Hi All,

I'm glad I found this place. My partner and I aren't sure what to do with our dogs.
They're both 15 months old, desexed female whippets (different littlers). They've been living together as the best of friends for the last 5-6 months. They've always seemed to have a very close bond. They play fight from time to time and sometimes it goes a bit further but nothing serious.

Last night it got really serious. We were getting them ready to go to bed and they started fighting for what seemed to be no apparent reason. There were injuries on both sides and today they're being kept separated at home while I'm at work. The more submissive seems ready to make friends again but the more dominant dog still seems to want to fight.

What do we do???

Basically what you now have on your hands are two teenage girls, has one of them been the alpha or pack leader up until now ??

It sounds as if the lower ranking bitch has now challenged for top spot. If you can confirm that this is so then hopefully we can go on a little further. Are they crated or loose in the house at all times??

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Hi Tashi, seems you're on the right track so far.

Luka was always top dog. In almost every way (Scout seemed to have a little more control of toys and play time) she was ruler of the roost. I took the girls to the vet yesterday to get checked over and she mentioned the 'puppies becoming dogs' thing too so I'm interested to hear more of what you have to say.

Through the day, when people are home they usually have free run of inside and outside together. When people aren't home, they usually have free run of outside together only. At the moment, if they're in/outside together, they're both tethered otherwise one is in and one is out. I have young children at home (4 and 6) so I am a little concerened for their safety.

Luka (TD) seems more aggressive than Scout. Scout seems to want to be friends again but Luka doesn't seem ready. However, Scout will react defensively if she is approached aggressively by Luka. In the past, she would instantly submit. They were both injured in the fight and my partner seems to think Luka is protecting herself. I'm not sure I agree with her.

Last night, we put the dogs on leads and walked them past each other in the yard. Luka growled and had aggressive body language to start with but after a few goes they were able to walk past without growling. However, Scout (which is my dog) would hide behind me and Luka (which is my partners dog) would hide behind her. They weren't looking at each other.

Thanks for helping out, Tashi. Let me know if there is any more info you need.

think for a while you are going to keep up what you are doing make sure they have no access to anything to cause 'squabbles' so no toys and only treat when they are being nice to one another I am afraid it may be quite a long process to get them back together again but it is the teenage thing and trying to assert authority - what you are doing is good and is the way forward. keep things short and limit their time together make sure that they cannot get together unsupervised and I am afraid to say your partner is probably right and is 'getting in' before Scout has the chance to.

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Thanks Tashi...

I guess it's hard for me to think of my girl as someone that needs protection from. She's always been such a fun, very gentle, loving dog and to see her as a fighter of #1 position is hard for me. Does it matter that Luka is the physically stronger dog? She's a little bigger than Scout and would probably win a battle if they were given the chance to really have one. (Not that I would let them)

I really hope they can sort it out soon. It'll be interesting to see the dynamic after they've sorted themselves out. My partner is having a really hard time with it all. Luka was her baby before we met and it's breaking her heart that the dogs aren't getting along. She's even talked about the possibility of rehoming one of the dogs! Seems very drastic to me and not an option at this point in time.

Do you know of any situations where it wasn't possible for the dogs to sort things out and one having to be rehomed?

Sorry to babble on - it was so unexpected and is so foreign to me to have dogs behave this way. Babbling makes me feel better.

We have two here that dont get on and they will fence fight - that is they go at one another through the run fencing and to be quite truthful I am on the verge of letting one of them go to a friend but it causes a problem with us because we have so many and if one starts you get the 'pack' instinct kicking in. Truthfully as hard as it may seem it may be the solution to your problems but in the short term just try to get them to see eye to eye again without seeing their reactions to one another it is hard to give you really good advice - pay for my ticket I can be there fairly soon LOL

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lmao

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LOL - The day I win lotto, I'll forward you the cash. I'd better start buying tickets... :P You'd love Melbourne!

My dad judged in Victoria once and he thought it was great I would love to come there one day and I know once I get passed to judge a championship show here then I have got a judging job 'down under' but dont that let me stop you buying lotto tickets LOL

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Good luck with your judging then. Sounds like you're doing well with it so keep up the good work and you'll be over here in no time.

As for me buying lotto tickets, today may just be the first day.