Hi to everyone - I am the proud owner (!!!) of 4 fabulous dalmations; Mum, Dad and two of their boys. Like everyone else on the forum I LOVE my pets and at the moment I am in need of some serious help ........

My boys have just turned one year old and have turned on each other... at the weekend the whole house was so upset at their ferocious fighting and I know you should never intervene but I did, got bit, ended up in hospital, under general aneasthetic, stitched up as the wound went through muscle and to the bone and sent home 2 days later! They have not been castrated YET as I know this is all part of their growing up but would be grateful of any help to get my household back to normal and all my dals living in peace!!

Thanks
Claire

i hope you are ok
i had the some think with my dogs
i split them up and then slowly got them back to gether over 3 -4 weeks

Thanks Jo-ann

At the moment they are being seperated and just to know that things will return back to normal in time is of great comfort - I love them all dearly and could not consider parting with any however grumpy they are!!

I am fine at the moment and have my stitches out on Monday - it was just a loving bite!!

Claire x

well best of luky i would love to now what happens and good luck on monday

Hi Claire
Sorry to hear that you were injured and hope you are well on the way to recovery. It is never a good idea to keep entire Males together in one household and even having them castrated may not solve your problem now there has already been an altercation between them. Has your bitch now been spayed? If not there could be more trouble to come when she next comes in season. Large dogs can inflict a lot of damage on each other and their usual devotion to their owners can sometimes go out the window when in the frenzy of a fight, resulting in owners being injured also.
I do wish you luck with these two, not a position I would like to be in as they get older.

Leah

Hi Leah

Mum has been spayed last year and our vet has warned us that regardless of them being castrated now and of how they got one before they may end up never seeing eye to eye as they have serisously attacked each other and being large, strong dogs have inflicted pretty nasty injuries upon each other not just me!

My husband is away next week so we are going to put both dogs into the kennels (two large dogs, one bad arm and no strong husband is a receipe for disaster!), we will have them castrated the week after and then I am looking for a behaviourist for some serious training ...... after that I can't think what else we can possibly do.

i think your main problem is the two boys are the same age both want to be top dog ! in a pack situation you can only have 1 leader hopefully you !some times this will just work its self out ,where 1 dog backs down but in your case neither wants to back down so you have a serious problem
training can help but in my experience you would be better to concider finding 1 of your boys another home
not a easy decission i know but not easy for you or your dogs to live with
dogs can live together but males are better if the age gap is as far apart as possible or you are lucky and have 1 that is naturally submisive
i live in a pack situation one old bull dog & five staffords two of them are dogs but with a 9year age gap and i am top dog !! karen @bluestafford

Sorry to hear your trouble & i hope the dogs do settle & sort them selves out.

However i have to agree with growler1961, the dogs will indeed be better living apart.

Good luck!

I have to agree with Karen. Though it would be very upsetting for you to part with one of your beloved pets if things do not settle down think how upsetting the situation would be for your dogs living in a constant agressive situation. Would perhaps another family member be willing to take one of them on so you can still keep in contact? I really feel for you on this but the dogs welfare must come first. My mother has had a similar situation but with bitches, who can sometimes be worse that the males as bitches very rarely recognise submission as the males do. She is an old hand with dogs and has years of experience but still finds this a difficult situation and has to be on her toes constantly. Whatever you decide I wish you luck.

I hope your injuries soon heal. This often occurs with two litter mates when they live in the same house, they get to a certain age and there is trouble. Inter house fighting is always a difficult one to deal with, do your dogs socialise well with other dogs outside ? Do they get chance to be apart from each other when out for a walk etc. I would contact a behaviourist prior to getting them castrated, to check it is the right thing to do.
Jen