If you own more than a dog, which is more usually than you think then having dog fights is something ordinary. However, if you’re new to owning to or more dogs in the same household, or you’re just annoyed with it, here’s a set of tips on how to stop dogs from fighting in the same household.
Table of Contents
1. Why Dogs in the Same House Fight?
Dogs are pack animals, it’s in their nature to fight from time to time. Fighting can be a playful expression of love and joy, however, it can be a serious dominance issue, especially if the two dogs were of the same sex.
2. Reasons for Dogs Fighting in The Same House
If your canines fight inconsistently and not in a serious manner, then usually it means that they are excited to see you or that they have more energy that needs to be invested in some other activity. In case your dogs go at it aggressively, then it can mean several other things. Read on to find out what it means if your dogs keep fighting.
There are many reasons that make dogs fight in the same household, these are some but not all possible reasons:
- Siblings Rivalry: If your dogs are siblings, expect a lot of fighting, especially when they mature, which is a normal thing even if it gets aggressive sometimes. This is referred to as “Littermate Syndrome“, a case in which dog siblings that haven’t had proper training or had only a few social experiences tend to fight a lot.
- Rage Syndrome: also called Idiopathic aggression, this is a case in which a dog can go from a calm loving pooch to a rabid like angry, and aggressive canine for several possible reasons.
- Anxiety: It can be the one or both of your dogs who have anxiety issues. Anxiety can be caused by many things like a change of homes, an addition of a new house member like a newborn, or a new girlfriend, or even a loss of a favorite toy! The good thing about anxiety in dogs is that it’s curable.
- Your Own Anxiety: yes, your dog can sense your own anxiety making him more aggressive. Some dogs can pick it up and it can actually make them nervous and more aggressive toward other house members, but now towards you.
- A shift of Dominance: Dogs are pack animals, you might not notice it if you own 1 dog, but if you own more than one, you will notice that there’s always one dog that calls the big shots and has a sort of dominance over the rest of the dogs. Sometimes (more usual than you think), one or more of the other dogs challenges the dominant, especially if the dominant dog is sick or weak, the others can feel it.
- Jealousy: Yes, dogs are very jealous animals, especially of other dogs in the same household. You also contribute to heating the issue more by giving more attention to a dog more than another. The research saw that 50% of dogs who were involved in household fights needed vet treatment, while 10% of dog owners needed medical help.
You might not be doing this intentionally and you might not even notice it, but your dog will feel it when you give the other dog or pet more time and care. This usually will cause fights that can be as soft as some backyard scrimmages or as hard as cage dog battles!
- Gender: Female dogs tend to be less accepting of other dogs in the house. Research carried by Behavior Clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, MA, found that dogs fighting in the same house tend to be 68% of female dogs fights in contrast to 32% of dog males!
- Protective Behavior: Your dog sees things like food and toys as important resources that need protection, especially if your dog wasn’t trained to share, that’s why fights can start between dogs.
3. How To Stop Your Dogs From Fighting in The Same Household?
Stopping dogs from fighting in the same household isn’t an easy task but with some tips, you can solve this problem.
1. Good training: Remember that dogs fighting is merely a behavior issue, most of the time. Training your dog to live with other dogs is the first step to stop them from fighting. Each time your dogs fight, try to find out who’s causing the fights off of our dogs and try to straighten their behavior. Use treats or food to let your dog know that he messed up and that this behavior should not happen again. There are several methods to fix your dog’s behavior, however, be careful with that, you don’t want to make your dog feel too guilty about what he did, this will make your dog more anxious.
2. Fix your behavior: Your dog behavior often reflexes your behavior that’s why you should pay attention to your behavior. Your anxiety will drive your dogs’ anxious levels up, therefore, fights will start over simple stuff.
3. Monitor your dogs: You need to keep an eye on your dogs to see what’s causing the fighting issue. if it’s a resource issue, you can show your dogs that food is no problem. If one of your dogs eats more than the other, make sure to give him more food so he won’t try to take the other dog’s food.
4. Females need more Care: If you have a female dog, make sure to always tell her how good she is, rub her, play with her just to make her feel secure, just don’t do it in front of other dogs. If your female dog feels secure towards other dogs in the same household, there will be fewer dog fights.
5. Be careful with how you treat your dogs: Jealousy is the number 1 factor for the same household dogs fighting. So, DO NOT display favoritism over your dogs. Always treat your dogs the same when they are together. You can love your favorite dog as much as you want, just don’t let it show in front of the other dogs.
6. Seek vet behaviorist’s help: In case you need help with finding out what’s causing the fights between dogs in the same household, you can seek the help of a vet behaviorist, these professionals studied dog behavior and can definitely figure out the reasons behind your dogs’ fighting.
7. A dog trainer is your friend: If your dog’s issue is training, you should seek the help of a professional trainer. No matter how difficult your dog’s behavior seems, a dog’s trainer can definitely help. In case you choose to train your dog yourself, there are plenty of dog training eBooks that you can buy to help you out.
If you are wondering how to discipline a dog after fighting, the previous tips can help. You should always remember, dogs can be dangerous animals, therefore, if you think that your dogs are too aggressive for you to deal with, seek the help of professionals!
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