My dogs are fighting- any suggestions?

jschwind22

Hi, I am a frequent poster on The Bump and came over here to get some insight and suggestions on a problem I am having with my dogs.  We adopted a poodle/maltese mix puppy (Spencer) almost 2 years ago.  He was quick with training and has decent manners.  Spencer and our neighbors dog shared an outdoor space at the condo that we live in.  About 6 months ago, our neighbors decided that they could no longer keep their 5 year old toy poodle (Toto).  Toto had been physically abused by his first owner, and then adopted by our neighbors.  We decided to adopt Toto rather than to let him go to the local animal shelter. 

 90% of the time, Spencer and Toto get along great and are best friends.  Toto sometimes gets moody, but will go sit in his kennel or in another room if he is not wanting to be bothered.  The problem is that the dogs have periodically started attacking each other.  It happened for the first time about 2 months ago when a contractor was installing a new sliding door in my bedroom.  I thought they became anxious about the loud noises. 

Both dogs have also become very protective of me.  When DH tickles me or we "play fight," the dogs get out of control, attack each other, and have to be physically separated by us.  It is scary!  Toto usually sits in his kennel for awhile until they calm down (about an hour).  Today, neither of them could get over it and I wasn't even home so it wasn't triggered by being protective of me.  They kept growling at each other and trying to attack each other for hours.  Toto was in his kennel all day, and whenever Spencer came close, he would growl. 

 Sorry this turned into such a lengthy post.  I really love both of my dogs and I want this to work with having both of them.  I am open to ANY suggestions on how to improve the situation so we can live together safely and happily.

jen812

Sorry, I'm a little confused by your post. Could you explain the fighting situation more clearly? Let's take today's episode for example. How do you know what was happening if you weren't there? I'm not trying to be snarky, just looking for more details.

Not knowing any more about the situation, my first suggestion would be to take both dogs to the vet. You want to be sure nothing is physically wrong with them. That could cause the sudden change.

After the dogs are given a clean bill of health, I would contact a behaviorist. They will be able to help better than any of us will be able to. It's hard to offer suggestions when we can't see exactly what's going on.

HTH. 

Caz1221

Vet check and behaviorist (not a trainer) are great suggestions.  I would also look into NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free).  You can Google it, or there is information in the FAQs (in the green banner at the top of the board).  It also sounds like both pups might have resource guarding issues (being protective of you), so I would look at "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson.  It really helped with second dog's toy guarding issue.

Working through the resource guarding with S and practicing NILIF have helped immensely, and I think they are primary reasons why we haven't had any fights (just a couple minor scuffles) since we adopted S almost 2 years ago. 

jschwind22

Thank you both for your suggestions.  Sorry I wasn't more clear.  DH called today to tell me about the situation today, so I only know his interpretation and observations.  He said that they were physically fighting whenever they could get a chance.  Biting each other, growling, etc.  When they go at it is really is a flurry of chaos.  Luckily they are small and easy to separate.  He separated them like we have done in the past, however they did not settle down.  Any time they got within 10 feet of each other, Toto would start growling and then Spencer would attack.  Maybe that is more clear?  I will check into the vet, behaviorist, and NILIF suggestions.  Thanks!

IdigDirt

I actually have the same situation. My dogs love each other, cuddle all the time, groom each other ect... After I had a baby my dog Hadley started attacking my other dog. It was only every few weeks then more often until they couldn't even see each other without fighting. I took her to the vet and she prescribed Prozac. After a few weeks she was so much better but we keep her in a muzzle because every once in a while she does fight with my other dog and she could potentially cause a lot of damage. They are back to snuggling and loving each other, just with a muzzle on. I would make try to see which dog is starting the fights. It took us a while to figure out which dog was starting the fights. Good luck, hope your dogs go back to being BFF.