Inter-Male Aggression in Dogs

Inter- Male Aggression

In Dogs

inter male aggression in dogs

Inter Male Aggression is Very Common and DANGEROUS

I live with my husband and four dogs. I have 2 American Pit Bull Terriers (one male, 2 1/2 yrs and one female 5 1/2 yrs- which is his mother), 1 Jack Russell (female- 4 yrs) and 1 Boxer (Male- 9 yrs). My husband came home Friday evening to the Boxer having been attacked by the Pit Bulls, or at least one of them for sure. Needless to say, they (or one of them) had obviously gotten into a fight with the Boxer and it ended with the Boxer's throat being ripped out and left to bleed to death on the kitchen floor. Now, I do want to stress that I feel that in my opinion NEITHER Pit, to me, was ever dog aggressive before this incident. They have had their own 'tussells', like siblings would have, over a toy, bone, etc., but NEVER to the point where I felt that anyone would get hurt, much less be killed. The female Pit has never shown aggression to the Boxer and only has to the Male Pit when HE has provoked a fight. The male Pit ONLY backs down from the 13 pound Jack Russell, or unless we correct him and have seen that he may have started a 'tussell'. Since the Boxer is now gone, we are struggling with what to do with the Male Pit and possibly the Female Pit. The female Pit was mine before we got married and the Boxer was his dog before. The Male Pit was kept after the female's 2nd litter. Both of the Pits had blood on them and at least one or more scratch mark on them. The female only had one scratch on her chest, which leads me to believe (in my own opinion) that she may have been trying to save the Boxer and fight off the Male Pit. Of course, we will never know what truly happened, we are struggling with what to do with the both of them. They have always been inside dogs and we have left them outside over the weekend. It has been hard to even deal with the situation, as we both loved the Boxer very much, and we love our Pits and Jack, just as much. We are struggling with what to do with the Pits. Can they be trained not to be aggressive with other dogs? Do you recommend putting them to sleep or finding homes where they are the only dog in the household? I can't have this happen again. I am torn because I love(d) them all and want to do what is best for them all. Please let me know your opinion. I don't mind if you're blunt.
Thanks so much.

Hi, I am hoping that you can help me with a problem. I have two dogs who are both altered. Luna, a rot mix is 4, and Merrick, a dalmation mix is 2. I have had Merrick for over a year and Luna has lived with me for 3 years. Luna has always been alpha dog.

Merrick will paw Luna when she wants to play and is sometimes very puppy-like in playing, but Merrick always ends up in submission when play is over. My mom owns two little dogs and everyone gets along when my mom comes to visit once a month or so. I have never had problems with the dogs who play, sleep, and eat together without aggressiveness until Christmas. Christmas evening, when everyone was let out into the yard, a fight started between Luna and Merrick but we were able to separate them without too much effort. The dogs were in separate rooms for the night. The next morning, Luna was muzzled and would growl at Merrick, who was attempting to get Luna to smell her and was totally submissive. Over the next two days, Luna seemed to improve and her muzzle was removed with increasing frequency when I could monitor play.

Merrick was playing with my mom's two little dogs and when Luna (unmuzzled) got involved, a fight started between Luna and Merrick while the little dogs ran away. Luna initiated the fight. The fight was nasty. I saw no end to the fight as Merrick was defending herself and not backing down and my mom and I intervened to prevent the serious injury or death of a dog. We were both bitten trying to separate the dogs. The bites were not human-aggressive bites. My vet has said that Luna is territory aggressive and that she will never again get along with Merrick. The dogs stay separated at all times in my house and I alternate free dog every two to three hours when I am home. Merrick's bed is in my room and Luna sleeps in the guest room. Luna goes to bed willingly and happily when told to do so, but I feel so guilty as she winds up sleeping right by the door and not on her bed. I sleep with Merrick because I would have to crate her if I put her in another room all night, and I know that Luna can be trusted not to misbehave. I feel that I am mistreating both dogs because they are accustomed to being with me at all times when I am home and sleeping near me. I feel at the end of my rope and hope there is something I can do to have both dogs live in peace together. Any suggestions?

We live in the country and have a 12 month old GR (not neutered). Up until the last few weeks he & the 2 &1/2 year old German Sheppard next door (not neutered) have been best buddies. Over the last week they have been at each others throat. Today I came home from work and our GR was bloody & beaten up. I talked to the neighbor and the Sheppard is in about the same shape. What can I do? Everyone seems to suggest neutering, will this help? What about if the other dog is not neutered? Should we let them sort it out themselves, or will I come home to a dead dog one of these days? Thank you so much for any advice you can give.

I have three boxers. One, a very petite small female, mild-mannered boxer about 1.5 years old, a thick brindle female, around three, rescued last October and a large male boxer (largest I've ever owned, had about 10 boxers in my life) who is also a rescue, rescued at the same time as the brindle female, also about three. This large male acts like the alpha, and the brindle female, subalpha.

Everyone had been getting along fine. Though I did have some warning signs because Charlie had been growling and warning the two females to stay away from the glass door as he peered in at me. Also, some other behavior now that I think about it, I always separate them when they eat. Tonight, there was some kibble on the ground outside and Charlie started a fight with the large female over a kibble bit. They both went at it. I live alone, so it was scary and tricky to break them up. I got a ten foot pole and had to strike them with it. I am VERY lucky I didn't get bit. I grabbed Charlie's collar and pulled him away. I read your advice, but one thing that was very disturbing was the small female who does not have an aggressive bone in her body, the gentlest boxer I've ever known, kept getting in the way sniffing at them while they were fighting. I was scared they would turn on her.

So basically I have two questions:
1. Will I ever be able to let them all roam together when I am gone? I am worried for Grace as she might get in their way if they had a fight when I'm gone.
2. If Iget rid of one, I have no idea which one to get rid of. The male sometimes warns Grace (the mild-mannered one), and sometimes she seems scared of him (as does the Brindle Female at times). I have had to work with him as far as he has growled at me when I tried to take bones. He doesn't do this anymore, or his food bowl. It was suggested that I hand feed him. He doesn't seem to do this anymore either. Charlie was abused severely before I picked him up from Boxer Rescue. He had neurological problems but seems much better now. SO I have a very big soft spot for him.

On the other than, the brindle female, who looks a lot like one I had before that passed prematurely from cancer, doesn't seem to snap at Grace, but she does get jealous and barks when I pet the others. I tell her no and to knock it off. I also put a bark collar on her sometimes when she gets like this. I know people say two females together is bad. I feel like I trust her more than Charlie plus she lived with kids before (and I may adopt a girl or boy in a year or so), but if he wasn't here, then the pack dynamics would change. The bottom line is, Gracie has been with me since little baby puppy hood and I do not want to jeopardize her life by the other two. I bought plastic muzzles but CHarlie is able to pull it off his head. I feel very upset, I have never had two dogs living in my house fight. My dogs have always been very loving to each other and me. I will not tolerate this in my house. Because blood was drawn, does this make this a losing battle? What about Gracie's safety? Thank you very much.

My boyfriend and I are moving in together, so are our dogs. They are inside and outside dogs. Mostly inside though. He has a male and a female lab. Both are about 2-3 years. I have a lab-mix male that is three. When the boys get together they fight. Even if we take the toys away. We don't feed together and, right now, they don't play together. We have never let it get to blood, just growling and light biting. This was not on purpose, this is when we tried introduction. We're not stupid. We've tried introductions three times. The first time, they played together for a day. Then the mix had to go to my parent's house for a month. The second time, it took two whole days of little supervision and then when my boyfriend when out side, they started.

We play switch and let one in the house while the other is outside. The lab mix sleeps outside so the other two can sleep inside. We don't put toys out that both can get to. We hate that the female is caught in the middle because she will play with either. Everyone is spayed/neutered. We've tried introducing them with leashes, but they still fight. No blood has been drawn yet, but we're afraid it will come to that. My vet says to reward them with a treat when we break up a fight(yes, we are careful to break up fights without getting involved and I read your article, the swinging back and forth is good advice. We've always done that without even thinking). His vet says to just keep them separated forever, but what about when we vacation or go for rides. Help us, we are desperate and no one else can give us any better tips. The dominant male thing is terrible. We just want them to get along at least enough so that they can all be in the house at the same time. What do we do?
I read your notation on the website, about the muzzles. One dog is huge. The purebred lab is about a hundred pounds. He's not overweight, just a big dog. The mix is only about 551bs. Will they still fight? Will it just be a scuffle or do we need to cut nails, to help stop? Do we use a choke chain or prong with the 18 nice lead you suggest? How long should we keep them together with muzzles on? Will they ever be able to be trusted? If I decide to try your muzzle ideas and kennel crate idea, do I just board the males or the female too? Finally, how long do we try, before we need to make other arrangements. Weeks months or a year?

Thanks so much in advance. You seem like the only person who will give straight non-sugar coated advice!

I need a professional recommendation regarding muzzles. I am preparing to move in with my man and his ten year old pit-bull Jake, with my best friend/service dog, eleven year old Great Dane Einstein. Both are fairly aggressive toward other male dogs, both are intact (neutering is not an option for either at this juncture). In order to cohabitate we agree they will have to be muzzled until and if they can learn to get along. What style(s) would you recommend? Einstein is extremely sensitive and WILL attempt to remove any muzzle I put him in, I don't know about Jake. I should probably add that as Einy's alpha female I have few diciplinary problems other than fighting and at less than 5' /100 Ibs. and a seriously messed up back, I would rather not have to try to disengage these two. Your opinion will not only be greatly appreciated but highly respected as well.

I absolutely love your site. Your section on dog fights was very interesting. I will always remember it. We recently had a dog fight between my son's 125 lb. lab and my 80 lb. lab. The larger of the two, bit onto the side of my labs face, and WOULD NOT RELEASE. Luckily, there were many people present. My son grabbed his dog by the collar. My husband grabbed our dog by the collar. Still NO RELEASE. Out of desperation, I repeatedly kicked the biting dog in the underside of his neck with the top side of my foot. After several kicks, he finally released. Our dog ended up with quite a few deep teeth holes, and I had a bit of a sore foot. I'm sure the larger dog had a sore neck. Thank you for your informative article. It sounds like a great way to end things with the least amount of injuries.

My question on this incident is: my son rescued his 125 lb. lab. He was kept in a small kennel with a mean pit bull for the first 2 years of his life. He came to my son starving, and terribly scarred. Is the biting down and holding a normal action for a fighting dog, or was this a learned trait from the pit bull? This lab incidentally has turned into a very happy, healthy great dog for my son and his family. He has and will never be allowed around my male again though.

I also have a question for you about dominant dogs. I loved your article about not allowing a dog to walk ahead of you, and literally slamming the dog back with your leg if needed when it happens. I have done the exact same thing. I also will not allow a dog to put it's paw up on my lap, arm, etc. when it wants attention. I quickly slap it down, and have even had to hold a paw down hard on the ground to get my point across. I have no problem letting my dogs know that I AM THE LEADER OF THIS PACK!!!! But what about dominance between dogs? I have heard you should never intervene with that. Am I correct?

I have a male and female. The male is the dominant one. At times, I feel he has been too dominant. So I intervened. I was laying on the floor, and the male would not allow the female to come higher towards my head than he was. If she tried, he would snip at her. Eventually, he growled at her. Since I have grandchildren around a lot, I decided growling of any kind would not be tolerated in my house. I scolded him, and would not allow him to do it. I went so far as to allow only the female by me, and not him. This seemed to change him, almost as if he lost his "manhood". After a few months, things seemed to go back to normal with him. He still gets to lay the closest to my head, but the female wouldn't think of trying to lay anywhere near my head, and there is no growling needed. I am though still bothered by this situation because I feel I am loosing loving times with my female. When I lay down to cuddle my dogs, it is always the male that gets all the attention. This just doesn't seem fair to me. Did I handle this situation correctly? What should I have done? And, how can I fix things now? Or should I? Thanks again for your wonderful site.

I am in need of advise, I have 4 german shephards, one female and 3 males. The dogs have always been obedient, more behaved for my husband than I. In the last few weeks I have been having a lot of problems with the youngest male dog (29 months old) fighting with the second oldest male. This only takes place when I am home. When my husband is home we have no problems. This youngest dog has always been "my baby" raising him from birth, he is very energetic, outgoing, and obedient. He has never growled at me, I have no problems with him being aggressive with me, just the other male dogs.

I have been reading books and your web site and realize maybe I don't seem alpha enough to him. He does do things like go down the stairs before me, or out the door before me. My husband refuses to get any of the male dogs fixed. (female is fixed) Any ideas, I have been keeping them separated when I am home alone, but don't want to do this forever. I love my dogs dearly, but this is making me and my relationship with my husband miserable, he does not understand why I can't keep control when he is not home. HELP...

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