I have 2 young basset hound/golden retriever mix dogs, which are brother and sister from the same litter...

Hello,

I have 2 young basset hound/golden retriever mix dogs, which are brother and sister from the same litter (They will be 2 March 20, 2002), and they have begun fighting with each other. This has been going on for about a week. One is male (BG); one is female (Penny). They have a large lot in which to run. I bought each one a chew toy (a green one and a blue one of identical shape & size) and it seems that the fighting started after that. The male is shorter, looking like a basset hound, and the female looks like a short-haired golden retriever. When we first got the male, he had parvo and was in the hospital 3 days; in the meantime, we got his sister so that he would have a companion. We had to keep them in separate locations, though, until she had had her shots to prevent parvo. We put them together in the location where the male was living. At first, he was afraid of her, but then they started getting along beautifully and would usually nap together and would run and play together.

This recent behavior has me baffled. My husband separated them this morning and put BG in the large lot and left Penny in the kennel part of the lot. I don't know what to do to let them be together without fighting. They had never shown aggressive behavior before. BG has blood on his neck and Penny has a skinned nose.

BG seems the most dominant, but I'm not sure that this is the case. They have been neutered and spayed. Please help. Thank you,

Louise