Two female cocker spaniel puppies

Question
QUESTION: I have two female cocker spaniel puppies from the same litter, they are both about 3 1/2 months old. They are devoted to each other and play constantly. However, the dominant one can get very nasty and the play biting turns into severe biting, snarling and dominance. I am afraid one of them will get hurt. How do I modify this behavior?

ANSWER: Carla, so they're about 13 months...and are definitely bonded to each other.  Well..."mostly" I'd say let them work it out but when it goes over the line and injury could result, then I'd step in.

At this age they're like small children who are playing and suddenly someone is crying because it got out of hand.
And what would Mom do?  Pretty much the same thing a cocker Mom would do.  Nobody gets punished - the offender would simply get picked up by the scruff of his neck and "moved".

One trick I'd try is keeping a spray bottle with water (set on "spray", not stream) and accompanied by a quiet but FIRM "no" spritz both of them in the face.

The old can of pennies trick works well too.  Fill an empty pop can with about 15 pennies - tape the top shut.
When you want an instant ceasefire..bring it down HARD one time and say NO.

No conversation - no yelling - just action and NO
accompanied by an unpleasant experience.   Then ignore both of them.  No praise - no petting.

Let me know if this helps.
Delores

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

QUESTION: They are three and a half months and I realize they are still babies, would you still use the spray bottle or pennies?

Answer
Yes.  Neither approach hurts them in any way...but it does startle them.  Aggression is not something you treat "lightly" in the sense of just hoping it'll go away.
It usually escalates unless you (the pack leader) make it crystal clear you won't tolerate it.
Delores