Dog Forum

So, Luci & Colin had a little fight last night. I gave them both their filled bones, which I always do when I'm cleaning, so they keep themselves entertained.
Anyway, when I'd done, and we went downstairs, Colin brought his bone down, but Luci left hers upstairs.
They both went for Colin's bone at the same time, and there was growling and teeth beared! They've never fought over anything before.
I reacted instinctively and stupidly rushed in to break it up (luckily, I wasn't bitten and they hadn't actually got round to biting each other either).

I know it's a stupid question, but is this normal? I was told by my vet when I first got Colin that I may experience some difficulties with them when they got to around a year old (Luci is 10 months, Colin is 9 months), because they're similar in age and size... could this be the kind of scenario he was referring to?

I'm currently treating it as a one-off, but I am worried, because I obviously don't want either of them getting hurt.
The obvious answer to me is not to leave them alone together with valuable items such as bones, which they may fight over.

Any advice you guys can offer would be great!

Thanks - Clair.

Hi Clair

I wouldn't worry too much, this is perfectly normal. A bone is of high value to a dog so the best thing is keep them seperated while they enjoy one. Just an idea but do you have a crate for each of your dogs? If so, you could put them in their respective crates with a bone to amuse while you clean, without the worry of them fighting. At the same time this also builds up a positive association with the crate.

I'm assuming the vet mean't when they hit maturity, when some become more confident and more territorial. It is important at this stage to show your leadership skills to stop your dogs fighting for this place.

If they do get into another fight, rather than get bitten, try a distraction exercise. For example, make a loud high-pitched noise, bang a pot etc, anything to distract their attention from eachother.

Hope this helps

Hi Clair,
Why don't you try having a certain type of can, that when pressed, emits a loud hiss that dog's don't like. It may break up the fight if one happens again.
P.S. Mind those fingers! If they still have puppy/milk teeth in, they will be INCREDIBLY sharp! I got bitten by my Ruby (by accident) when she was a little puppy. It bled lots and I still have a scar to show for it - two years on!

One dog will always want what the other has!! It's only natural. If I give Tilly and Betsy a bone, Betsy will always want the one that Tilly has. But because Betsy is a pup - Tilly will growl - and Betsy will still go back for more!!
I seperate them - Tilly is free to go where ever she wants - while I put Betsy in her crate

.LovePoodles wrote:
Hi Clair,
Why don't you try having a certain type of can, that when pressed, emits a loud hiss that dog's don't like. It may break up the fight if one happens again.

you mean a pet corrector?

Molly and Tess have 3 months between them - they bickered constantly for the first 6 months - I use a plant spray bottle filled with water to disrupt them.

The rarely fight anymore but if they do I just show them the bottle and they stop.

Tess is possesive over toys but fortunately Molly is quite passive - they do have their own special toy that neither touch - Molly its her ball and Tess her ragger - they don;t touch the either ones toy!

Very very normal!!

I used to have five dogs the size of grizzly bears, in the end we used to just let them get on with it!

.LovePoodles wrote:
Hi Clair,
Why don't you try having a certain type of can, that when pressed, emits a loud hiss that dog's don't like. It may break up the fight if one happens again.
P.S. Mind those fingers!

I have a Pet Corrector, bought it to stop them scavenging when out on walks - works a treat! I now have them walking around piles of poo, because they hate that hiss no much.
I'll give that a whirl if they scrap again, rather than trying to split them up myself!

Gypsy : Colin has a crate (Luci used to, but it's left at my mum's for if I have to leave them there, for Colin to use) - Luci has free run of the room all the time.
I don't tend to put Colin in his crate when I clean, as they've both earned my trust and their freedom, and as I said, have never done this before.
If it happens again over the same thing, I will put him in his crate with his bone in future.
Despite all the training manuals etc I've read, and despite crates having proved to be so useful to me, I still feel in my heart that crating a dog is cruel (like a prison, although I know my dogs don't see it that way), so I try to really limit the time he needs to be in there! (does that sound stupid?).

Thanks guys, I am so relieved that this is normal!

mousey_kumar wrote:
[quote

Gypsy : Colin has a crate (Luci used to, but it's left at my mum's for if I have to leave them there, for Colin to use) - Luci has free run of the room all the time.
I don't tend to put Colin in his crate when I clean, as they've both earned my trust and their freedom, and as I said, have never done this before.
If it happens again over the same thing, I will put him in his crate with his bone in future.
Despite all the training manuals etc I've read, and despite crates having proved to be so useful to me, I still feel in my heart that crating a dog is cruel (like a prison, although I know my dogs don't see it that way), so I try to really limit the time he needs to be in there! (does that sound stupid?).

Thanks guys, I am so relieved that this is normal! :)[/quote]

I agree, I don't like the idea of caging my dog either. I didn't mean as a punishment or for a long period. I leave the door open on mine and my dog goes in there freely and sleeps, so I assume he views that as a place of safety. If the dog was in the crate with a nice juicy bone, I think he'd probably forget he was in the crate at all!!

I trust Oscar but there times when I'll ask him to go in for his own saftey. Otherwise he'd be drinking buckets of bleach and who knows what else

Dogs do not do sharing.

they are hard wired to resource guard as of course in the wild he who controls access to all resources wins (hence why owners should always control access to resources whether that be the great outdoors, food, water, themselves etc)

I do not tolerate resource guarding from humans as this is not acceptable, however it is perfectly normal between dogs and has nothing to do with how well trained the dogs is, what a good temperament it has, sex, age etc etc.

It is best to always assume that dogs may fight over high value items (just as siblings do in families) and avoid areas of high tension.

Adding stress into what should be a leisurely activity such as gnawing a bone, is counter productive.

I always separate my dogs when feeding or when giving a bone.

smokeybear wrote:
Dogs do not do sharing.

It is best to always assume that dogs may fight over high value items (just as siblings do in families) and avoid areas of high tension.

I always separate my dogs when feeding or when giving a bone.

I suppose I should have anticipated this really.

As the general consensus on here is that I should separate them when feeding bones, I think I will do so, to avoid any future scraps!

Well, it happened again (when my husband fed them - Colin finished his dinner and then went for Luci's while she was still eating), and twice is more than enough, so Colin now eats his dinner and enjoys his bones and stuffed Kongs in his crate, save causing more problems.

Smud was extremely food possessive when we first had him. To the point that he would steal food from out of the other dogs bowl (fortunately Sooty is placid - but this wasnt the point).
I used to feed in different rooms, and now can feed at different ends of the same room making sure Smud couldnt get near Sootys bowl until Sooty has finished. Sooty as the eldest always had his food bowl put down first. I also used to stand in between the dogs, so as soon as Smud finished and began to walk towrds Sooty, i would literally block him and tell him to leave.
This took months of practice, and hard work - literally having to watch them both eat all of every meal. But now i can feed them bones, chews at opposite ends of the room, and my boys will happily leave their prized possessions knowing that the other one wont bother with it. I dont even have to stand between them anymore! but still never leave them totally unsupervised. Why dont you give your quickest eater a meal from a kong? I did that to smud to stop him gulping down his food.