Help!!!
Following my bitch having a litter of puppies 01/07/2012 her temprement has changed drastically, so i will start at the begining.  My bitch is one of four the eldest is 10, then her who's 8(shortly), then my youngest bitch whos 4, and finally my dog puppy who is 23 weeks old and son of the one whos 8.  The two older girls have always vied for top dog, but never fought untill the past two months, over the past two months they have had two massive fights leaving both dogs injured, to the point of having to send my old dog to mother in laws.  The other bitch who had the pups is really upsetting me shes never been like this, shes grumblng at me as well, does anybody have any advice? She hasn't had a season since she had the pups, i think somethings not right with her hormones? Its so upsetting, shes my best dog and is my one in a million, once shes had a season she will be speyed.

Given her age, and knowing that she is too old for further breeding, I would have had her spayed 12 weeks after the litter, so don't understand the wait.

Bitches are far more likely to fight to the death than boys.  The saying goes "dogs fight to breed, bitches fight to breathe."

When people on CD have had this problem get out of hand, I've known many who had to rehome one of the bitches.  I feel that, in your own heart, you have already suspected this.  One of our experienced behaviourists may see your post, but I fear you may never be able to safely leave them together unattended.

Sorry.  :-(

Hello,
This is what i thought you would all say, my old dog has now retired from working as she goes lame very quickly and gets tired easily, and will more than likely quite enjoy living on my mother in laws sofa!!! It just breaks my heart that this has happened......i hope speying the agressive one will achieve something?

Having a litter does change a bitch and elevates her status (especially in her eyes), and yes it can at times lead to two bitches never being able to get on again. I can no longer allow my 6 year old anywhere near her 12 year old mother, as the daughter wants to take over (this started after her second litter) and the older girl would not stand a chance in a fight, so I keep them apart 100 % of the time and they NEVER meet, they don't go for walks at the same time, they don't use the same garden, they don't sleep in the same room or even ever visit each other's parts of the house etc.  When bitches fall out it's usually, like Jean SW said, a case of either having the facilities to keep them safely apart for ever more, or rehome one, as if they do have a bad fight one day, one of them may end up dead.

Agree totally with Goldmali.  I had the same thing with 2 of my bitches after breeding and they were never able to be in the same space again.

We have similar situation between 10 year old BC and 6 year old GR. They lead completely separate lives within our home. It is manageable but not what I would wish on anyone. Both are due to be spayed in the near future although I am considering keeping the older girl entire  thinking that perhaps this may resolve the situation. The older girl used to have 'issues' with my now 12 year old BC. Following the spaying of latter girl, they became firm friends.

I have found that I need to keep on top of any bitch that has had a litter after the pups go, as they really get quite above themselves and the status quo and be seriously upset.

Fortunately by being vigilant and my lot being generally sociable and any disagreements are of the all mouth and no trousers, have managed to keep the peace.

In both cases where a younger bitch took over from an older one, it was at this time, but the older were willing to relinquish the spot, (they were the grandmothers of the usurper) and I ensured no bullying was allowed.

Whilst I completely agree with all the posts :-). Do get her health checked as she is growling at yourself etc which doesn't seem like elevated pack status to me, unless she really has got above herself

Forgot to add that!lol  I would to get her health checked just to be sure she's not in pain.

PS  I got my bitches spayed as I was told it would help with the fighting.  It did not.  Only thing that stopped the fighting was keeping them separated.  I did eventually get a truce but it was only because they were too old to fight(arthritis) and only had a couple of teeth left between them!!lol  They totally ignored each other though and were never friends!
Bitches.  Who would have them??lol

Me up to 6 at a time, :) touch wood, would not have a male in the house out of choice.

I had the same problem with Chase and Lois, Lois was nearly 2 when she joined my clan and Chase was 6 months younger and already put herself in the top spot when she arrived 10 months earlier, Rhuari being besotted with her just went with the flow, the girls got along fine, not even a growl when one stole a toy off the other, then Lois had pups[Chase had had 3 phantoms by then] nothing different till the second season after the pups when there was an almighty fight, they were hanging on to what ever bit they had grabbed and not letting go, tried making loud noises but there was no let up, grabbed them by the scruff and shook them, still  not letting go, so decided to prize their jaws apart, guess who ended up bleeding badly when in their attempts to get a grip my thumb got in the way.

I eventually got them apart,blood everywhere which turned out to be mine and separate them to 2 crates and patched up my wounded thumb, a tooth had gone right through the nail, went back and examined the girls and other than wet hair there was no obvious injury[found a couple of tiny scabs the following week when grooming them], spoke to  their breeder who said it was probably Lois who had started it, that having pups had raised her status and she wanted to take over Chase's crown but she wasn't going to give it up, after the seasons were over I reintroduced them under supervision and hoped that it was just a one off, it wasn't and happened again a few months later,like previously I didn't see a trigger and it was me who got injured so from then on unless they were on the sofa either side of me one was always crated, not in a separate room and usually paired up with one of the lads at night when both were crated.

Lois's daughter Lexis was never on the receiving end of any of this aggression thank goodness, she was treated like the lads. My long term plans were to rehome the girls together when they retired from breeding but that idea was scuppered, I don't know if spaying would have worked as Lois died suddenly during a brief illness, I had arranged to rehome her and her daughter after she had another litter for me so instead Chase went with Lexis, the latter returned after 4 days because she wouldn't settle.

My fear is that Lexis and my new girl Maizie get into the same fights when the latter eventually has pups, at the moment there doesn't appear to be a head of the clan but that could all change on motherhood, only time will tell.

I wouldn't wish this bitch fighting thing on my worst enemy, you are on pins 24/7 that things will flare up again and that serious injury would result and not just to me this time.

I hope things settle for the OP but I wouldn't bank on it.

One of the side effects of spaying a bitch is the possibility of an increase in aggressive behaviour so it may not only not help it could make matters worse. The female hormones may cause the fighting but once started it is almost impossible to stop, the hormones are no longer the problem it is more the desire to get rid of the enemy, so I would opt for the separation.

Thankyou for all your advice, following my decision to separate them I came down this morning to a happier household..... No agressio seen anywhere all toddled j to the kennel with no grumbling! The old dog who is at mother in laws is settled, will collect her for walks on thurs and see how we do!!!

I have always had a decent age gap (usually two plus years), though I now have two with a 15 months gap and two with 17 months, and there is certainly more competition between these though fortunately both sets have rather different personalities (one acts pushy the other easy going) which helps too.

I have no incomers, all born here.