need help

Question
I recently added another puppy into our home about 6 weeks ago. I have two dogs already both female. Sadie is a german sheppard/chow mix who is almost 5 yrs old. We added Zena a pitt/lab mix about 2 yrs ago to the household when she was 6 weeks old. The puppy lacey is a pitt mix as well and was 5 weeks old when we brought her in. Sadie and Zena have never had any issues until this week. The fighting is very physical and they are drawing blood and really hurting each other. Our guess is the puppy started all this but until this week they seemed fine with the puppy. Neither dog shows aggression to the puppy just immediately attack each other. We don't want to get rid of any of them but this situation is danagerous. I was hoping you could give me some advise. None of the animals are sprayed.

Answer

Hi Alison,

Having aggression problems between female dog (even if they're spayed)  in the same household is more common than if you have two neutered males, or a neutered male and a female.  Spaying can be helpful with aggression problems (though there's no guarantee that it will help). Spaying comes with some significant health benefits, as well as ensuring there won't be any surprise pregnancies, so it's something which should be done.

The addition of another dog into the "pack" may have indeed started the current aggression issues. Until you gain control of the situation, whichever dog is aggressive to the others needs to be separated when you can't be supervising her. It might be helpful to have the aggressive dog wear a muzzle. A basket style muzzle is  the most humane, as it allows the dog to pant and even drink while it's worn. Preventing fights before they ever occur is the goal.

Don't set your dogs up for a fight to break out! Feed them all separately, take them out individually, and put away toys that might cause a fight to break out. Which ever dog is the "alpha" (the most dominate one) treat her as such by petting her before the others, letting her outside before the others, etc. If you've been paying all kinds of attention to the puppy, you may be causing the aggression the alpha female may be continually trying to reestablish her ranking in the pack.

To stop aggression between dogs, you need to work with your dogs to show them YOU are the one in charge of this "pack", and the one who must be obeyed. If you can't do this, you should consult with a dog behaviorist. Your vet's office or a local boarding kennel might be able to give you a referral.  Until then, it's up to you to separate the dogs, so fights can't break out.  This is the time to do something about it, because these problems get worse. This situation can be corrected, it requires training, diligence, and a rather vigilant lifestyle, but it can be done. If you are unable to commit to a rigorous time consuming training regimen, you would need to give up the puppy, as it's a stressful and dangerous situation for all the dogs and for you.

This article might be helpful:

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_FightsBetweenDogs.php

I hope things work out well for you and your dogs.
Best of luck,

Patti