Fighting

We have mum and daughter who normallyget on reallywell. Play, sleep and together but we had them both recently spayed and now the daughter keeps going for the mum nd is getting quite aggressive. The vet checked and them and no pain but we dont know what to do as its quite scary when they start fighting.

Hi &

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Sorry but I have only ever had one dog at a time. I have posted a link below regarding dogs body language you may find it useful as it gives the signs to watch for:

http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/dogbodylanguage.html

Hi & welcome to the forum.

Could you tell me how old both of them are? Are you able to see what sparks it off?

Hi and welcome from us and Suki. The body language link should be helpfull and if you are in doubt it's best to seperate them

Hiya and welcome from me and Moo

hello and welocme from me and billy

Hello and welcome from me the wife and marley
i've only ever had one dog at a time so am unable to comment

Hi and welcome to the forum from me and Charlie.

As Caryll said, are you able to tell if there is anything that sets it off? Could it be a jealousy thing? Is there ever a 'warning' from the younger one? Growling, staring, hackles raised etc.

When bitches fight, it can be so much worse than when males fight. As Jstaff recommended, I would separate them EVERY time they are left alone - the last thing you want to come home to is a blood bath. I would start feeding them separately too, sometimes food can cause major issues. Do not leave them alone together at all, that means they will have to sleep separately too.

Never had two together but have read that bitches tend to be more intent on gaining higher status within the group than males under strong leadership. I think it is a hormonal thing. Sorry girls but women together do seem to bicker much more than their counterparts.

Hi and welcome. Iv always one or one of each sex n never had that problem, but agree don't leave them alone together, feed seperate and remove toys/bones, try and work out the triggers x

I have always found that 2 females never get on....

Ive got 2 males around the same age as each other,one Ive had from a pup the other i rehomed from a pound about 18months ago,they got on really well with each other for about 7months & then it seemed out of the blue everytime I walked into the living room of a night time they would fight,spoke to a trainer about it & it seems to have been a hierarchy thing,I had tried to keep them on an equal footing with each other & that was causing the friction,I have always fed them separately & they cannot play with certain toys together,I always keep them apart when i go out & so far we haven't had a fight in at least 5 months maybe more you watch I will have jinxed myself! my advice is talk to a trainer or 2 just because they are staffies doesnt mean that they have a propensity to fight more than any other dog,its just when they do fight they cause more damage

Hi and welcome.
Above advice all very sensible. The younger dog may be wanting to be the dominant one. Has anything else changed? Read up on dog body language and behaviour to see if you can identify a trigger. I would not leave them alone, but separate them when you are out. What are they like on walks? How old are they? Remember most people get on each other's nerves if together 24/7, yet we expect our dogs to be saints and always get on perfectly. Keep us posted.

How old is the young one? Often dogs get on perfectly well until one or both hits social maturity around 12-36 months of age. It makes it rather difficult but there are a few things you can do to help. One is to find out which is the more dominant of the two (just remember that dominance can shift, for example, one can be more dominant about attention from people and one more food dominant) and then treat them accordingly.

Give attention to the more dominant one first, feed the food dominant one first etc. But make both dogs work for food/attention/toys etc (i.e. ask them to sit).

Then you can also practice 'settle down' exercises etc. I recommend teaching them seperately before then gradually doing it together.