I have 2 cavaliers aged 3 and 5mths which have started to fight. At first they seemed to be play fighting but recently it has got quite bad. They are growling and teeth showing, sometimes quite afew yelps are heard. At first they slept in the same bed all curled up together, but now they won't. I am not sure what to do ?? I try to show them both the same attention and it does seem to be the 3mth old girl and not the 5mth old boy that starts the fights.

Any advice would be very gratefully appreciated.

It might just be that theyre trying to sort out the pecking order - if you try and tip the scales in favour of the bottom dog then you may just make things worse. Perhaps try and work out which one is top dog and then treat it that way - greet it first, put its food down first, and generally just recognise that its alpha dog. If they are fighting for pack status, the sooner it is settled, the sooner the fighting will stop.

As Isla says, dogs don't want to be equal! They're much happier when they 'know their place'. They are very young for this to be serious (especially the bitch, who is just behaving as all puppies do - play-biting etc The yelp from the other pup is what stops the game. That is what people with only one pup have to do, because there isn'e another dog to do it for them!) Watch them closely to see if there is always one who starts games etc, because this one (probably the bitch) is likely to be the 'upper' dog (not necessarily dominant in the negative sense of the word).

Don't try to treat them the same. It won't cure anything, and may well make things worse.
:)

Thankyou for your advice. I do think the bitch (the youngest) is the leader of the 2, I have been told before that bitches tend to end up as the leader or more dominant. The eldest does tend to be closer to me (he is very clingy and wants my attention all the time), but he lived in my home for 2 months before the youngest came along.

Hi Cath i have both dogs and bitches and i have to say the girls are definitely boss over the boys ( and thats just how it should be isn't it girls);) :D

It seems that the dog is turning on the bitch pup now. They seem to be fighting alot more, when they are out, in the house and in the garden. They are charging at eachother on their back legs, growling, biting and more. I am not sure what i should do as I am scared one of them will get hurt.

im have the same problem with my jrts but mine are different sexes.

My cavaliers are differant sexes too, a 3mth old bitch and a 5mth old dog.

It's very unusual for such young pups, particularly of your breed, to be that aggressive towards each other. Are you sure they are actually fighting and not just playing very roughly. Even my poodles can play quite hard at times!

Jesse

my jrts are male 6 months and female 18 months,merlin seems so nasty when this happens here,my bitch gets scared sometimes as he leaves his mark many times.

If it's any help, when my youngest two were pups, their mum and their big sister had scabs all over their cheeks and necks where the babies had been playing. Those needle-teeth are just so sharp, they puncture by accident. The adults scolded them when they got too rough, though, and by the time the pups changed their teeth they ahd learnt bite inhibition.
:)

Hi
We have two lab pups aged 14 weeks, they play fight alot and often seem to be hurting each other. We worried about it but the vet advised us to let them get on with it and determine who is the alpha dog. Better that they sort this out now before they can do any real harm. So far Holly has had a ripped ear. Hopefully your two dogs will sort things out

Thankyou, at least i know I am not the only person to have this problem !! I will leave it for now and see what happens, Fingers crossed they calm down soon. Good luck with your labs .

Last night I let them be, if they fought I just left them to it. After about 15 mins they seem to get bored and went to sleep (opposite ends of the living room). They only seem to fight on an evening when we are all in the room relaxing and watching TV, during the day they chase eachother a round the garden but thats all. Are they doing it to get my attention?

when reef was a pup he used to literally hang off hambles face.....i was forever parting them..but she would let him know when enough was enough.

I shouldn't worry too much, it sounds very similar to my worries: I have a Staff who is now 18 weeks, and he has a play mate at work who is a loopy dalmation and is 11 months. They play constantly throughout the day and I was worried as it seemed to be getting rough, and poor old Sam (the dalamation) was getting several battle wounds; but as other people have said it can't be helped as Puppies have such sharp teeth, and well if Sam doesn't complain then myself and Sam's owner don't worry. Interesting about the attention grabbing; when the boys are being too noisey or rushing around too much; we shut them both out into another room away from any people..and guess what; they don't play they both sit waiting at the door until they are let back. The moment they come back into the room the playing commences. Being a Staff my little chap is quite a chatty soul, especially when he's playing with Sam; he makes all sorts of snorts and growls; but there is a difference these are play noises...you know when it's no longer a game!