I had a real shock the other day when our (8yrs) and (15months)
had a real set to.
The history is the 8yr has always been a bit bossy with bitches and in fact had two very bad attacks on two bitches one was little spaniel we were fostering and the other was an elderly one also fostering here,in both cases she completely lost it and it took three of us to get her off,to be honest I was so upset I nearly to her to the vets :( anyway with much consideration and thought I realised that both times she was very hormonal once pregnant and once in season.
We had her spayed two years ago and she was great we bought a puppy bitch and she actually mothered her which was amazing anyway recently we bought another bitch puppy who is her grandaughter,minnie the 15month and harriet the pup get on great,and the older one keeps aloof ,anyway there was a box full of dog treats in my front room/office and minnie came in and an almighty fight ensued.Now I'm really devastated as it seemed to me minnie was trying to make friends again but now Im not sure today on our walk I kept first one then the other on a lead then I let them off and Minnie went straight over to Mattie do you think she is challenging her ? Is it because of the pup? The Dog treats?
Also William (11 has recently died is it a pack shuffle.
I'm sorry but I'm really upset and I'm worried that things wont return to normal again.

Hi Mattie

Sorry to hear of what's happening, as you may know my two girls have been fighting badly over the last 3 weeks, for no reason at all ....they will be laying next to each other one minute and then full blown fight the next..but not just one a day...usually 3 or 4...

I know this probably won't help...but I have put the puppy onto evening primrose oil tablets...and touch wood...there has been no fights for the last week...now I must add that whilst we were away at Paignton....she drew blood from my other dog by hanging onto her lip, whilst I was trying to pull her off..so I was getting very very concerned and was upset by this...but since she has been on these tablets...(only the puppy though) they have both been great...

When it was suggested to try these tablets I almost poo pood it, but I didn't know what else to do...thankfully it has worked for us....

I hope this may have been of some help Mattie...

Natasha

Hi Glenys

You poor thing - can things get any worse for you at the moment - one thing after another.

I don't know what the answer is here - it could be a bit of a pack re-shuffle because of William's passing. I know my Buddy, 14 months old, is very propriotorial(sp) over food, chews, bones, toys and won't let Jasper, almost two, get a look in. I step in and take them away and split them up while they chew etc. They will sometimes have a real set-too over something - I kick them outside or squirt water at them and then they are playing again. Jasper teases Buddy with toys wanting him to play - but then when Buddy respondes he runs away to encourage chasing etc.

It seems your older one thinks these things are hers and that she was telling the baby to keep off. I think you'll have to see how they go but you might have to do what I do and put them out of reach of the dogs and control how and when you give them.

When we are out walking - it's a constant battle between mine for who's in front. I have done what you did - let only one of at a time and i must admit it did work better - also stopped them running away - they do actually love each other and want to be together. They cuddle up in bed so sweetly. Apparently, the old man was at home yesterday and they were in our bedroom - had pulled my white towelling dressing gown of the bed onto the floor and were both snuggled up on it for most of the morning - bless.

Sorry this is rambling - I just wanted to show you that my two can be like this too at times and that you're not alone.

Love

Pam n the rogues
xx

Is Minnie due her season soon too? The bitches that I have that fight were always hormonal when the fighting started (although Muffit will now look to fight Polly at every opportunity so needs to be permenantly separated from her :( ) and it was pretty nasty. Could your older one be protecting Harriet? or could Minnie be protecting Harriet? I really don't know what to suggest to get things back to normal. I had to give up in the end on my lot and just keep them separate.

I do wonder if something is going on with dogs at the moment, my 3 boys had one almighty go last Saturday, we still have no idea what started it, the leg on the coffee table got broken and I got my hand accidently bitten separating them, luckily none of the dogs are hurt. It's the first fight we have had in over a year since Monty first moved in and the only time in all my dog owning years I have had to put the dogs in separate places to calm them down & so I could check them all over. Half an hour later and they were all happily together again as though nothing had happened and have been since. Ingrid

I wonder whether its the weather? My dogs have been more stroppy with each other recently and we have been having quite a few thunderstorms lately (Essex) not sure about other areas but it has been hot and humid.

Oh dear Mattie, how distressing for you - especially at the moment. Can't offer advice I'm afraid, fortunatly I am very lucky with my two bitches, they are both wimps so no problems there. I only hope it sorts itself out.

I agree with the others though I think there must be something in the air, or its the humid weather. My large Greyhound dog, is very moody and grouchy at the moment grumbling at all the others for no reason at all, then wanting to play, which they wont as he keeps on growling at them. In our case I think it is the weather, and it is only grumbles nothing serious.

Good Luck Anyway

Lynda:)

Hi Glenys, can anything else cause problems for you at the moment?;(
Im sorry I cant help a lot, it sounds to me from the posting that the last fight could have been started over the treats. I do hope things settle down for you again. xx

Well im with Ingrid and Bec on this , what is going on I have never in my whole life seen or heard of so many dogs fighting and attacking . I look at the board and there it is again . I am feeling very wary at the moment , so have separated my two bullies girls. I cant imagine how I would cope if they got in a grip like I saw when Berry got attacked. There is a lot of thunder in the air and the weather is very unsettled at present .So animals are more tuned in then us and it could be change is making them irritable.
On the sane side :) Mattie your older dog is losing leadership and the younger dog wants to overthrow her so I am afraid if Im right this will sort itself when the older one accepts she is no longer the boss . the fact that Minnie measured up to her is the first sign she is not taking anymore messing .
Homoeopathic menapause tablets red clover is what my Alice is on at the moment stopped the phantom pregnancies calmed her when hormonal and although I dont think she is long for this world , I feel it made a difference to her . Mari.

Ingrid, Bec & Mari

Do you think it might have something to do with the air pressure, when we have humid/thundery weather??? My sister (who had cerabal palsy (Sp?) ) used to have fits whenever the weather was a bit funny...I just wondered if the dogs might react in their own way too???

Natasha

Hi Natasha
I think you may be right , as I said I never experienced anything like this . It is very worrying . loads of doggy folk here have the same complaint and some of the injuries are bad.
I think in Matties case though it is about dominance , the young one feeling stronger and the older one not letting go .
Poor Mattie she is such a softie , I say it it again the joys of dogdom :)

HI Mattie

It seems as if maybe you are having not-very-good days at the moment, adn one thing i have realised is that the majority of dogs will really pick up on this.

A friend recenlty lost her BSd, and she was distraught/depressed/moody etc. It affected all her dogs and fights broke out, but once she felt better in herself, the dogs relaxed and all was well.

Similarly, i had 2 friends who lived in a caravan, (small space eh!) with 2 huge mastiff type crosses, who were brothers. The dogs got on really well, for 4 or 5 years, until the couple concerned started to argue, then all hell broke loose.

My guess - and of course it is a guess :) - is that maybe the dogs are picking up on you perhaps not being yourself, and it is possibly making them edgy.

HOpe it all sorts itself out soon, anyway :)

Best wishes
Lindsay

Hi Lyndsey,thanks for the advice :) I am certainly not moody at all a bit grumpy maybe but hey whats new :)
I know our dogs sense our moods and all the dogs were sad when william went it was tangible but it soon returned to normal I had prepared myself for losing William and all though I'l love him forever I do believe we live a cycle which ends when we are old (if we are Lucky enough) and I accepted that he was old and it was easier to cope with.
I'm more inclined to think that maybe the hormonal bit is coming in to play or simply Pack shuffle ,John has advised me to try to assert Matties Top Dog Role and Im going with this at the moment.also its all quieting down now the two were lying together the other night and mattie washed minnies face for her. Thanks for evryones help and advice Ive printed it off and will refer to it again if need be.
Glenys :) :)

Hi Mari

I think you are right with the dominance thing...hopefully (Mattie) they will sort themselves out....

As you say Mari, It is quite a worry at the minute, with our dogs having some sort of a problem one way or another, and all at the same time ...my pup growled at my older one last night as she got onto the bed, and I grumbled back at her, I've never seen her move so quickly off the bed !!! Obviously my stictness with her and the tablets are paying off !!

Natasha

I'm convinced as my parrots have NEVER in 27 years been soooo unsettled and laid soooo many clear eggs! I've even had a cock kill his hen who's been his partner for almost 20 years and they're not even an aggressive species. Parrots are stimulated to breed by the amount of sunlight they recieve via their eyes and brain a seretonin thing, wonder if dogs are the same?

My bitches have never been so moody or hormonal I've just had to separate 2 bitches who've lived together happily since puppyhood, the one just wants to kill, yet she's fine with the boarder who's getting over her phantom - go figure!

Hi Natasha, I get very bad headaches (which I don't usually get) when there is a change in air pressure, usually when a storm is brewing, so if the dogs suffer the same then its not surprising tehy can be a bit short tempered!

Hiya Bec...I suppose aswell, because they can't tell us what is worng, they react by being grumpy etc etc...glad I'm not of canine DNA (yet) !!

HI Mattie
I had the same problem with my 2 , the gsp who is the more dominant of the two has several times drawn blood .
The Springer sometimes forgets her place and the fighting can be very savage.
I can normally tell when things are tense,there is alot af snarls and stand offs and the best thing to do is completly ignore each dog,I noticed that some of the tention was created by which dog would greet me,sit by me generally who was number 2 to me being number 1
If i stroked the Spaniel first the GSP would muscle her out the way if she answered back she got a beating, the answer like I said would be to not stroke any dog when things started to grow tense.
The majority of the time everyone nows there place .
When they do fight try not to panic and jump in this can make things worse, I usally walk away and whistle which normally works.
And it is always worse when one is in season.

Hi Mattie, I currentlyhave the same problem with my 7 yrs old bitch and 3 yrs old bitch fighting and they are mother and daughter and have been together all the time. Neither are due in season. We have had blood drawn and I have no idea what sets them off... one minute they can be laying next to each other and then ...bang... they are at it hammer and tongs.... the male just thinks... oh s**t and gets out of the way.

If anyone comes up with a way of stopping this happening le me know PLEASE!

Lynn

just emailed you Lynn and one of my questions was had they settled down again. Sorry to hear they are still at it. Hope someone can come up with a solution for everyone !
Sara

Hi Lynn

Are either of them asleep at the time and do you know if it is the same one who starts it each time?

The reason I ask is that one of my bitches, over the last few months of her life would occasionally erupt from a deep sleep straight into fight mode and would attack which ever dog was close. At the time I could not find a reason, and so ensured she slept alone, but she turned out to have cancer of the eye and associated area. One eye was removed and she seemed better for a short while but then it started up again and she had to be pts when she went blind very suddenly one morning as was obviously in great pain

Christine

Hi Christine, No they arent usually asleep, I;ve not seen either of them wake and start fighting. What I have seen is that it is usually the younger bitch that starts it. She waits until there is someone at the door and they all bark and she will have a go at her mother, maybe she thinks in the commotion I wont notice her. Theya re all fed together with the girls eating next to one another and I have never had them fight over food. One day they had had a go at one another, and I had stopped it before it got really bad and the next day they would just look at each other and grumble, as if they still had an argument with each other and then all hell let loose and they went at it again, this was when the blood was shed. one had a bitten ear (and you know what they are like for bleeding) and the other had a puncture wound in the top of her leg... I have looked for something specific that sets them off but I cant find it.... They have been having goes at each other for about a year now but its only recently (last 2/3 weeks) that there has been blood shed, before that it was my blood when one of them burst my nose as I was trying to seperate them. Its not a daily occurance but it is getting more frequent as time goes on.

Lynn

PS sara i;ve just replied back to you. thanks for your e mail