I have one male and female who will be breeding and another female who is spayed. The females fight occasionally. Is there any hope for these two?

Question

Hi, I just spent the last two afternoons watching your videos that arrived on Tuesday: 'Dealing with Dominant & Aggressive Dogs' and 'Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet'. They are excellent! I have been doing everything wrong. I ordered these videos after my two German Shepherd bitches were in another fight this past Saturday. To give you some background, I have kept them totally separate for the past six months since their last fight. I was terrified Saturday when my grandson came over and let both of my German Shepherd bitches out into the yard at the same time. Almost immediately they were in a fight. I managed to drag the younger one into the house by pulling up her back legs while my son held on to the other one. He did get bitten, but not too badly. When I examined both of them later, they both had saliva-soaked- hair all around their necks and throats. I couldn't find any bites. The way they were fighting, I thought one would get killed. Now today, in your video on Establishing Pack Structure, you showed a male German Shepherd and a female Malinois. If I remember correctly, he was the bi-color and she was three years old. You let them run together and at one point, they were rolling on the ground and grabbing throats. She was establishing her #1 rank position. You made the comment that if she wanted to bite him, she would have. This looked very similar to what my two girls looked like when they were rolling and thrashing each other on the ground. Could it be possible, that this, too, was a 'rank' fight and not the killing fight that I thought it was since neither of them had bite marks on their throats and necks although they were soaked with saliva. My son and husband think it is too dangerous to keep both of them because accidents like this do happen even though I am so careful to keep them separated. They both are house dogs but I do have runs and crates to juggle them into. These two females are half sisters. One is nine (spayed after the previous fight); the other one is three years old. After spending 7 hours watching these videos, I know I am NOT the pack leader. The younger female knows obedience very well in class but if she is out in the yard and wants to stay out, she grabs her ball and runs away from me. It is impossible to catch her. I have stopped taking her to obedience classes at the club because she has gotten dog aggressive and I'm afraid she will go after another dog during the sits and downs. I've also stopped walking them for the same reason. I also have a champion male stud dog. He usually runs in the yard with the three-year old. She is not spayed as she will be the one I breed next. Do you think having an intact male is part of the reason for the girls' behavior? In your opinion, is there any hope that these two can get along without the constant anxiety and fear I experience every day? I have been breeding German Shepherds for over 20 years and at one time had six of them in the house and never had any fights. Thank you in advance for any help and direction you can give me. I have been unsuccessful in finding a good behaviorist to work with me and these dogs. Patricia

Accepted Answer

If you are willing to do the work to establish leadership things can improve but there are some dogs that can never get along without constant supervision. I would follow the protocol outlined in our groundwork article and DVDs you received.

Fights typically escalate if you don’t do something to prevent them, and unfortunately bitch fights tend to be the worst.

I’ll also add that if you are feeling anxiety and fear, the dogs will pick up on the energy you have and will be MORE likely to fight.

Cindy