Dog Community

Two of my dogs are not getting along

Posted : 10/1/2010 10:37:30 AM

I own 10 dogs. They are all simliar in size. 10 to 20 pounds. 4 small terriers. 2 mini poodles, 2 mini shnauzers, 2 mix poodle terrier.

Ages are 2, 7 months. 4, 1 years old. 2, 2 years old, 1, 3 years old. 1, 5 years old.

I'm having a problem with 2 of the 1 year olds dogs fighting. A mini poodle and a rat terrier. Both neuterd males. It has gotten to the point where I am keeping them separated now.

When they starting fighting. The fights would end on its own with no injuries. I would put them in their crates to calm down. And that worked for a little while. Then this last fight involved almost all the dogs.

They ran out into the yard as usually. Two of the girls started to snap at each other which got the boys going. The mini poodle and the rat terrier started to fight. Then one of the other neutered boys(terrier poodle mix) joined in(he is also a year old) So it was two on one. The Rat terrier ended up with puncher wounds on his neck and head.

While they were fighting a couple of the other dogs were fighting among themselfs, which stopped on their own.

To break them up I picked up the Rat Terrier. He was still hanging on to the poodle. He finally let go. As I was walking across the yard to bring him into the house. The poodle was jumpping up on me bitting at the rat terrier.

Since then they have been sparated. I don't think I can trust them together again.

I have been reading the thread on Amber and Bella fighting. By reading that. It sounds like they will never get a long. And that the fights will get worst. Now I'm worried about the other dogs starting to fight as they get older. I can't have a pack of dogs all separated from each other.

I had a similar situation with a larger dog attacking a smaller dog. The larger dog was a Golden retriever. The smaller dog was a poodle mix. Both females. Same thing happend. The smaller dog ended up in the ER. With wounds all around her neck. She had to have drains put in. It was pretty bad. I knew I could never trust them together again. I'm sure there were warning signs, but I did not see them. As hard as it was, I ended up finding a new home for the Golden. I didn't want to chance it.

Now with these two guys. They are the same size. But, like I said. The last time they fought. It got the whole pack going.

I need some advice on weather or not to rehome one of the dogs fighting. Or should I keep doing the rotadog. I feel bad when we are out playing and one of the other dogs are locked up in the cage. They can hear us outside playing. They do get their turns. But whoever is in the crate crys.

Also, now I'm worried. That when some of the younger dogs get older. Their going to pick fights. And there is no way to prevent it. It is just their temperament. Or is there? Shold I chance it and keep them. Or find them new homes now while they are still young? I have gotten the advice from some groups. Saying I need to walk them all as a pack everyday. That would be impossible to do. Another group said because some of the dogs sleep upstairs with us and some downstairs. That I have created 2 packs. But the two boys that are fighting both sleep downstairs.

I know it would be much calmer around here with less dogs. It's hard letting them go.

glenmar

Posted : 10/1/2010 10:47:40 AM

You need the help of a very good, professional behavioralist to see if this can be sorted out or if one or some of these dogs would be happier in another home.

Agreed, it's hard to give them up, but if they are not in a safe and secure environment then it's better for the dog in the long run to go to calmer enviornment.

Mike Jordan

Posted : 10/1/2010 11:28:24 AM

If you can determine what is causing the problem in the first place, you may be able to prevent it from happening, but unfortunately, it may already be to late for these two. The problem with having a large number of dogs, they can go into pack mode very quickly under the right conditions and you could end up with a full blown riot on your hands.

It sounds like with these two, that even if they get along or even ignore each other most of the time, you still will never be able to trust them because you won't know what sets it off. Some dogs are just not meant to be in a home with other dogs or with more than one or two. You may have that situation here.

There are people that can help, but there are also a lot that say they can help and all they will do is take your money and not change things or worse, make it worse. One thing you do need to do, is find someone that can evaluate the dogs and find out if one of them would be better in another home and which one. You could re-home one dog and find out that the other dog just finds a dislike for a different dog in your group. So if you are going to re-home, you need to be sure it's the right one (also that it's not both). And you need to know if putting one of the dogs in a single dog home will improve the dog's behavior. And you have to be fully open with whom ever gets the dog too, because someone unsuspecting of potential problems could have problems as well if they didn't know the past history of the dog. This is true if they have young kids in the family as well since young kids can seem just like a bunch of other annoying dogs to a dog.

And, though most people don't want to hear it and they will stay in denial right up to point that real damage is done, but some dogs do not have the best of temperment. I've seen dogs that the owners tried everything and finally had no choice but to put the dog down because of aggression and the liability because of it. Hopefully for you, if nothing else works, just re-homing the right dog will take care of it.

Good luck.

Mike

JackieG

Posted : 10/1/2010 11:37:34 AM

You need the help of a qualified behaviorist who will come to your home to observe the dynamics and give you some help and insight. Here's a site to find a professional. Good luck.

http://animalbehaviorcollege.com/dog_trainer_search.asp

Shany8

Posted : 10/1/2010 12:38:59 PM

Husband is not willing to pay for someone to come into the home to evaluate them.

JackieG

Posted : 10/1/2010 12:42:01 PM

Shany8
Husband is not willing to pay for someone to come into the home to evaluate them.

It will probably be cheaper than the vet bills you will incur if the problems aren't solved.

Liesje

Posted : 10/1/2010 2:11:56 PM

People can make suggestions/observations but with THAT many dogs, there's just no way we can get a handle on the dynamics and it would be dangerous for us to even try to help out.

The only suggestion I can offer is keep the fighting dogs apart until someone qualified has observed all the dogs' behavior.

Kim_MacMillan

Posted : 10/1/2010 4:13:57 PM

Liesje

People can make suggestions/observations but with THAT many dogs, there's just no way we can get a handle on the dynamics and it would be dangerous for us to even try to help out.

The only suggestion I can offer is keep the fighting dogs apart until someone qualified has observed all the dogs' behavior.

Just what I was going to say. There is no way anybody, no matter how experienced, can begin to give advice over the internet. It's just far too complex.

Shany8

Posted : 10/1/2010 4:22:12 PM

Okay, thanks anyways.

glenmar

Posted : 10/1/2010 4:52:37 PM

We ARE trying to help, and you've consistently gotten the same advise. I think you need to have a serious talk with your husband about the wisdom of an evaluation before you have vet bills that are humongous.

Dawnben

Posted : 10/1/2010 4:55:27 PM

I had a boarding facility where the dogs up to 10 had free range of the facility. These were the same group of dogs together. I had 18 clients and they all used me a lot because they were in the movie industry and traveled all the time. One of my dogs and one of my first clients dog used to get into it. It was always over my attention or food. I could control those things so I could avoid the problem. If you can identify the problem and change that one thing you may be able to solve the problem. Maybe see if you can keep one with you and let the other out with the pack. Then reverse and see if it is one or the other stirring things up you can work with the one dog. I did have one dog I had to send somewhere else to board in the six years I had the facility. It may be the only way you can keep a peaceful home.

Shany8

Posted : 10/1/2010 6:34:29 PM

Does anyone have an idea how much it would cost to have a behaviorist come here to evaluate all the dogs? The closest one was a hour and a half from me. Do they add in travel time?

nfowler

Posted : 10/1/2010 7:10:49 PM

The one here, in Idaho, charges by the issue. She charged about $250 for a package deal in helping my coworker deal with her two females not getting along.

spiritdogs

Posted : 10/1/2010 7:25:19 PM

nfowler
The one here, in Idaho, charges by the issue. She charged about $250 for a package deal in helping my coworker deal with her two females not getting along.

Prices are slightly higher here, but not that much. Well worth it to save a dog, and your sanity. And, as the others have said, cheaper than vet bills.

Mike Jordan

Posted : 10/1/2010 10:59:56 PM

On thing you could think about is some rescue groups and larger dog clubs have people that, while they may not have any offical type certificates or training (if there is any such thing) but they have the knowlege of dogs and the experience to give sound advice. The rescue groups we have in the Bouvier world (and I know a lot of other breeds are the same) do evaluations all the time, mostly of a dog taken into rescue and of a potential home. If you have any of these groups in your area, they may have someone that would be willing to help, even if just a quick evaluation. If they don't have someone, theymay know someone in your area.

Even with experts that charge a lot, you still have to go with instinct and gut feeling on if the person sounds like they know what they are talking about. Get reference if you can and check them out. It's just like vets and groomers and breeders... there are good ones out there, those that mean well but are not very good and those that have found an easy way to take money from nieve dog people (I'm not saying you are nieve, just that there are lots of people out there that are). So it does take some homework on your part.

Mike