no subject

[dfryman]

no subject, sorry for the inconvenience. Too much hum bug with what I wrote earlier. Will choose my words and messages more carefully.

[missydog1]

I can't answer your question about the fighting, but I am really concerned that they are being walked without a leash and then being left to come home alone, while in a fighting mood, and part pitbull at that. What about any people or other people's pets they might encounter?

There's a leash law, unless this wooded area is all your property, in which case never mind, but it's not clear from your post.
I mean, what do you mean by wooded area? Whose property is it? We don't have open wooded area that is unregulated and open to the public.

[sistersue]

I think the two one-year-old dogs that fight are fighting over who should be the "top dog", or "alpha-dog". Other siblings of the same sex that fight usually don't end up very hurt though -I don't think. Must be the "pit-bull" in them. Maybe if you have them spade they will calm down? Ask a dog aggression website if spaying them will help. You should have them spade in any case for several reasons. Maybe if you excercise them separately they won't fight. Good luck.

[csgray]

Are these the dogs that got lost earlier this month? If so, you really might want to rethink them being walked without leashes. Two days ago we had an aggressive loose dog bust open our gate and get into it with our 3 dogs. Big mistake for that dog, one of mine is a rescue dog who has been attacked in the past and when this dog went after one of our puppies she tore into that dog, and then the other two joined in. Huge dog fight, blood flying everywhere, screaming dogs, yelling people. When we got our dogs washed off none of the blood was theirs, thank god, but it was still horrible, and now my dogs are on a hair trigger about other dogs. If that dog hadn't been running loose none of it would have happened.

You are dealing with issues of disobedience to humans, pack placement and aggression, which is fairly common once you have more than two dogs. You have three choices: a concentrated period of working on behavior with a dog training professional, keeping them separated and always on leash, runner, or inside with you since you don't have consistent voice control, or giving at least one of them away to a good home where they will be an only dog. If you don't choose one of these options, in all likely hood one of them will either be badly hurt or kill the other one, or even one of your neighbor's dogs, or one or both will end up lost again. Continuing to take them out together without a leash is asking for trouble with their past history. If they were my dogs I would keep them separated at all times and walk them on leash separately while working on training them to voice control. My dogs are kept in our yard (chained until we got all the holes in the fence plugged) and only leave it on leash. Hawaii just has too many temptations for off leash dogs unless they are unusually well trained: other dogs, wild pigs, chickens, vehicles, kids, livestock. If you love your dogs keep them safe by being in charge; you have a bigger brain and opposable thumbs, that makes you the boss and you need to call the shots. Good luck.

Carol

[sistersue]

Finding a home for the more aggressive dog would be a good solution. I also agree with the post from Carol. Aloha.

[dfryman]

These are not the dogs that got lost. The wooded area has no other houses. We have recently moved and they are no longer allowed to be out without a leash. We have a fully fenced in yard now. They have always been on a run and still are. We have talked about obedience class and serialization. Just looking for ideas and maybe a suggestion as to where to call.

Donna Fryman

[kani-lehua]

just when we thought our dogs were getting along (mother and two sons), DOG FIGHT! hundreds of dollars in vet bills. they were getting along again, then DOG FIGHT! renee got bit badly from trying to separate them and ended up in emergency. more vet bills. more doctors' bills. we FINALLY learned OUR lesson--keep them separated. all of them are sterilized.



"chaos reigns within.
reflect, repent and reboot.
order shall return."

microsoft error message with haiku poetry

[punafish]

We got our two pups from the same litter about three years ago. Months into our adventure they started fighting viciously and we tried breaking them up at first. Then (duh) I did a little research. Yup, they have to establish rank. The younger they decide, the less they get hurt. So we let them duke it out. Took seven bloody rounds before the female finally submitted. (She fought admirably but didn't have a chance.) Aside from all the blood and gore, it was kind of interesting. They'd go at each other viciously until they both were exhausted, almost to the point of collapse. Then on cue, they'd "take a break", at which time they'd gently lick each others' wounds, only to hear an invisible bell in their heads that would start the next vicious round. The other interesting thing was that the male knew he was the alpha, almost toying with his over-matched sibling. His tail was up the whole time like he was playing. She didn't know until the very end that she didn't have a chance. Today they're best buds, although they get in little scuffles now and then. (Scares the hell out of folks on the other side of our fence.)

[Kelena]

I have an older dalmatian. I was roped into going the human society where there was a cute little girl dalmatian (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/XUK...directlink). Dalmatians don't like other dogs, generally, and so I took my older dalmatian to the humane society three times where they we put then in a "try out" area. His hackles went up and he did try to mount her, but nothing violent occurred. I brought her home. He bit her ear immediately. I grabbed him by both ears, got down at eye level looked him in the eye and said in a low voice "Don't ever do that again". Took her to vet for punctured. Long story short, is he persisted in aggressive behavior toward her. Then she kicked his ass (she had been living out on the street). But because he started that fight, I put him in the bathroom for about 24 hours. I fed him and gave him potty breaks. What I didn't give him is any affection. When he came out of there he was a changed dog and has been ever since. He loves her now. She can take him or leave him.

I am the top dog and I decide who is number 2 and number 3.

The key to getting dogs to stop doing behavior you don't approve of is to let them know you don't approve. That's first. Then withhold something they want. With my very domesticated dogs, the worst thing you can withhold from them is affection.

If you treat your dogs like wild creatures, they will revert very quickly. Some humans revert, too. But there is not much we can do about that. Treat your dogs more like part of the family and they will behave better for you. And if they do something wrong, isolate them until they make the connection between what they did and the isolation.

And off leash is dangerous for not only your dogs but for all other dogs....and rabbits.

[Carey]

Are the dogs spay/neutered? if not, this can increase the aggressive behavior, esp when they are nearing heat.

Dogs fight to establish rank. If the fighting happens only when they are with your son, and he cannot control them, that probably means that they do not think he is alpha.

Domestic dogs should always be trained to regard humans as alpha (this should start when they are pups, but can be done now.... if you are not sure how, and have not done this type of training, it is best at this age to take the dogs AND YOUR SON to obedience school). Pits are very trainable, but they also need constant reinforcement, sorta like a precocious kid that always is testing the limits.

Until this behavior stops, keep the dogs on leash, and maybe only take one of the fighting siblings at a time. Dog fight wounds can turn very costly, and infections from wounds can kill your dogs. It is a pain to leash & separate, but it is the only way that you can keep the dogs from fighting until your son has learned the proper tools to control your dogs.