I have 3 boy springers,2 litter brothers who are 17mths and the youngest 11mths, they have always got on really well until now, the youngest and one of the brothers have started fighting and its getting nasty.
How can I stop this, they have not been casterated and I do want to avoid this if possible.
When dogs fight just how far should you let them go before you intervene, I was told to let them sort themselves out if possible to determine status.

I personally would take action as soon as it stops being rude words - at first blood. Which of the two tends to start the trouble? What is their body language at the time? When do the fights occur - mealtimes, getting leads on to go for a walk, playing getting out of hand?

Sorting themselves out will result in a serious fight and possible horrific injuries. My advice, though some may think its harsh, is to re-home the aggressor, only because there are two others to consider, if there were only one other, I would say keep the aggressor and re-home the trouble free dog.
Dawn.

Hi Dawn, at the moment there is no question of re-homing any of them, they are both as bad as each other and I have no plans to part with either, there will be a solution out there and I will keep looking until I find it. The youngest is going through the I'm the boss phase at the moment so hopefully if I keep on top of it things will calm down.

Hi, its usually the little one that starts and it begins with a growl, as yet the fights have been easy to stop, there doesnt seem to be a reason for the stand-offs, they are fine at meal times and eat together and at this moment are cuddled up together asleep.
What sort of action would you take.

Going by what you say it isn't too serious as yet, thankfully. When my two boys started 'standing off' at each other, I went along the lines of always putting one's foodbowl down before the other, always putting one's collar and lead on first, letting them off in the same order etc. Always the same dog first. Now they seem to have accepted that's how it's going to be, so it seems to have worked.
:)

I take it the older one is alpha. maybe when the younger one starts spray him with water (I did this with Junior and Dozer and Dozer stopped), or use a shake can. I only used the water gun because it seemed to work with mine. Dozer (boston) was trying to be top dog and well Junior (boston) wouldn't let him, since Junior was all ready top dog and more aggressive in that way I kept him top dog. Now him and Junior play very good together. They are only allowed toys when I put them in their kennel since they seem to start alot of fights, they all want each others toys and feel they should have them all and not have to share. Mind you I can put certain toys outside like a dog rope and they all get along great. I just can't let Taz (hybrid) and Junior play together with toys them two will fight. I always treat ect in one order Junior, Tiva, Taz, T-Bone and Dozer, they seem happy to know where they sit in the family.

I'm sure some one will be along with more helpful advice, and good luck :)

ttfn :)

make sure that your place is rigged up so that you can seperate them when you are not supervising them directly. with 3 sets of young male hormones its not surprising they scrap.maybe there is a bitch in season nearby inflaming them! you could consider temporary chemical castration, to see if there is any difference..

Is there anyone on this site that has more than one untouched dog, if so I would love some fed back on how you deal with any problems between them if any and also does it get better as they get older.

What do you mean, untouched? Un-neutered?

Yes! sorry about my wording people refer to it in so many different ways.
I assume if they have been casterated they caim down alot or am I wrong in thinking this.

I have two entire dogs, aged 4 years, (along with two spayed bitches). They get on very well with each other, and I've never had to consider castrating either of them, luckily! How old are yours, and what is the problem?

I have 2 16mths and 1 11mths, I also have 2 spayed bitches 2 yrs, they usually are fine its just over the past day or so the youngest and one of the other 16th boys are trying it on with each other to see whose boss, the other one and the bitches are all ok infact one of the bitches tends to stand between them and growl as she's warning them off this works as well.
Do you think this is just the young one trying his luck, if so maybe it will pass when he realises he cant.
They have always got on fine no problems and they can all be fed in the same area without so much as a growl.

I would watch them very carefully to see which of the two backs off first, and demote that one. It is natural to want the oldest one to be higher ranking than the younger, but it doesn't always work out that way! When they are very evenly balanced it can be the devil's own job trying to see which one needs demoting, in which case I personally would effectively demote both of the squabbling ones and promote the bitches and the other dog until things become clearer. With luck when the hormones have settled down in adulthood (they are surging enormously in the youngest dog right now) everything else will settle down too. That's what I found happened with mine. Good luck.
:)
Edited to add: When my two started squaring up to each other - standing sideways, prowling stiffly beside each other etc, I just firmly said "Pack it in now - on your beds!" or got them both to sit. That seemed to defuse the situation.

I've castrated one of my dogs for severe dog - dog aggression and have had excellent results. It's not a miracle cure though and it's taken a lot of hard work and training ongoing at the same time.
I've had to separate my dogs for 18 months and even now I never leave them unsupervised together although they appear to actually like each others company. At first even the merest eye contact would trigger an almighty fight with both dogs going for injuries. The one I castrated would fight any other dog he came across at the first opportunity but you wouldn't think so now as he plays like a puppy.
Stop your dogs fighting before it starts - body language can play a bit part sometimes (although not always) and look for triggers like glaring, stiff walking, freezing, growling etc.. and intervene. Separate them rather than leave them to chance if you leave the room and remove any other triggers that may cause a jealous reaction like toys lying around. Sometimes petting one or the other can spark jealousy and cause aggression so if you go and pet one and the little one comes and muscles in for a fuss pushing the other out the way then pay attention to him and make sure that he is fussed first. Ignore the others. It may seem hard at first because it doesn't seem fair but it only has to be for a while until the aggressor relaxes with the others.
Too many people give dogs away willy nilly at the first signs of aggession :(. It can be controlled and it can be sorted in most cases if you are willing and determined enough. You just need to find the right way of dealing with it to suit your dogs.
Good luck and well done for wanting to persevere.
Lara x

Thanks Lara, I will persevere with them I adore them too much to part with any, I will try everything possible before I would even contemplate giving one up.

At the moment I have two Stud dogs age 8 and 5 and a young dog 11 months living with 2 spayed and 5 entire bitches, We have no problems at all even when bitches are in season.

But saying that we have had problems in the past when two of my boys having lived together for 5 years totally in harmony started to fight. They set off one day at a show when another dog went for one of them and it escalated into all out war. There was never a pattern to their fighting it just happened and got worse. The only solution was to part with one of them.

I agree with the advice that Dawn gave you previously, if they are fighting at this age then things will get out of hand very quickly and I would consider parting with whoever is the aggressor.

Jayne

Hi

Im sorry but through experience of trying to pull a Springer from another dog ( and getting savaged in the process , by the Springer ) i would rather chance it and pull apart two bull breeds.

So please be careful when trying to part them if you ever need to.

HELEN