My dogs have lived in harmony for three years and now want to kill each other. What do you suggest? Do you think they will every be able to co-exist again?

Question

Hi.

I have two female dogs who have lived in harmony for three years that now want to kill each other. One dog is a shepherd/huskey (possibly part timber wolf. I was told this when I got her, but did not believe the owner until I saw a timber wolf that looked exactly like my dog); the other is a beagle mix with I don't know what (could be pit bull, boxer...?). Both have been very gentle, but the sheherd/huskey has always been territorial. She won't let anyone near her food or she will give a warning. The other dog is a very submissive dog. The Shepherd/huskey is 14 years old and has cataracts, so getting a little nervous since she cannot see. She gave a warning to the other dog one night two weeks ago when it got too close to her food bowl and they got into a fight to the death. My daughter got bit and I did the wheelburrow pull to get them apart. I slowly tried to re-introduce them and they were fine for a week and then somone knocked at the door where the shepherd was standing and when the beagle came running and barking at the door, the shepherd snapped which caused the beagle to tear into her. We once again got them apart and keep them in seperate rooms. We have a steel gate between the rooms and the beagle mix tried to go through the gate to get to the shepherd. It has been very stressful to keep them apart and I thought a muzzle for them would help. When I measure them, they are both 2-1/2" long and their nose circumference is 9-1/2" for one and 8-1/2" for the other one. I don't see an appropriate size on your guide. What do you suggest? Do you think they will ever be able to co-exist again?

Thanks,
Elaine

Accepted Answer

I do not want to insult you or make you mad but I don’t have a lot of time and I must be blunt.

This is 100% an owner problem more than a dog problem. These problems are happening because of the mistakes your making in how you chose to live with these dogs.

The worst dogs fights are among females. I have a folder on people who have had dogs kill their other dogs.

The biggest triggers to dog fights are toys and food. You should have two dog crates and you should be using them. The dogs should be put in the crate and fed in the crate. These dogs need to go through pack structure. Right now they seriously lack pack structure – that is where the growling at you comes from

Run these dogs through the work in Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Dog. Read the description on the web page for this DVD. This is the beginning trying to fix this dogs issues. If your not prepared to do this you wont fix your problems.

Baby gates are never going to work. You are already finding that out.

Even though I will lose sales muzzles are not the answer spend the money on dog crates. Buy them locally. Dogs can still fight with muzzles on and the fight can be self satisfying. I did a training video for police officer on MUZZEL FIGHTING FOR POLICE SERVCE DOGS. I know what I am talking about here.

So run them through the pack structure and then obedience train these dogs. In this case I would be inclined to do the work in our Basic Dog obedience DVD.

Good luck with your dog. I have added your name to our newsletter.

Regards,
Ed Frawley