles was oh.. 8 months at the time? There was no food involved, but we had cooked earlier and the kitchen smelled like food. Smalls was hoovering the floor just to make sure and Shambles took it to mean she had found something. I was across the room, my boyfriend was right behind Smalls and I still remember the distinct freeze and the split second in my head that said "Oh great." before the fight exploded. Ran in and wheel barrowed that asshole Sham out.

Other than that, just snarky nonsense every once in a while that is easily broken up with a "NOPE."

 

[OwnedByBCs]

No, the worst we have here is that Faith, my mom's dog, will pick on Gyp. She likes to back him into the corner and snark at him. We just know to keep them separated, other than that we've never had any dog/dog issues.