THE
CANINE BEHAVIOR SERIES
Fighting
Dogs
Why do dogs fight? They fight
for different reasons than humans do, which to us can be extremely confusing.
With the stakes sometimes being the life or death of a dog, we have
powerful reasons to try to understand. At times we are not able to understand
why a fight occurs, but we can find a way to keep the dogs safe.
Why Dogs Fight
People tend to assume all dog fights are over who is going to be top
dog. Sometimes this is the case, but not always. Terriers are often an
exception, with a trait of gameness bred into them by humans that makes
them fight…just because. Terrier experts advise that people not keep terriers
of the same sex together for this reason.
Dogs of opposite sex have a good chance of living together without
serious fights, if you observe certain management practices. They will
often fight to the point of injury over food, valued chew items, or highly
desirable toys. Include in this category the dead squirrel in the back
yard and the garbage they raided. Management of any situation with more
than one dog needs to prevent these competitions. Dogs need to be separated
for food and toys they value highly and to be supervised outdoors; you also
need to keep garbage where they cannot get to it.
Male dogs have a hierarchy within the pack and females have a separate
one. If you have one male and one female, he is top male and she is top
female. To keep two dogs, this is the easiest, safest, and least stressful
for the dogs.
You may see a male appear to aggressively knock a female into line
by pushing her back from the fence or taking toys away from her—low-value
toys that neither of them cares enough about to fight over. This is typically
about him protecting the pack. Watch her reaction and you’ll probably notice
she is not upset and even seems reassured by his macho pose. In the wild,
this would be his job.
You’ll also probably notice he urine-marks the fence line, and urinates
over her urine, too. This is his way of telling her and any intruders outside
that line that she is under his protection, at the cost of his own life
if need be. While you always need to keep an eye out that your dogs are
not injuring each other, your interference in this process could actually
cause injuries. It is important not to throw off their ability to read each
other’s lightning-fast body language.
Quite a few breeds have the problem of same-sex dogs not being able
to live together in peace. Before adding another dog of the same sex to
your home, consult breed experts about this trait in all the breeds involved.
If the dogs are mixes, you need to know this about all breeds in the mix.
This is a strong trait, likely to be expressed even in a mix, especially
if you make any mistakes in dog-keeping.
Growing up with another dog of the same sex--whether the dogs are father-son,
mother-daughter, littermates, unrelated puppies, or a puppy who grows
up with an unrelated adult dog—does not mean the dogs will get along when
both are adults. Instincts come online as dogs mature that tell them to
form workable packs.
In nature, if the combination of dogs is not compatible, one of them
leaves to join or form a new pack. In our homes, they are trapped and
cannot do this. Thus it becomes our responsibility as part of the humane
care of our dogs to protect them from the stress and danger of dog fights.
Male dogs have a better chance of working out a stable pack order with
each other than females, but the dog forced into submission may take it
hard in terms of his self-esteem and working ability. The more male dogs
you have, the lower the bottom dog sinks.
Female dogs are more likely to fight to the death than males because
females have a harder time working out a stable pack order. Spaying the
females can help, and neutering the males can help, but plenty of dog fights
in the home involve spayed or neutered dogs.
Humans want to blame or even punish the dog they perceive to be the
aggressor, and this is a mistake. If one of the dogs is clearly more suited
to be leader and the dogs can establish that quickly, they have a chance
of getting along. The peace treaty can change later, but at least it’s a
start. If you thwart these early moves, you prevent them from having the
safest resolution of pack order!
Some people advise backing the pack leader in order to quickly bring
the dogs to pack order resolution. That might work if we could be sure
which dog is leader. Most people can’t. Some dog groups work out a pack
order that shifts according to the activity they are involved in at the
time! The leadership role can change as things in the group change, too.
If you must intervene, focus on stopping the fight, period. Avoid any punishment
or favoritism. People usually do more harm than good that way.
You will hear many dog owners claim they are the leaders of their dog
packs, and no fighting occurs because of that. We humans should be leader
of the dogs in our homes. But we are not dogs and the dogs know it. We need
to teach them to relate to humans as trustworthy leaders. Whether we want
them to or not, dogs kept together will have a hierarchy within their group.
If you want your dogs not to have a pack order, you will need to keep
them apart so you can prevent them from being a pack. This has advantages
worth considering, especially if you are breeding, seriously training, fostering,
or boarding dogs. If you manage your dogs carefully, you may be able to
give them times together and not have fights because you can separate them
at the times they would otherwise find it necessary to fight over resources.
Resources are a major reason for dogs to fight. To a dog, resources
include food of every conceivable kind, anything the dog likes to chew,
breeding rights to a dog of the opposite sex, and YOU. You are a resource
for your dogs: your attention, your time, the space around you, your touch,
outings with you, and the job of protecting you. If there is not enough of
“you” for the number of dogs you have, that’s a big reason for fights.
Sometimes people think “What’s one more dog?” It may seem that since
you already have a dog to feed and walk and board on vacations—or two,
three or four dogs—one more would barely be noticed. Don’t believe it! The
dogs surely don’t. Every dog you add increases the risk of serious fighting.
If it has not started earlier, it likely will at the point of adding dog
number four or five. As noted already, though, even two terriers of the
same sex is “too many” in terms of fighting, and quite a few other breeds
have that same issue.
A mother dog with pups is hard-wired to defend them. One day she may
not, and the next day the hormones that trigger the behavior kick in.
Do not expose her to the stress of other dogs or people upsetting her.
The nest of a mother dog with her pups needs to be a calm, well-managed
setting.
A dog who has previously been housed with another dog of the same sex
and involved in fights with injuries should not again be housed with a dog
of the same sex. He or she will fear it happening again, and that fear makes
it more likely that it will. His or her future needs to be with either
no other dog, or only a dog of the opposite sex.
Dogs who have been involved in serious fights with other dogs of the
same sex are not at risk of aggression toward humans as a result. If they
are also aggressive toward humans, it is for other reasons. Aggression
toward other dogs and aggression toward humans are two entirely different
things. If a human gets hurt in a dog fight, it’s from getting between
the two fighting dogs—which you should NEVER do. Never let a child do
it, either.
A fight causes an adrenaline rush in both dogs, and in that state they
feel less pain, sometimes none (especially terriers). That is one reason
they may fight to the death. If you get between them, they may bite you
without even realizing it’s you.
Pain or illness can trigger fighting between same-sex dogs in the home
by causing one of the dogs to self-protect. Dogs hide their weaknesses
as a survival instinct. Weak pack members are killed in the wild.
Your interference can escalate an interaction between dogs and cause
it to become much worse than it would otherwise have been. Every serious
fight makes it more likely the dogs will fight again in the future. So,
one reason dogs fight is because they were fussing and a human got into
the act and turned it into a fight.
Fighting Outside Your Home
Dogs are pack animals, and a pack has a social order. Dogs working
or playing together who do not live together only need to agree on workable
rules for that time, not on a permanent pack structure. For this reason,
getting along with other dogs of the same sex is different at home than
in a neutral setting.
Working dog handlers can take that pressure totally off the dogs by
simply keeping dog attention on the job and the handler. When the dogs are
not allowed to interact with each other and each feels safe from attack by
the other dogs, all the dogs are much better able to do their jobs.
In a social setting the same rules can be applied if all the dog handlers
cooperate. You should never let your dog try to draw another dog into
interaction unless that dog’s owner agrees to it first.
If you want the best chance of preserving your dog’s ability to work
around other dogs, choose playmates with extreme care. Provide the dogs
with a safe place to play. Complete the play session in a positive manner
before the dogs get tired.
The gold standard of professionals when it comes to dog behavior is
the veterinary behavior specialist. This a veterinarian who is board certified
in the specialty of behavior. In order to maintain a veterinary license,
insurance and a viable practice, this professional must observe a high standard
of ethics. The educational qualifications are also quite high. You won’t
go wrong by consulting a veterinary behavior specialist. If your dog’s problem
is aggression or fear, this is where you need to start.
Trainers and other behavior specialists may or may not belong to professional
organizations, may or may not have insurance, may or may not have education
in the field, and ethics can range widely. Some are great at what they
do, while some are just great at selling you on buying their services.
Licensing is not required for these jobs. To use these types of professionals,
get recommendations from highly qualified professionals—such as a veterinary
behavior specialist who has assessed your dog, or your veterinarian—and
go first without your dog to observe the person working with dogs. If what
you see makes you uncomfortable or if the person won’t let you observe any
sessions, don’t use that person’s services for your dog.
Don’t leave your dog for someone to train in your absence. Always be
there. The benefits of training come from you learning to handle the dog,
anyway. If you are not there, you’re not learning anything and you are
not looking out for your dog.
Dogs do not need dog park play to live happy lives, and some dogs are
unsuited for it. Forcing the issue will cause behavior problems that spill
into other situations not as easy to eliminate from your dog’s life. For
example, if you live in an apartment or condo and need to walk your dog
around other dogs for elimination needs, aggression or paralyzing fear concerning
other dogs is going to give you serious problems. Dog sports, dog jobs, and
travel with your dog might be impossible.
If you’re going to try the dog park thing, do it with the right help
for the best chance at experiences that will keep your dog safe and sane.
At the first sign of problems, get expert help. Even if you decide to stop
the dog park play, once there is a problem you need to start rehabilitation
immediately. The longer you wait, the poorer the dog’s chances are of
being successfully rehabilitated, and the problem may get much worse.
If you take a dog to visit a friend or relative’s house where a dog
resides, be sure to go there equipped to keep the dogs completely separated.
If by mutual consent the dog owners decide to try play sessions and it works,
count your blessings. Even then, it’s wisest to keep the dogs separated
whenever they’re not under skilled adult supervision.
The host dog should have the house freedom. The guest dog should spend
more time in confinement. One thing this does is keep the dogs from thinking
they have to work out a permanent pack order. It takes stress off them
and reduces the risk of fighting.
Similarly, if you foster a dog or keep a dog for someone else, maintain
differences between that dog and your own that help them realize the new
dog is not a member of the pack. Otherwise you may put terrible stress on
your own dog and make it impossible to ever safely have a dog visit again.
Tie outs increase dog aggression by putting the tied dog in the position
of being trapped and going on the defensive. Being on leash can do the
same thing. It’s made worse if the restraint is taut. Walking a dog on
leash is not a good time to let dogs sniff each other. This is how a lot
of people cause their dogs to become aggressive to other dogs on walks.
Protect your dog from having to deal with other dogs when on leash.
Stopping a Dog Fight
Be careful not to put your focus on learning how to break up dog fights.
If you have dogs who are fighting, the fights need to be immediately stopped
by management and possibly remedial training. You don’t want one more
fight to happen.
Punishment escalates fights and teaches the dogs nothing at all. So
don’t punish either dog. Hitting or even yelling while dogs are fighting
(or just fussing) can escalate it. Sometimes the best thing to do is step
back, stay quiet, and wait. If it’s over in 10 seconds with no injuries,
that’s a fuss, not a fight. There may be a lot of hope for remedial training.
Keep your hands off fighting dogs. Grabbing them is how people get
bitten. Perhaps you are willing to take that risk for yourself in order
to protect the dogs. But it’s worse for the dogs if you get bitten, too!
Here’s why:
1. You are very likely to escalate the fight and set the stage for
worse fights.
2. Your injury gets the dogs in more legal trouble, as well as more
disfavor with other members of your family who will play a role in deciding
the dogs’ fate.
3. If you are injured, you may not be able to take care of the dogs.
If it’s bad enough, you may not even be able to go to work to earn the
money to feed them and pay for their medical care. Dog bites can put you
in the hospital, from infection as well as damage.
Rather than using your body, separate fighting dogs with physical barriers.
Different things work for different dogs. Some things to try include:
1. Water spray from a hose—or maybe drop the hose between them.
2. Slam a door or make another noise as loud as you can. Try not to
break the door.
3. Get a closed door between the dogs (good reason not to break the
door when you slam it).
4. Pop open a large, automatic umbrella and get it between them.
5. Block them from each other with a folding chair or anything else
you can use without getting your body between them.
6. Spray them with whatever your veterinarian recommends for the purpose.
7. Get a fence between the dogs, or get at least one of them into a
crate or dog exercise pen.
8. If you know how and have help, you might need to pry the jaws of
a clamped-on dog open. A sturdy wooden stick on each side may make it possible
to do this without injuring the dog. In one case, the people separating
the dog’s jaws from a smaller dog broke a broomstick and used the two halves.
Infection from bite wounds that can look minor is a risk. After any
fight, a dog with injury needs to be checked by a veterinarian, even if
injuries don’t look serious.
Management
Management starts with puppy experiences. Being frightened by other
dogs as a puppy can set the little one up for fighting later. A pup’s instincts
for proper dog social behavior are not ready until at least four months
of age for the pup to be left alone with an adult dog. That’s a minimum—some
cannot be safely left together until later, or ever.
Prior to this age, the puppy has a special scent that tends to inhibit
aggression by adult dogs. It doesn’t work on all dogs, though, and puppy
behavior toward other dogs can be truly outrageous. So supervise all your
puppy’s dog-to-dog interactions.
Don’t leave dogs of any age together without skilled adult supervision
until you’re sure that nothing would induce them to fight with each other.
Obviously this time will never come with some dogs.
A lot of serious fights have happened when a relative or friend was
left in charge of the dogs. Dog people may not be aware of the handling
they just naturally do that helps prevent fights, such as how you administer
treats and even how you come in the door.
One option is to board the dogs where they will be in separate runs.
Another option would be to board one dog, though that imbalance can trigger
fighting when the boarded dog is brought home. In fact, just your absence
can disturb a shaky balance of power between same-sex dogs and tip it
into fighting when they get back together, no matter how you provide for
their care.
Other changes in the home that can trigger fighting between same-sex
dogs include:
1. Adding a dog to the family.
2. A female dog in the household—or even a neighbor dog—going into
heat.
3. A dog leaving or returning from illness, dog show, etc.
4. The death of a dog.
5. A dog becoming ill, injured, or impaired by age.
The pack is permanently changed by a dog having been there, even after
that dog has gone. Two dogs who got along fine before you brought the
other dog into the group may continue fighting they had begun while the
dog was there, or begin fighting after that dog is removed.
Dog play serves the purpose of helping them work out their relationships
with less or no fighting. If they can run together and push and shove
each other, they demonstrate who is faster and stronger and bolder without
violence. Space greatly helps this process, though spaces that are too
large can increase the risk of injuries such as torn ligaments.
Fights and injuries become more likely when dogs get tired, so avoid
overlong play sessions. Playing on ice or snow also increases these risks.
If you have a fenced yard and the dogs get along there, a few minutes
of running together when you return home with a dog who has just been out
with you can greatly relieve tension. It also gives all of them a chance
to eliminate.
Close confinement together can make the dogs more likely to fight.
Work with them as they pass through doorways and other small spaces to
keep their attention off each other.
Use routines and structured activities that let the dogs know you do
have time and resources for all of them. Give each of them separate times
with you away from the house and away from the other dogs, on a schedule
so that they realize each gets a turn. If you keep dogs separated, rotate
them so that each gets equal time in the preferred area(s). If one dog
earns treats, include the others. When one dog gets groomed, groom the
others. If one needs to eat and the others don’t, give them a tiny bit in
their dishes anyway.
In the case of two dogs who have seriously fought and now need to be
kept permanently separated, carefully consider whether or not your household
can handle this responsibility. Are there people in the family who cannot
resist trying, when you are not around to stop them, putting the dogs together
“just this once to see what happens”? This will destroy the dogs’ trust
in the humans to keep them safe.
Accidents happen, and you want a margin of safety to give you time
to calmly separate the dogs again. Careless handling can take away that
margin. Sometimes the best thing for everyone, especially the dog at most
risk of dying, is to place the most adoptable dog or the one you are least
bonded with in a different home. That would be nature’s way.
Remedial Training
There are some things you can do through training to improve dogs’
chances of getting along, but please don’t take false hope from this information.
This is risky stuff, and the dogs stand to suffer greatly when people
don’t step up and handle the problem before it plays out. Too often the
end result is one dog dead or injured, and the other put to sleep because
people can’t resist applying human moral standards to dog behavior.
The following training methods are for dogs who have not had injuries,
or for working with all safety precautions under the supervision of a
veterinary behavior specialist.
Teach eye contact to each dog. Practice on your individual outings.
When you have reached the point of being able to get eye contact quickly
and quietly anytime you ask for it, you can communicate with one dog without
overexciting another.
Reward both dogs for every move away from fighting or antagonizing
each other. Watch for them to make these choices, and praise at that exact
moment, using the dog’s name. Try to find a good action to praise the other
dog for at the same time. Give treats if you can do so without overexciting
them. This praise and reward needs to be at just the right level to make
them feel appreciated for their choices but not to trigger a fight.
Train each dog individually to the level of highly reliable off-leash
control. This is one reason to thoroughly train the last dog before adding
another to the household. Then with a skilled handler helping, work them
on-leash in each other’s presence. If you’ve had fight injuries, work the
dogs on head halters so the leashes won’t trigger them to launch at each
other.
When you want to separate two dogs to end an interaction, call them
to you in a cheerful voice. Keep working with them at other times so they
will eventually be reliable to come no matter what is happening. You need
verbal control to avoid interfering with their body language to each other
by touching them.
Prognosis Guarded
Having a dog who is aggressive toward other dogs can greatly complicate
a dog owner’s life, but keep in mind that this is the normal temperament
for quite a few breeds. It’s not a tragedy if you protect your dog from his
or her own instincts by good management and training. This instinct does
not mean the dog is “vicious.”
Dogs with this basic temperament can make fine working dogs if they
are properly handled so that they do not act on the behavior. You teach
them to ignore other dogs in public, and you don’t keep them together at
home with other dogs of the same sex. These are the responsibilities of owning
certain dogs.
We need to protect all our dogs from bad experiences with other dogs,
because these experiences change what the dog believes about other dogs
and about you as a reliable leader. Your dog needs to feel that you will
keep him or her safe. A dog who feels the need for self-defense can become
emotionally quite disabled.
On the other hand, a dog who believes other dogs are not going to attack
will feel more confident, be safer around other dogs, and will give the
owner more options. Keeping a dog “innocent” can be the best choice. Sometimes
the adage that “what we don’t know can’t hurt us” is true. Fear hurts dogs.
When we spare them that fear, we stop a potentially deadly problem before
it even starts.
Date
Published: 5/24/2006 10:27:00 AM
Kathy Diamond Davis
is the author of the book Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others.
Should the training articles available here or elsewhere not be effective,
contact your veterinarian. Veterinarians not specializing in behavior can
eliminate medical causes of behavior problems. If no medical cause is found,
your veterinarian can refer you to a colleague who specializes in behavior
or a local behaviorist.
Copyright 2006 - 2007 by Kathy Diamond Davis. Used with
permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright 1991 - 2007, Veterinary Information Network,
Inc.
This work was originally published by Veterinary Information
Network, Inc. (VIN) and is republished with VIN's permission.
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