puppy fights.....help!!!!

Question
My dad and i just got three golden retriever puppies for Christmas and they are all females from the same litter and for awhile things are going great. But for about the past month and a half, two of our puppies have been fighting a lot and our other puppy gets in the middle to try and stop it. the two puppies that fight draw blood and leave bite wounds, (but nothing serious) when they bite. my dad and i separate all of them for about ten minutes to let them all calm down and then we let them come together and everything is fine. when they start growling that's usually when the fights begin and my dad and i will destract them by getting a toy, a snack or something to keep their minds off of fighting and it sometimes works. the puppy that mostly starts these fights is Kiara. my dad thinks she starts the fights because she wants to be the dominate dog. how do we stop these fights because him afraid that they might get seriously hurt.

Answer
Dear Kami,
Thanks for writing. Wow! Raising three puppies is exciting and a huge challenge.

I'm not sure if it's rough play or fights.

When puppies or dogs play, they "trade roles". Dog A will chase Dog B and then Dog B will chase Dog A. The same goes for mugging. Dog A will be on top and then Dog B will be on top. If one dog is constantly hiding or trying to escape, the play is out of hand.

It's best to randomly interrupt the play, even if they are playing nicely, and ask for a few sits or downs. This helps to teach them about self control.

It sounds as if you are doing exactly what I recommend. Interrupt and redirect!

Learning how dogs normally interact and recognizing when problems are developing is not something I can explain without writing a book.

There is a good book about multi dog house holds. Patricia McConnell's book, Feeling Outnumbered? How to Manage and Enjoy a Multi-Dog Household is available at dogwise.com or amazon.com. It would be worth your while to read it.

Good luck and thanks for writing.

Alan J Turner
http://howsbentley.com