They keep fighting!

[imissmydog]

Darcy is just sitting there chewing on her bone minding her own business and im looking at Boy. He's making a face like he really ticked off and I just knew he was gunna go attack her. And sure enough, he bursts out and attacks her. Should we just take away all of their toys and see if that works? I dunno why else this would be happening. It always does when it comes to something with sharing. Some one help.

 

[musky hunter]

jealousy? they both fixed?

 

[imissmydog]

Both are fixed. I think it could be a jealousy issue. We try to treat them as fair as possible though.

 

[Lizmo]

Which one is older and which one did you have first?

 

[imissmydog]

Well first we had Brandy who would attack him but only over food. She isnt alive now though. So we had Boy about a year ago and Darcy about 2 months ago. Everything was fine till a week or so ago. So Boy is older and we had him before Darcy.

 

[moxiegrl]

Whos going to be the first one to use the word...dominant or alpha?

 

[Lizmo]

Okay thanks

What do they do when they attack each other?

 

[imissmydog]

They dont really attack each other. Boy attacks her and she tries to just defend herself. Boy looks like he trying to bite her and he barks right at her. It's broken up in a matter of seconds but it's hard to watch. It is crazy. It's getting to the point where she's kinda scared of him

 

[Twilight]

Most dogs will fight with food around (not all) ESPECIALLY when it comes to bones.
if you are going to give them treats etc i would do it seperately
none of my dogs are allowed to eat near eachother.
Sounds like he has food aggression.

 

[Doberluv]

Whos going to be the first one to use the word...dominant or alpha?

ROFLOL!!! Not me.

Boy is being rude in doggie language. He is not being an "alpha." Alphas don't do things like that. I would keep high value toys away from them when they're together. And feed them seperately. If he still does "rude" thing when the other is just minding his own business, you can step in and herd him off into his bedroom for a little social isolation. Don't inadvertantly reward that pushy stuff.

 

[EliNHunter]

Sounds to me like a dominance/teaching issue. Boy was used to Brandy doing that to him, so now he's just doing that to Darci. And thinks he's teaching her. If they're not killing each other, it may not be a bad thing (somebody can bash me here, but that's what we do). We let the dogs work it out to figure out their pack order and mentality. Even though it may not seem fair to Darci at the time, Boy might be establishing the pecking order in the household. I wouldn't interfere with "nature" unless there's REAL fighting going on. (which there may be, it just didn't sound like it from your post).

 

[Doberluv]

You can do what you feel is best. But I'll just tell you that in my house, nature taking it's course means MY WAY or the highway. And my four dogs aren't allowed to have a hierachy. And they aren't allowed to fight. LOL.

Dogs are millions of lightyears away from being "natural" or living in the wild, hunting and breeding. They do not have to have a hierarchy. They are doing nothing more than siblings fighting over toys, IMO.

But it's up to you, of course.

 

[EliNHunter]

You can do what you feel is best. But I'll just tell you that in my house, nature taking it's course means MY WAY or the highway. And my four dogs aren't allowed to have a hierachy. And they aren't allowed to fight. LOL.

Dogs are millions of lightyears away from being "natural" or living in the wild, hunting and breeding. They do not have to have a hierarchy. They are doing nothing more than siblings fighting over toys, IMO.

But it's up to you, of course.

Lol, probably true, Doberluv. I grew up in a household full of goldens who taught the "underlings" in the most loving manner and we let them do that. No big fights occured, etc. Although, we've had 2 incidences of bringing in a dog from the "outside" (outside their breed, outside their ancestory) where a fight DID occur -- a REAL fight. One with my Mom's Bubba (golden) who attacked my rescue lab Yogi. And we got them away from each other and they were best buds for the next 8 years together. The other one was my Mom's OLLIE and my HUNTER the other night while she had Hunter for the night. Mom left the house for a bit and put Ollie in his cage (as she always does, no problems) but Hunter had the run of the house. When she came home and let Ollie out, after a bit he started fighting with Hunter! Hunter came away with a piercing of his lower right ear flap. I told him I'd get him a diamond stud to put in it if he wanted . Not really funny, but you have to make light sometimes. Anywho, I guess all dog situations and breeds and temperments are different. I think Ollie was just confused as he hadn't been around Hunter 24/7 (although he knows him very well) and just wondered HOW CAN THIS GUY RUN AROUND MY HOUSE WHEN I'M CAGED UP???? Guess you've just got to know your dogs and what their motives are.