I have 2 male puppies (5 months old) not from the same litter, but only a week's difference in age. We have done the usual leader of the pack Alpha thing which works and we know which puppy is dominate and treat them accordingly, but although they have always had a good rough and tumble, it is now ending in nasty fights especially when they have just been fed or given a bonio etc. Sometimes they continue to snap for a while after and sometimes they are best of friends 5 minutes later.I have had to step in a few times (dangerousI know) but sometimes it can be quite noisy and I have neighbours to consider. I don't want to stop them playing together, but I need to nip this in the bud before they get much older. I am thinking of feeding in separate rooms and maybe giving them more time apart in the house. We have started obediance training and want to show them later on.
They are fine with people and other dogs. Any comments especially from breeders who obviously have many many dogs kept together.
Thanks very much

Out of interest, what leader of the pack Alpha thing have you been following, and is this in relation to the dogs or to  the dogs and yourself? :)

I ask because often human intervention can make things worse. Did you assume the dogs would not get on, and so implement some strategy, or were the dogs not getting on before that? What breed/s are they? (Sorry, lots of questions!) It would be hard to give help to be honest unless more can be discussed; can you join the forum? :)

I  personally follow the more recent views on leadership and haven't used pack theory for years re. myself and my dog/s. With dog-dog relationships, the relationship is often very fluid, much more so than we think sometimes; a dog can be leader in the house, and the other dog be the leader out of thehouse: one can be possessive over resources, (bones etc) but that one can actually be the dog that is lower in the canine order. So it's very important to be aware of all this, or things will be made worse.

Lindsay
x

A thought on feeding.  I have adopted the strategy of feeding pups/dogs who don't eat well, or are picky of feeding them together.  I have found this encourages competition and the dogs finish up their food quickly to avoid it being eaten by the other dog/pup. 

You soon see the top dog  mentality develop when one  starts to guard its food and try to take the other dogs meal. With competative dogs I feed them separately as they usualy gobble it up anyway on their own. 

Play fights are common with pups and help to establish the pecking order, however some breeds play rough and it can lead to damage.  I am sure there will be alot more advice on that along in a minute.

I am in agreament with Lindsay regarding the Alpha pack thing, it needs very careful interpretation and guidance to make it work if, and this is only an if, it is relevant in this situation.