Dogs, formerly friends, now fighting

nossmf
nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
in Chit-Chat
My son is getting ready to marry his girlfriend in a couple months. Each of them has a dog, both female (one neutered), and for the last six months of living under one roof the dogs have been quite good together. Grooming each other, sleeping close, light play.

Not sure what's changed, but a couple weeks ago they suddenly started fighting. At first just growling, but then one time they actually started full on biting. Separate them, get them patched up, slowly reintroduce them to each other, all seemed good again. Until just minutes ago, suddenly it's again world war three.

Kids are at a loss for what caused this, what to do about it. Anybody have experience and/or helpful advice?

Replies

  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,744 Member
    Could it possibly have something to do with the dog that isn't neutered? That was my first thought.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,371 Member
    BZAH10 wrote: »
    Could it possibly have something to do with the dog that isn't neutered? That was my first thought.

    That's my first thought too. All those rampant hormones. Although female dogs are kinda notorious for having difficulty getting along with one another, more so than male/female or male/male.

    A couple of the dog schools here have canine behaviour specialists who will do private consultations and I'd hire one asap. That's what I did years ago when I had a dog with fear aggression issues.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
    Prevailing theory in our house is the un-neutered female is jealous of the attention the neutered one is getting, since the first is older and rarely plays with our male neutered dog, while the younger neutered female spends all day running around with the male, and is also far more assertive in terms of approaching humans for a scratch during the day.

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