Why Are My Dogs Fighting All of a Sudden?
This is one of the biggest problems affecting owners of multiple dogs, and sadly one of the most difficult to manage. Despite the fact that dogs are often depicted as being social animals, squabbles and even serious fights are likely to occur.
The circumstances are various and several dynamics may be going on. Two dogs that got along well as puppies may suddenly engage in vicious fights as they mature. A younger dog may suddenly attack an older dog despite having lived in harmony with it for quite some time. A new dog added to a household of two dogs with a history of getting along for years can trigger fighting.
Sadly, these situations are not all uncommon. Countless dog owners deal with them, and sometimes even on a daily basis. Why is it this way? What causes dogs to fight?
There are many causes for inter-dog aggression (aggression between dogs) affecting dogs sharing the household. Its therefore important to recognize the exact triggers. Sometimes, as it happens in people, it appears that two dogs may just not get along. This should not be surprising.
Listed below are just some of the most common causes of dog fighting.
If you own two female or two male dogs, fighting is not unusual at all. Some dog breeds are prone to being same-sex aggressive. For instance, Alaskan Malamutes, American Pit Bulls, and Boxers are breeds of dogs known for being same-sex aggressive.
According to Nicholas Dodman and Alice Moon Fanelli in an article for Petplace, terriers may be prone to fighting because, as a breed, they have been purposely developed to work independently.
However, any breed of dog, given the right circumstances and predisposition, may develop inter-dog aggression. Generally, these dogs may get along well when they are puppies, but once they reach social maturity (generally between 12 and 36 months) things dramatically change. Luckily, there is an explanation for this shift.
In nature, it would be quite unnatural for two females dogs or two male dogs close to the same age to live in the same social group. In nature, once the females and males mature, they leave their social groups to form their own groups.
If they remain in the group, they must respect the breeding right of the other female or male. According to Gail Fisher, a dog trainer and breeder with over 40 years of experience, “A pack with several adult males and females of the same age would rarely, if ever, be found in the wild.”
This is further confirmed by the Merck Veterinary Manual:
If the dogs are not spayed or neutered, there may at times also be a hormonal component to the fights. In female dogs, the hormonal changes taking place during the estrus cycle and pregnancy may particularly elicit fights. However, fighting may endure due to hierarchy and breeding rights even when the dog is not in heat or pregnant. Learn more about this in “Why Are Intact Females Fighting”?
In male dogs, the hormone testosterone may facilitate inter-dog aggression. Once spayed and neutered, dogs prone to inter-dog aggression may no longer fight due to hormones, but they may still viciously fight for other reasons that we will examine below.
Resource aggression can make dogs squabble.
Social hierarchy is one of the main causes of inter-dog aggression in multi-dog households. According to dog trainer and owner of Peaceable Paw, Pat Miller, “Social hierarchies do exist in groups of domesticated dogs and hierarchy can be fluid.” By nature, dogs are pretty good conflict solvers. Indeed, they are masters in ritualized aggression.
Ritualized aggression takes place when dogs resolve conflicts without biting. Growling, raising hackles and showing teeth, as dramatic as they are, ultimately help avoid actual confrontations. In nature, spending lots of energy fighting on minor issues is counter-productive as animals must save their energy on more important issues such as hunting and survival.
So what causes actual fighting in multi-dog households to take place? Why are dogs biting and actually breaking skin if they are good conflict solvers? Lets take a closer look into hierarchy in dogs.
According to Karen Overall, rank is contextually relative. A real high-ranking animal would normally be tolerant of lower-ranking members. The behavior of the lower-ranking members towards the higher-ranking member is what determines the social hierarchy. In other words, by “withdrawing,” lower-ranking members make the hierarchical status clear.
Higher ranking members are those who regulate and maintain access to some resources, however, such access is contextual. A certain resource may be highly maintained at certain times when at other times it is not, or other resources may not be maintained at all. Resources, therefore, can be both contextual and subjective. What are some common resources from a dogs perspective? The following are some:
Generally, a high-ranking dog will maintain access to resources through a ritualized display, however, problems start when such displays are not effective. This is why we often see fights in dogs of similar or equal rank when the ritualized displays are ignored.
At times, ignoring a display may not be voluntary. Lower-ranking dogs may ignore a display because it is over-ridden by an event that temporarily blurs the hierarchical status. We will see such circumstances below.
As mentioned, at times social boundaries can be blurred by events. For instance, if both dogs have not seen the owner for a long time, the lower-ranking dog may not defer to the higher-ranking dogs desire to access the owner first because it cannot contain its excitement, or it could be he feels safe and that the owner will protect him.
When over-excitement takes place, this is often a trigger for big fights to occur among multi-dog households. It is easy for the excitement to blur social rules/etiquette causing a fight to ignite. At times, when dogs are playing, the high arousal levels may also elicit a fight.
Another example is territorial barking. When two dogs are highly aroused by a trigger heard or seen behind a fence this may elicit a fight. The fight may be caused by re-directed aggression due to high arousal levels.
In re-directed aggression, the highly aroused dogs go into a hyper-vigilant state that triggers reactive responses which would not take place in a normal setting when the dogs are calm. Because of this possibility, it is always imperative that owners of dogs who tend to fight, never physically get in the middle of two fighting dogs for the purpose of separating them.
With high arousal levels, the dogs are in fight mode and anything between them could trigger a bite, which of course, is not delivered voluntarily.
A typical scenario affecting social hierarchy takes place when a higher-ranking dog starts becoming weak or old. A younger dog that has reached social maturity may, therefore, ignore the ritualized displays of the older dog which will elicit a serious fight.
At times, the senior dog may want to give up the top position but is unable to defer in an effective way due to loss of sensory or motor abilities, and this may cause the eruption of serious fights. Because a dogs social group in nature cannot be successfully led by a weak member, at times the fights may turn out quite bloody and even fatal in some cases.
Another situation where social group changes take place is when a new dog is added. In such a scenario, the dogs will require some adjustments. Often, fights may ensue, but they can be temporary until an agreement is found.
The way the owner handles the situation may sometimes exacerbate the situation. Giving too much attention to the new dog may only create more conflicts. At times, when a dog has been away for some time and is then re-introduced to the pack, there may be some problems since the social order may need to be re-established.
At other times, dog owners may further exacerbate dynamics by intervening. Often, the owners do not have any idea they are creating problems by defending a lower-ranking dog. By protecting a lower-ranking dog and correcting a higher-ranking one, the owner escalates the problem.
Dog behavior expert and obedience trainer, Stan Rawlinson, also known as the Dog Listener suggests dog owners not to fuel the fire by feeling bad and rushing to protect the would-be subordinate from being “bullied.”
This can cause problems and potential fights. Nicholas Dodman calls this form of aggression “alliance aggression” and states it typically occurs when the owner interferes with the establishment of a stable hierarchy.
Why Do Dogs Fight?
Dogs get into fights for a variety of reasons, most of which are rooted in natural canine instincts. And there are certain situations that can turn even the friendliest dog into a vicious fighter.
Why does my dog keep attacking my other dog?
Dogs from the same household may fight every now and then, but with proper training, you can prevent them from causing any real harm to one another. The first step for how to stop dogs from fighting in the same household is to determine whether they’re playing or fighting by checking their body language. Once you determine the dogs are fighting, you can see if they’re fighting over anything, such as treats, toys, or food, and remove it if it’s safe to do so.
In households where two dogs are fighting, you can typically distract them with a loud noise. To prevent further fights, continue to train your dogs on proper behavior using rewards-based training.
Do your dogs play rough or fight?//Proven method to fix it.
Editor’s Note: Twenty years ago, people freely used the term “aggressive dog” to describe what, today, we would call a “dog with aggressive behaviors.” The problem with the term “aggressive dog” is that very few dogs are aggressive all the time – and if they are, they are unlikely to be in anyone’s home. Most dogs who display aggression in some situations are loving and loved dogs in other circumstances; calling them “aggressive dogs” overlooks the fact that they are terrific dogs most of the time. Throughout this article, we may use the older, more familiar term, and we will add the modern term that more accurately describes a dog who sometimes displays aggressive behaviors.