Hi everyone would some advice please. I have 2 staffies mum and daughter, mum is 8 and daughter is 4. They are both unneutered. Mum has had one litter and daughter not had any.  Up until a month ago they have lived together in harmony, however in November the daughter turned on and attcked her mum.  I do not know what triggered this as they were together in the garden when i heard the noise, i rushed out and stopped them but mum had been quite badly injured.  I took them both to the vets and they were both given antibiotics and hibi  scrubb and we were sent home, the vet said it could have just been one of those things and may never happen again.  Very cautiously i have kept them together and just kept a very close eye on them.  On christmas eve it happened again, in the kitchen but i was there so stopped it immediately, again dont know what triggered it, there was no food, bones etc around, so that evening i kept them apart.  The following day they were fine, laying on the bed together, daughter was cleaning mum, licking her eyes etc, then last night, we had company around and we were all in the living room when for no reason the daughter just lunged at the mum, it took my husband and father in law to part them.  I have 4 children and this has obviously really upset and worried me.  We have been to the vets today for advice and to get the daughter checked out as i was worried that there may be some underlying health problem causing her to behave like this as she is otherwise a loving docile family pet. The vet has advised us to have her spayed, which is not a problem as we have no intentions of breeding from her, and then maybe look into rehoming.  I am now keeping them apart completely and do not know what to do next.  I have booked her in to be spayed. Has anyone ever had a similar expereience. Thanks for your time

rescue centres in the whole of the UK are currently running at about 50% staffies and staffy x's, so its going to be hard to find a home for one with aggression issues.

its hard for us to advise re aggression over the net, as we havent met the dogs or seen the situation.

you need a home visiting behaviorist

check out these organizations:

http://www.apdt.co.uk/

http://www.apbc.org.uk/

http://www.ukrcb.org/

http://www.capbt.org/

did your vet check for any illness in both dogs that would cause aggression , such as thyroid, arthritis, tumours, epilepsy, etc?

note: i haven made a diagnosis

are either dog in season?

Hi thanks for your reply, vet checked her over and said she was fine, didnt take any bloods or anything though.  I know the situation with staffies in rescue and thats the last thing i want to do.  The vet did say that it looks like she could have had a phantom pregnancy, she was in season in October and 1st fight occured in november.

you do need bloods for some of those checks

the season could well be relevant.

still, id get a behaviorist round

Those very experienced with Staffs never leave two unsupervised together.

They have short fuses, and once a fight breaks out, (can be over the least thing), they will rarely back down, their roots are as a fighting dog, (the terrier part gave them the fire and willingness to fight, the bull part is the tenacity) and this is rarely too far beneath the surface.

Your younger bitch at four has reached social maturity and is simply trying to depose her mother.  They do not see each other in the same family sense, just as rivals.

Chances are this has been building without you noticing for some time.

You only option is to manage things so they do not have the opportunity to fight.  This will probably mean keeping them entirely separate as the younger has already resorted to seriously damaging the elder.

Baby gates, separate areas of the garden etc, depending on what is practicable. 

Spaying rarely has any effect at all on the behaviour of fighting bitches, as it is not necessarily a sexually related thing, unless occurring only when in season, about to come or finished a season, with the rare very hormonal bitch. 

There is some evidence to suggest that spayed bitches having the softening hormones removed are more likely to be aggressive.

I would of course have both adult bitches spayed if they are not breeding candidates to remove the risk of Pyometra.

Sorry to hear this, I was reading your post and thinking how sad it must be to have to rehome a dog due to fighting when they have been fine for so long.  I always have my bitches spayed as I don't breed but only for that reason, I am unsure if it helps with agression.  I would consult a good behaviourist asap and hope it can be sorted.  If you have insurance, your vet can refer you so you can claim back the costs. Fingers crossed.

Thanks, it is so sad, its broken my heart, i dont want to have to rehome her.  Shes such a docile family pet and to see her turn like that was awful i really didnt think she had it in her.  Im taking her back to the vets for blood tests and will take it from there.   Ill also look into a behaviourist, in the meantime its a nightmare trying to keep them apart in the house.  Thanks to everyone for your responses x

> Spaying rarely has any effect at all on the behaviour of fighting bitches, as it is not necessarily a sexually related thing, unless occurring only when in season, about to come or finished a season, with the rare very hormonal bitch.

My experience with terriers (albeit not Staffords) is that it is almost always hormonal. I have known several occasions when mother and daughter have lived happily together for several years, then suddenly one is in season - or just finished a season, and all hell breaks loose between them.

For that reason I would always suggest that, if you do keep two terrier bitches together, they should both be spayed as soon as possible. Otherwise, keep a dog and a bitch together (one of whom is neutered unless you have VERY good provisions for separating them when necessary!)

What you do about these two I don't know - I'd be very pessimistic about the chances of getting them back together on a permanent basis. Once terriers fight, they rarely forget their grievances, no matter how long they are kept apart!