male & female staffies suddenly fighting

Question
QUESTION: I have a spayed 6yr old female staffie & a nueted 4 yr old staffie. We've had both since pups and things were ok until the male was about 2yr's. After they had thier 1st fight, I consulted with the vet who recommended we nuet the male, since the female was already spayed. That seemed to do the trick. We went on holiday in Nov '08 for a week and had my neighbor give them water & food each day. The day after we returned they had an extremley severe fight (blood everywhere)The fight broke out as we were feeding them. A couple of weeks later it happened again, but this time kind of "out of the blue" (no food involved) It seems as if the male has to get our attention first (the male attacks the female) this has now happened 5 times and they are ALWAYS severe fights. The last time I needed medical attention too after trying to seperate them. We have now kept them apart (1 in the front yard, 1 at the back) for about a month. I see no signs of agression towards the family. I love them both but am too scared of what may happen again (my 2yr old daughter comes first!!) Any suggestions before I get rid of the male.PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.

ANSWER: It's absolutely impossible to make any suggestion for rehabilitation without a much fuller history of behavior.  What sort of breeding do these dogs have; where did you get them and from whom; what sort of training have they received and by whom in the family; there are many questions, all of which need answers.  You should be looking for an in person evaluation, not posting questions on the internet.  Call the high end veterinary hospitals in your area and look for a certified applied animal behaviorist.  Steer clear of macho dog trainers who seem particularly attracted to this breed and breed type and who will MAKE IT WORSE.  Rehoming an adult male Pit Bull is serious business.  There are more than sufficient numbers of miscreants who will take this dog and use it for bait (to teach others to fight and kill.)  A home check needs to be done; a veterinary reference and two personal references need to be gotten AND CHECKED.  You can't just hand this dog over to anyone and unfortunately the people out there looking for "pit bull free to good home" should most likely be incarcerated.  Proceed with caution.  Keep the dogs separated by bringing them into the house on staggered schedules; it is not humane to confine dogs outdoors.  Find a behaviorist; if you can't, look for a real rescue organization with an IRS not for profit standing who can help you to find the male a good, lifelong home in a situation where he will be cared for, not abused.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your prompt response.
I must clarify, that these are staffordshire terriers and not Pit Bulls. They are both thoroughbred and purchased through private breeders. Both have had all thier innoculations, well looked after and Very much loved. They both sleep inside at night (although now in seperate rooms). The only training they got was from myself, which has been your very basic Sit, Stay, Paw, etc... No attack training or any other form of agressive stuff. I also have absolutely no intention of handing the male over to just anyone. My vet is actually one of the options. I only posted this question when I stumbled across other Q&A's from here, whilst googling trying to find out a bit more info as to what could've caused this sudden change in my dog's relations toward each other. They are both very loving dogs and although they look intimidating they would probably lick you to death if anything. What has caused my dogs that have been living happily together for the past 4 yrs to suddenly start fighting like this????

Answer
It appears they haven't "just" started fighting, since you report an incident when the male was just two.  That is a plateau of adult behavior and it's not uncommon for dogs to exhibit sudden changes.  This may have begun as a rank opportunistic move on the part of the male.  What disturbs me is that these dogs are opposite sex.  However, their breed contributes to the issue.  This breed requires serious training from an early age, not any sort of specialized training (as you may have misunderstood me to mean), but positive reinforcement training in order to obtain and maintain psychological rank.  This is not a casual breed.  The development of this problem was most likely occurring right in plain sight but you were not perceiving it.  This is an educated guess, since your report was quite brief and really didn't present sufficient information for me to even hazard an educated guess.  The neighbor may have contributed by his/her sudden and unexpected presence involving food.  It's possible a rank related problem that was lurking finally erupted again during the stress the dogs were experiencing while you were absent.  As I said, to rehabilitate this (if it can be done) you need a behaviorist.  Each dog needs to be evaluated for temperament and a complete interview has to be done with you and other family members.  There's a great deal more to this story than a sudden eruption.