Has this happened to anyone else with 2+ dogs?

[minnieme]

The past few days have been interesting....

Minnie and Maya have been doing great since I brought Maya home a month ago. They play pretty well (sometimes Minnie is a little too rough with her body slamming so I'll sometimes interrupt it -- this only happens outside) and are great with zero resource guarding issues. Minnie can be a total a-hole though and will sometimes go right up to Maya while she's chewing an antler and steal it. Maya always allows this. I will then take it from Minnie and give it back to Maya. This has only happened maybe twice and recognizing the unfairness of the situation and potential for danger, I've always tried to mitigate it. Like I said, it's rare -- but has happened. Last night Maya snapped though when Minnie went up to sniff her antler and they started fighting over it. Clearly they won't be allowed valuable objects in the same room again... or at least, they won't be able to get up from their down stays (as in Minnie's case). Lesson learned. This morning, however, they were wrestling as usual but I could tell both of them were getting over-aroused. I did a few break sessions to calm them down, but right in the middle of playing they started going at it again. It's all show and posturing -- none have any wounds nor did I see anybody go for skin. But that's not to say it couldn't evolve into something more. They are both currently in time-out down stays on the opposite sides of the room facing away from each other. Both are scared silly since I was screaming at them during it to get them off one another.

Has this happened to anyone else with 2+ dogs? I know I'm going to need to be more mindful of their interactions -- and I've been lax about it because both of them are SO laid back and sweet. I know this was my fault and my naivete. But does this seem to indicate bad things to come?? Or is this normal sibling rivalry/Maya finding her place within the pack that can be mitigated by careful vigilance? Obviously, I think it's the latter... and I will definitely be more cautious in the future, but I was wondering if this has happened to anyone else....

edit: I should mention in all other aspects, they are great together. We take great walks together, they sleep together, they play tug nicely, and otherwise, are fantastic together.

[Dude and Bucks Mamma]

I think ANY household with more than one dog is going to have scuffles happen. Maybe Maya is now figuring out that she can stand up for herself against Minnie. Minnie is obviously the senior dog when it comes to who has lived there longer.

Buck will try to take Dude's chews sometimes and, depending on what it is, Dude will either defend it or let Buck take it. If it is something like his dinner Dude will defend it but he will let Buck take a yak chew or a calf leg (Dude doesn't like fur). We have yet to have a fight here because Dude just warning snaps and he won't play with Buck so no one gets over stimulated here.

I just don't let them have chews without me being in the room or they are in separate rooms. Sometimes I will even tie Buck to my waist so he can't leave my side. That way, Dude can eat in peace and not worry about Buck taking whatever he has got. Maybe you could tie Minnie to your waist (I don't know how well that would work with a dog who might outweigh you!). That way, Maya doesn't feel like she has to guard herself. We have completely eliminated scuffles here because they aren't allowed to have anything even slightly valuable without one or both of us RIGHT here.

Even when we leave, Buck is in the dog room and Dude is in the crate in the dog room. They are kept separated at all times if we are not there. I think it really is just a matter of keeping a closer watch on them from now on. They are also both female and from everything I have heard, fights happen more between females than opposite sex pairs or male pairs. I would ask Linsey and Natalie. Both have multiple girls, most of which are danes.

[AveryandAudrey]

I have yet to have any of that happen with my 2 dogs I have now. My chihuahua will growl if my pei tries to take her raw food (as my pei eats faster than my chi) but my pei will just walk away. But I know that what you are experiencing is common. Just continue to watch them. I have had it happen in the past with other doggies I have owned.

[Makovach]

I live in a 5 boxer house. Annie(7yrs) and Tucker(10months) are mine. Muttly (15yrs) Sassy (5yrs) and Mollie (1.5yrs) are my uncles. Annie and Sassy get into tuffels like this. Its never over food or toys. Generally it is over people. Annie is getting pets and Sassy comes over to the situation overbearring the person and tries to push Annie away. If Annie wont move, Sassy will snap at her. Then its war. Its happened about 6 times in the last year that i have lived here. But after we get them seperated, they know to back off, and they go back to being fine, sleeping, eating with eachother.

I've noticed Annie will only play with Tucker. If my uncles dogs come up, she will leave and come stand by me. She doesn't like my uncles dogs way of play. They can get nasty.

As long as you keep an eye on them, and its not happening constantly, i think they should be okay.

Are they spayed? Just wondering because i used to work with a breeder and we would get fights between two females that were next to imposible to stop. The raging hormones were terrible for them, once they retiered from show/breeding and were spayed the fights were just little scruffels, not blood baths.

[minnieme]

Yep, both are spayed. These definitely weren't blood baths -- scuffles for sure. Nobody drew blood and it seemed like it was more noise than anything. Like I said, I didn't see anyone actually go for skin. They are never left unsupervised either -- Minnie has free roam, but Maya is always crated while we are gone.

[DaneMama]

When we have scuffles we just keep them separate for a while, not allowing any aggressive play. It takes several days for the physiological response of stress like that of a scuffle to actually go away. Which is probably why they got into it again the next day. Since arousal physiology is higher after a scuffle their threshold for sending them over the edge is smaller...making it easier for them to get stressed out.

I would also try your damnedest to try and be as calm and collected post fight. Dogs will feed off your energy as well. It's best to act like nothing happened other than taking control of the situation without any emotion.

They are both still getting roles established between them so I'm not surprised at the conflict. They don't sound like they will get to the point of not even tolerating each other but there is always that potential.

[lauren43]

Are they spayed? Just wondering because i used to work with a breeder and we would get fights between two females that were next to imposible to stop. The raging hormones were terrible for them, once they retiered from show/breeding and were spayed the fights were just little scruffels, not blood baths.

Really? My experienced rescue people swear that spayed females are the most difficult in the same household because their hormone levels are so out of wack. That is why rescues generally do opposite sex adoptions, they are just more likely to get along.

That being said that doesn't mean Maya and Minnie won't get along, everything is still new but they have been together long enough to not have as much patience for each other as they did in the past. I personally would never allow high value items to be out anywhere (and this could be toys, treats, chews..just know what's most valuable to each dog). This way you can avoid scuffles before they have a chance to start, depending on the dogs these could be little nonsense scuffles they will always have or these could escalate further and you may have blood on your hands...

[minnieme]

Yeah, like I said, both are great about not resource guarding which is why I would let them have them in the same room. They were always supervised though. They will be separated when they have antlers or other chews now, as I mentioned before. I understood that part of it but the fact that they went at it today was weird -- literally over nothing, just over arousal -- so thank you, Natalie for making that point. I'll be sure to let them cool off for a few days.

[Makovach]

Really? My experienced rescue people swear that spayed females are the most difficult in the same household because their hormone levels are so out of wack. That is why rescues generally do opposite sex adoptions, they are just more likely to get along.

Thats just my experience. I had three females (all spayed) for 4 years. Never had a problem. Right now we live in a house with four (spayed) females and a neutered male. never have a problem. Then again, I've been in breeding kennels/boarding kennels with unaltered females/males and they have never had problems. I guess it just depends on the dogs...

[Liz]

We have 3 unneutered males and four unspayed females. Fights are very few and far between. I would never give back a toy or chewy that a senior (more dominant) has taken from a youngster as I am undermining him/her. High value chews are only allowed under my supervision but I rarely intervene when then seniors take from the younglings - that is life, they get over it and remember their place in the pack. I can and do put all chewies and toys away when I want to.

There will be scuffles - just keep the highest value stuff for when you are with them paying attention or when they are seperated. Try not to think about MInnie being unfair - she is being a dog. As a dog she has a right to the chewy of choice even is the younger/newbie has it. It is not emotional or mean and your Maya probably wan't hurt until you undermined MInnie and gave it back to Maya. When my old man Hunter takes something from 1 year old Marshall or 7 month old Domino it is no big deal. They watch the toy or chewy leave and move on to something else. That is just how we handle them.