Fighting dogs. Need advice!

[Moses]

We have a 10 year old Beagle/Shepherd mix who has been with us for years. He is sweet and very easy going.

Today my family picked up a new dog from the animal shelter. She is about three years old, looks 100% German Shepherd and is calm and great with people. The two dogs seem to get along fine, but then they get into these terrible fights that end with our older, smaller dog on his back while the new dog barks and growls threateningly.

No bloodshed (yet) or biting, but they've has 6 fights in 12 hours. It's pretty upsetting. The dog trainer at the shelter said not to interfere, they will work it out.

Any expert opinions? Drdogface? What can I expect?

[mossguy]

Sounds like you have one (new) dog too many!

Best,
Tom

[craigster59]

They'll sort it out. Just establishing the order, it will pass and each will know their place (sorry if I sound too Rikaoa-ish, I didn't want to use the return key too much)

[stomachmonkey]

No bloodshed ='s they are not fighting, they are working things out.

[Eric Coffey]

+1

And kudos for the rescue/shelter approach, but... I would never pick up a German Shepherd or any "bully breed" (Rot, Dobbie, Pit Bull, Chow, etc.) from a shelter with unknown lineage/upbringing. YMMV.

[LWJ]

If the small dog is smart enough to show submission by rolling on his back, everything should be fine. It is when one dog attempts to assert itself over a dog who refuses to submit that things get ugly.

I think you will be fine.
Larry

[Heel n Toe]

Ask the shelter if this is a good idea... it seems like common sense for these guys at this point:

Have a water bowl and a food dish for each... located about 8-10 feet apart. If that's not clear, try this: water and food for dog #1 at point "A"... and some distance away, water and food for dog #2 at point "B."

[juanbenae]

its the original dog that should post... it has to submit to the new comer while the new comer is adapting and freaked i am pretty sure. too much newness. talk with them both a lot and try to keep the shouting & panic to a minimum when they do go. order restores order.

happy holidays moses.

[Rikao4]

forgive the return key..
they should have met outside the house..
no different than a new Dr. in your place...
you muttering WTF..this my clinic...
it will work itself..
hopefully with minimal loss of fur..

Rika

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

No bloodshed ='s they are not fighting, they are working things out.

+1 assuming "no bloodshed" = "no biting beyond small nips"

What are the genders of both dogs involved? Are they both fixed?

[The Gaijin]

Helping out friend, I spent lots of time at local dog run.. (The things we do for females..) Anyway, big and small, aggressive or not - all the dogs would work things out. Lots of running barking and excitement - but harmony would ensue.

Except - when that crazy dog person would step in and screw the whole thing up..


This reminds me - tons of kids in my office today. They quickly establish order between themselves and are by now (10:40AM) running around in their own packs having a great time..

Anyway, yes, the dogs will work it out.

[Granite]

Call Michael Vick he probably has some good tips for you.


They will work it out.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by Tishabet

+1 assuming "no bloodshed" = "no biting beyond small nips"

What are the genders of both dogs involved? Are they both fixed?

The older, smaller dog is a neutered male. The new Shepherd is a spayed female. They are both very affectionate and sweet. They went at it again this morning and I broke it up. Probably not the smart thing to do, but the Shepherd was immediately submissive with me. I'm the alpha in this house and I can't stand fighting!

They don't fight over food, it's ALWAYS jealousy. Both are affectionate dogs and need lots of love. I hope they work it out. The Shepherd was scheduled to be destroyed Monday.

[Tishabet]

Typically the only long-term bad blood is between same-sex dogs, two unspayed females being the worst in my experience (used to help train dogsledding sprint teams in a former life).

I would supervise and step in if things get really out of control, e.g. one of the dogs actually yelping in pain but otherwise I would let them work it out... there is a lot of dog social order stuff that they will need to go through which looks like aggression, and the submissive posture of your older male indicates that this is the case. It's natural and as long as it doesn't escalate to serious violence they should be fine.

FYI, dogs who are seriously fighting will bite you if you try to break them up... even the sweetest, friendliest dog will, in that situation, latch on to anything they can so be careful. If one of the dogs does get a good hold of the other with their teeth grab it by the back leg and drag it away like you're backing up with a wheelbarrow. If that doesn't work you can try choking the dog to get it to let go.

[Seahawk]

Not the wrong thing to do...the alpha male sets the tone. We adopted a stray that literally showed up on our door. Two fights between the new and the older, established female. I broke them both up made sure that the new dog understood where she stands.

That was a few months ago.

I can say we are a lot more vigilant on where their beds are placed, when they are together, and make sure meal time is in separate quarters.

They get along well, but are still not a cohesive pack, which is what we want. It is worth it.

Best of luck.

Originally Posted by Moses

The older, smaller dog is a neutered male. The new Shepherd is a spayed female. They are both very affectionate and sweet. They went at it again this morning and I broke it up. Probably not the smart thing to do, but the Shepherd was immediately submissive with me. I'm the alpha in this house and I can't stand fighting!

They don't fight over food, it's ALWAYS jealousy. Both are affectionate dogs and need lots of love. I hope they work it out. The Shepherd was scheduled to be destroyed Monday.

[jwasbury]

Thanks for rescuing a dog.

We rescued a male Rottie about two years ago, and for the 1st 48hrs I was concerned that it was a mistake. Today I could not imagine life without him.

Agree that you must let them work it out. Both of them are stressed.

Your old friend is stressed because you've gone and messed up his quiet home with a pesky newcomer.

Your new friend is stressed because she has probably been locked up and/or passed around from place to place for weeks or possibly even months.

In my house, we had the opposite situation. Female older incumbent dog and new young male rescue. The female puts him in his place all the time, even though he outwieghs her by 20+ pounds. In my experience, the "beotch" is usually the Alpha dog.

[David]

We're having similar issues right now. Fortunately the dogs are about the same size, but our 7 year old probably has 10 pounds or so on the 6 month old puppy.

We blame the puppy but then the older dog will start crap too.

Some friends were over the other night and I mentioned I felt a little for Michael Vick as we were just standing there watching dogs fight

We've always had two dogs and they've always fought. Like they others have said, they're just working things out (and having fun.)

[Jim Bremner]

Start reading up on Wolf packs.

One of the two needs to be the leader. Right now they're not clear on who's the leader.

I had two female huskies at one time, BIG mistake.

It took two or three years for them biches to figure it out. I still have scars from both of the.

After that they lived in harmony.

[teenerted1]

my parents and my sisters female aussies dont get along with my male aussie...but my sisters little corgie just loves him. they got along great from the start. family gatherings can be a handful the first couple of hrs. but by the time everyone has to leave they all start missing each other. if we all go for a walk and get them worn out, they all will end up sleeping on the floor semi close together.

take them out for a long hard walk or some exhausting play/exercise and then let them hang out together. tired dogs are much easier to handle.

[pwd72s]

Dogs (and cats) are much like women. The one already there resents it when you bring another one in.