Hi all

I have a 16 month old lab bitch and a 11 month old bullmastiff bitch.
The problem started when our bullmastiff got to about 6 months old, if the kids dropped a bit of food on th floor she would attack the lab, there would be a lot of snarling but at that point no biting.
After that this would happen about once a week, a couple of times the bullmastiff would have a grave in her mouth after but never anything serious.
Then in January they had a fight in the front garden, i went out when i heard it and shouted at them to stop. The bullmastiff was on top but she wasn't biting just growling, the lab was trying to bite her but couldnt reach. Anyway when i shouted the bullmastiff looked at me and the lab bit her on the face, (no damage Just a graze) at that the bullmastiff swung round and bit the lab, braeking the skin on her face.
I decided there and then to get them spayed (as i thought they were coming into season soon). I booked them in the following week and all was great untill yesturday.

Again in the front garden. I ran out and again the bullmastiff was on top, but this time she had biten the lab on her back, when i tryed to pull her off it lifted the lab up aswell. I knew that if i kept on pulling her it would do more damage to the lab so i let her go and went to get some water *(not sure if it would have helped) anyway as i let her go she let go of the lab.

This fight has resulted in the bullmastiff got biten on the face and has a scratch on her eyeball. But worse is the lab has a big cut on her back.

My kids were really upset, i was really upset and now i dont know what to do, i feel like i am just waiting for the next fight.

The dogs are fine now, they where playng again within an hour and curled up in bed together last night. They are acting like nothing happened.

Has anyone got any advice please, i really dont want to get rid of one.

Thank you Debbie

In a situation like this, IMHO you may have to be prepared to dig in for the long haul and get professional support and advice; someone needs to see your dogs hands on, see the environment, how the family and dogs interact etc as it may be that in some way the problem between the bitches is made worse by human actions or non-actions :)

I do believe that some bitches cannot live together and you may have to sadly consider that...

My advice would be to contact a reputable behaviourist, try www.ukrcb.co.uk, or www.apbc.org.uk for one near you. They can't always help, but they will be able to assess the dogs and if they feel it is likely to succeed, give a plan and support to modify the problem behaviour. YOu will also need to get a vet check beforehand, as sometimes this  can be caused by a medical problem.

Good luck :)

Lindsay
X

Your problem would appear from a distance at least to be related to the fact that being close in age there is nothing lcear cut about which is above the other in status.  By spaying them both you ahve kept the staus between them the same, so in that respect it has made no diofference, andif anything may have naade things worse as the lack of female hormones has sometimes shown an increase in agression in spayed females.

It may well be that in the long run one of them will ahve to be rehomed, or they will have to be kepot apart or at least supervised at all times avoiding any sityations wherte they may compete.  Never have anythignthey might fight over around when they are togethe.  this may mean not petting them when they are both together, as well as not giving titbits.

This does not mean that one or other of them would not be fine with a companion if there was say a 3 year age gap.  they younger ineviatably at least until full maturity would look on the older as above it in the scheme of things, and by the tme it was adult this would be habit.  In your case your two girls are reaching maturity and vying for top spot (one hopes below you) at the same time. 

It will probably help things a lot if you show strong leadership yourself, as fighting for second spot is never as important as for pole position.  A behaviourist would really need to assess the dynamics of your canine famiuly set up.

I agree with the other posts and it may be wise to seek help. I'm sorry to say that I have been in this situation with two Great Dane bitches and it was very upsetting. I had to make the decision to re home one for the safety of both ( I kept the bitch that I had the longest, I felt it was only fair).

I do now have a puppy bitch and so far, so good. By having a good age gap (5 years) it should mean that the older bitch will have plenty of time to teach the pup exactly what the pecking order is!

Best of luck.

Debbie

Unfortunely I hear of this problem far too often with Bullmastiffs when people think that Bullmastiffs will get along happily with other dogs of the same sex, but they won't.I always advice people to have a dog of the opposite sex with a Bullie.That is actually the main reason Bullies are rehomed or in rescue. I am afraid that the problem won't get any better in fact it will get worse.I would suggest that you keep them seperated or you are going to have to rehome one.

Hi Debbie

Separate them!  Fights between bitches can and do escalate until one is killed or so badly hurt she has to be put to sleep.  You can get dog gates (like child gates but bigger) or if your house is suitable you can use wrought iron gates which can actually be bought more cheaply than the dogs gates and fill the entire doorway.  Then all you have to do is teach your children that the gates between them MUST always be kept shut.

Hi
Thank you all so much for your replys. My husband and i discussed what we would do last night and have decided that we will seek professional help with them first and only as a last resort would we get rid of one. I think that our family/dog pecking order is fine and that both dogs except all us humans as above them in pecking order. But i could be wrong!

Before we bought our bullmastiff i asked her breeder if she would get on with our lab and she said that it would be fine. Maybe she lyed to us?

Do you really think that this will never get better?

Thank you again Debbie

We used to have two female toy poodles and the one that was a few months older than the other and also the bigger of the two used to be really jealous of the younger one and start fights with her all the time.  The small poodle got to be absolutely terrified of the other one and although she tried to fight back she couldn't win.  In the end we had to rehome the older poodle because she definitely wanted to be in a one dog family.  We knew a nice lady who ran the local post office and she got an excellent home with her and she used to take her to her bungalow near the beach every few weeks.  I don't think I would ever get two bitches at the same time again, although we have had two border collie bitches (well one was a cross) and I think it worked because one of them was a lot older than the other one.

I don't think the breeder you got your pup from was a reputable breeder as they would be well aware that a bullie bitch wouldn't get on with your other one and really shouldn't have sold her to you. Anyway glad your going to get proffessional help. To make your life a little easier until you get help make sure that there are no toys or bones e.t.c. laying around if they together in the garden or indoors. Also don't give treats or titbits if they are both around. Keep them apart as much as possible until you get help.Another thing to remember is that Bullmastiffs have very long memories and don't forget things whether its good or bad things. Also they tend to have a jealous streak concerning other dogs.Ithink your Bullie is trying to become dominant and be top dog over the other one and this is unfortunetly quite normal.

Hi Debbie i know of friends who have had bullmastiff females and they have all been great together. They had two bullmastiffs and a german sherphard and they all got on fine none of them were spayed either they all lived happily until old age, when they died he bought to sisters and they where great together i think it just depends on the dog   good luck frank i hope this helps

Thanks again for your replys.
I have spoken to a trainer and he thinks that we will be able to sort out our problem.
He came very highly reccommended.

Touch wood the dogs have been great together again. But we are not taking any risks, everything that could cause a fight has been moved and the dogs are kept appart when we are not in.

Luckily we work from home so its very rare that there isn't someone at home.

Thanks again Debbie