I've been pondering the idea of same sex aggression in dogs. I have one dog in my home who is an absolute bully of a bitch. If she can't possess an item she will find something to try to possess to pick a fight over it whether or not the other the other dog gives a rip about it or not. I interrupt this process whenever I see it but it doesn't mean she stops trying to spark this behavior the next time. It's just kind of who she is when I'm not telling her what to do. I manage the behavior and it's been a long time since I've gotten so much as a nasty look between her and another dog in the house.

I've heard it said about certain breeds that same sex aggression can't be curbed, that you shouldn't have two dogs of the same sex in the same home, etc. I have multiple girls that I manage just fine, I just need to watch that they aren't in a position where they'll be fighting over something but generally speaking we live just fine. No fights, we can all go into the yard together but I would never leave them unattended just like any dog pack. These are not however high drive dogs, and are as soft as soft gets.

For those with more experience in a home with multiple intact boys and high drive girls do you see more same sex aggression? I guess I'm not seeing anything but aggression based on dog etiquette not distinctly "You're a girl. I'm going to be an A Hole to you because of that." My boys could honestly care less about each other, they never fight, or even look sideways at each other even when a girl is in heat.

My family has had up to 4 boys in the house with no problems but any female is a guaranteed fight with Xena. She absolutely will not tolerate another female on her home turf unless it's one of her special friends that she understands is not part of the pack and interacts with a lot outside of the home. Very young puppies is another exception but they're out of the house as soon as they turn 8 weeks old. This is with a mid-low drive Boxer.

I've seen lots of male packs that work out great but heard about too many fights to recommend putting two females together. Obviously it can work with the right owner but it's not something I would suggest.

The boys are neutered and Xena is spayed but was spayed later than normal at about a year.

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I've been pondering the idea of same sex aggression in dogs. I have one dog in my home who is an absolute bully of a bitch. If she can't possess an item she will find something to try to possess to pick a fight over it whether or not the other the other dog gives a rip about it or not. I interrupt this process whenever I see it but it doesn't mean she stops trying to spark this behavior the next time. It's just kind of who she is when I'm not telling her what to do. I manage the behavior and it's been a long time since I've gotten so much as a nasty look between her and another dog in the house.

Same exact situation here, most likely the same breed of dog!
I grew up with 3 and 4 male GSD dogs, never an issue. Have never had an issue with any of my male dogs. These two females lived together for 6 years without any problems, and when my senior, male, GSD died, within two weeks these two were at it, well, only one starts it! I can also tell you that I have one family member with same breed, same sex, 2 females, same problem!

I have two intact females, If I'm not there working them they are in the kennels, I can't keep my eye off them for a moment. They pretend to get along but the moment they think "Daddy isn't watching" the ranking behavior starts. what helps is they are ball monsters so I give them their ball and they are more concerned with that then each other

I have had same sex aggression with our two Border Collies that are the same size, nearly exact same age and ...I think most importantly, the same drive. They were fine til about 4 and then one day squeezing through a doorway one took offense and a fight started. Sutured eyelid emergency call and they were not trustworthy again for 5 or so years. Never not have one crated as one was free or they would go for each other. Granted that we have a small house so encounters were close. BUT once Widget, the brussels matured, second heat and we left her intact.....the two BCs settled their stress and don't fight and can be out together...for the past couple years. Never do we leave them loose unsupervised but that is common sense in a multidog, multi size household.


My mom had a mother daughter pair that were the same til the days they died. BCs also. But she didn't have other dogs in the house ever...she died before that.

My sister has aggression with two intact males (which I have not had). Neutered one since he was older and finished in conformation and it eased it a bit. Also helped that her infirm female antique girl is gone now too. Less pack stress in general. All drivey Portuguese Water Dogs.

I think often it is same breed because then the temperament and drives are likely to be very close too.

My female Mal and female ACD (both very high drive dogs) spent the first year together picking fights constantly. The behaviours of my Mal were based on controlling movements of the ACD (nailing her at the bottom of the stairs, coming out of a crate, at the door). The ACD is more of a guarder (bones, toys, food). I worked very hard with them and a pro on aggression to make life better. They were eventually able to be lose alone together while I'm at work.

When I added a boy into the mix, the girls did mellow out a touch. Around 11 months old he took on pack leadership (from my female Mal) which took the stress off both of them.

My dogs live in the house 100% so it was really important to work through the issues. But I definitely needed a pro to help me.

So is this really just a dog management issue when problems crop up? Is it that it's simply easier to have dogs running around behaving like dogs with pack dynamics as opposed to obedient pets? Is it some disney ideal of how we think dogs should be as opposed to how they really are?

I guess I was just a little baffled that a dog breeder would tell someone they wouldn't sell them a male dog if they already had one, neutered or not if the person had two dog crates and the ability to open one and not the other at the same time.

I don't really have any answers, but would it be out of the question to let your dogs have it out, and settle rank? Obviously under supervision in case it got too crazy. I would put prongs on both dogs with their leashes dragging. <---Just a thought, talk it out with more experienced dog owners, this is what I might have tried if I didn't have this board as a resource.

Do you have any local pro trainers around you? Elise has a good family of dogs, and I agree with what she had to say also.

 Quote: Spencer Martin

I don't really have any answers, but would it be out of the question to let your dogs have it out, and settle rank?

Haha... NO! No. and no. Doing something like that is a failure of dog ownership.

Honestly if any two of my dogs hate each other that much they can be separate all the time. I don't mind managing a rotation of dogs. Really my dogs I can manage just fine, I rule my roost so to speak and I have no squabbles. It's more important to me that my dogs are mentally well than living together. After all they don't NEED each other. They just need me. Happily I can manage my herd.

I'm just wondering about the unwillingness of people to go there. I have trouble I guess with the disconnect between the dogs people actually have vs. the dog they believe they should have.

Big negative here with letting them duke it out!
Rotation is not a problem at all.