When dogs don't get along, is there hope

 I don't have an answer...but will be watching to see other answers.  I only have one dog now...but had two dogs together and they got along great...I realize now after hearing and seeing for myself that I was lucky.  

At the vet clinic where I worked a dachund mix was almost killed twice by the clients other dog....she had 4 dogs...but these two got along only part time.  She knew to keep them crated while they were gone...but her BF accidentally left them out to run to get something, This dog had to go into immediate surgery... where almost every part of her body was torn.   Even after her wounds healed there was no telling if she would walk again.   Eventually she did...and I could not believe that the same laday brought the same dog in more than a year later...thank God she didn't get AS HURT as she was the first time.     Knowing that.....I know I would never have two in my house that did not get along. What if someone forgot one was out when leaving the other...etc.  

I believe it was on this forum a few years ago that one of "our dogs" was killed by another living in the house.

  I dont have personal expierence with this but this article from articles.sfgate.com might help so I copied and pasted it below :)

"Here's the general approach. The first order is to get the household in control.

Exercise one is to teach the dogs to say "please" by sitting. Do this silently by standing completely still and ignoring them when they want your attention and then the instant one sits give him a food reward. Then take a few steps and repeat the exercise over and over until both dogs understand that the only way to get what they want is to politely say "please."

This sounds like it might take a while but it's usually only a matter of 5 to 15 minutes for them to get the idea. You can start by training both dogs together but if you're concerned about fighting you work with them individually.

Once they get the "please" down expect them to use it whenever they want something from you. So when they want to be petted or to eat or to go outside or for you to toss their toy instead of letting them push each other aside make it clear with your actions that they must be civilized. You'll have to practice "sit and please" in each of these situations.

The second line of business is to prevent fights over food someone accidentally drops on the floor. With the dogs separated at first drop a bite- sized treat on the floor and when the dog dives for it block him or step on it so he can't get it. He may paw and even gnaw at your feet. Just keep quiet and let your actions tell him to try something else. Eventually he will back off and even offer "sit and please."

When this happens give him a treat from your hand immediately before he gets up. Then follow by picking the treat up off the floor and handing it to him.

When he's predictably good at leaving the food on the floor you can start teaching him the cue word "leave-it" to mean "keep your mouth and nose away from the object." Say the word once right before you know he's going to perform the "leave-it" action. Repeat this exercise until he knows the word.

Now when you drop something that both dogs want instead of diving and then getting into fights they'll wait politely for you to pick it up.

The last indoor exercise is "come when called." First practice this with each dog separately and call them only when you know they'll come running or when they're on a leash. To turn "come" to a fun game of chase run the opposite way and give the dogs treats when they catch up.

Use this last game when you see that the dogs are about to get into trouble.

That is if you see them tense up or observe that one's getting too rowdy call them apart before an altercation erupts.

As a bonus also ignore the dogs when they're apart and only play games with them when they're together. This will help them learn that the best things in life occur when they're polite and in the presence of each other."

For extra help watch Quicktime Videos on these methods at www.nerdbook.com/sophia

Good Luck :)

The article is a good one and is basically a NILIF approach. When our 2 started having problems, we really implemented NILIF strongly and it helped some. If I had to say which one tool will help more than anything else when you have 2 dogs that don't get along, I'd say it's a foolproof recall. It won't always save the day and in the case of our dogs, it never would've broken up a fight once it started, but there were a couple times when it might have prevented a fight. My dogs have never been the type to snarl or give big warnings that something was brewing. I wish they had. Instead, things could go south in the blink of the eye and many times we never knew what set it off. We also weren't always sure who was the instigator. It's rough having 2 dogs that don't get along and I feel for anyone dealing with it.

 I believe there is hope, but you always have to be on guard. Sammie and Lucy got along great at the beginning but after we moved a couple times there started to be issues. Lucy being an old girl, and Sammie being in her prime - it simply wasn't a fair fight. Lucy was rushed to the emergency vet on more than one occasion. Luckily the wounds weren't as bad as they could have been.

We separated them while I was home alone, but when the boys were home we'd let them mingle. My boss's cousin was a natural healer and was training with animals. She needed the experience so we thought, what the hell and gave it a try. To our surprise you could sense the energy change when she was done.

Since then we've only had 1 innocent and in all honesty it was mostly our fault. The difference between this innocent and the others was that Lucy tried to get away instead of standing her ground. We got between them in time and no one was hurt.  That was almost a year ago.

So yes, with training and patience I do believe there is hope. With that said, I would never trust Sammie and Lucy 100%. I am confident enough to have them out together while I am home alone. I know what signs to watch for, if I notice any sort of tension, I send Sammie to her room. She's a good listener.

 Had a similar problem with two males.  The new dog settled in and decided that my easy going border collie should not be the top dog.  The new dog would push the bc, push him, push him, snap at him.  The bc would give the new dog calming signals and then submissive signals, but the new dog wouldn't stop.  It finally got to the point that the new dog attacked my dog.  the new dog was a Boston terrier, not very big, so I pulled him off via the back legs.  This happened three times before I figured out what the problem was.  the Boston was not reading the bc's signals.  He didn't know that the bc was giving submissive signals, so he just kept pushing.  The problem seemed to be solved after the 3rd and final attack.  My bc tore up up the Boston's ears.  Bloody wounds.  Of course, it took time for the ears to heal up, so every time the Boston went close enough for his ears to touch the other dog, he got a lot of pain.  BC again top dog.

 If this is the case, then you need to train the female to back off.  When you see them getting into the routine, call the new dog and send her to her corner.  She may learn to leave your other dog alone, she may learn that "this" signal from the old dog means she needs to leave him alone, she may not.

anewdog

The new female seems to want to be the dominant dog and the male is submissive to a point but if she corners him he will fight.  She has been using positive reinforcement and trying to slowly desensitize the dogs to each other and build positive associations. 

I am always very cautious about the reported behaviour of dogs. Often we try and get two incompatible dogs to hang out together. It would be like putting me in a room with a tobacco spitting beer drinking redneck. There is going to be a hell of a fight real soon. I can't hold my mouth and..... so sometimes management and seperation is required.

I introduced my oldest poodle to my Lab when she was 8 weeks and he was 12. I did the crate thing, but within a day or so, he wanted his new buddy out with him. They made a very sweet couple. As he got older, she looked after him when he got deaf and a bit doddery. He only once told her off, and that was over a bone that she decided was hers and he said wasn't.

When i looked for another dog  I looked at quite a few adults and in a few seconds it was obvious that Luci was going to give the dog a lifetime of hell. She is a very strong personality and frankly a bit of a bully with some smaller dogs. Her play style is quite tough for her size, i guess that she watched Cadbury a bit.

I introduced her to Sam and they were a match made in heaven. They spend all day mooching and playing. They play fight a bit. They hardly ever have serious dust ups. But they are strong personailities and I don't feed them unsupervised ever, and i set the oven timer to 40 minutes and remove the bones before the fight breaks out.Small Poodles BTW are rated as one of the worst breeds to keep together. I do not let them play together with other dogs. They both need watching and two together is a lot of work.

I think that you have to be honest about your dogs. If you have  an energetic confident OTT brat , don't be suprised if they expect good manners form other dogs and react if they don't get it.