I have 4 puppies left out of a litter of 10, They will be 9 weeks Tuesday, My problem is they all are fighting, Its not playing anymore they are drawing blood, I would think I need to separate them but is there other things I can and should be doing? I have really got my hands full right now. I have never handled so many puppies together like this. I would appreciate any experienced advice.
Niomi Smith Webboard User Reg: 04-20-2009
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Loc: Whitehorse, Yukon
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Yes! Please seperate them, if not to prevent more fighting, than to prevent them bonding to each other too much.
You can bring them out together for some exercise a few times a day, but all imprinting and house training should be done seperately. You will need to crate and rotate them throughout the day.
Anne Jones Webboard User Reg: 04-29-2004
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Loc: Northeast
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After 8 weeks the pups should be kennelded seperate from each other & not be kept together at all anymore. If this is not done,at the very least, they will bond to each other & that will keep them from forming good bonds with people later on, if & when they move on to a new home. They are also old enough to start really developing pack behaviors that can be far more damaging when they fight for rank in the pack, as you are now seeing. This fighting will continue to esculate over time until pack ranking has been finally solidly established.
You will need to spend time interacting with each individual pup.
You will also need to start the process of socialization away from the kennel & with new places & things, if this has not already been started.
The major window of socialization is until 16 weeks of age.
ok, Thanks very much both of you. I am crating them separetly starting tonight, So far they all love people just not each other. I have been socializing them, I'm trying to do all the right things but, boy, what a humbling experience. I am phyically and mentally exhusted. I have been fortunate that the puppies have been turning out to be very nice. Thanks alot, Take care.
Anne Jones Webboard User Reg: 04-29-2004
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Loc: Northeast
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The work involved in 'doing it right' is why many people should not breed. It is ALOT of hard, time consuming work. It is not a walk in the park by any means. I think that most people have no clue as to what is involved in raising a litter of pups, never mind higher drive pups.
Rather then ever putting them together again,which is not a good idea, I would find a very puppy friendly older dog, that is very tollerent, that you might be able to introduce the pups to,individually, so as to have them interact with other dogs & have a good mindset about it. As of now they are thinking other dogs are something to not get along with, since they are fighting with each other. The trick would have been to seperate them, before they got to this point, which seems to be pretty common at around 8 weeks with higher drvie dogs.
Good luck with finding homes for the remaining pups.
your right about not knowing whats involved in raising pups, I have spent last 2 months with hardly any sleep, working a 50 hour week at work and coming home and taking care of these babies. There are plenty of times I wanted to sit down and cry, But you know it is pretty cool to. I do have a whole new respect for those of you out there that are good breeders, and care about more than the dollor. There are 2 more puppies that have homes but have to wait til this coming weekend to go. I have also been very picky about the homes that they are going to. This has been a great learning experience though. I think I will leave it up to more experienced people. Love those baby puppies though!
I think that pups learn bite inhibition, and how to control their tempers by this interaction. It's an important stage of development. Unless these are super fine coated dogs and you are worried about ears being ripped....
Maybe I sound like "bullying in school is part of growing up" -- but I do think they need to learn that fighting can hurt and a pups got to control himself.
Maybe some more exercise would be good for them.
I bet you are exhausted.
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#301211 - 10/30/2010 06:45 PM 
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