Need help ASAP my dogs are fighting with each other

Don't know what to do I have three sbt 1 nutured male 3 year old
And two of his daughters 2 year old not spayed.
At 9.45 my mum came down satires and opened the kitchen door
It was fine for a second and the all of a sudden they all started fighting
Not play fighting really fighting one of them was yelping.
I ran throght and managed to get the male away and drag him upstairs and lock him
In my room. Dragged the others away from each other kept one in the kitchen and one in living room.
They are still seperated and I'm now upstairs with the male
And he got a cut inbettween his eyes.
Just tried to let the females together and see but given the chance I think they will
Fight again. I really don't know what to do they will be staying away from
Each other tonight. But can't keep them seperate forever.
It's not the first time it's happened it always seems to happen
When my dads working away never happens with him here
They are usually all together by now when it happened before they where together after an hour
I don't want to chance the male going down just in case as he seems agitated and crying by the door any idea how to calm him.
And my dads away till Thursday.
I'm hoping they will be fine tomorrow and will be together Any advice will be appreciated. Also any idea why they doing it please help .
Thanks in advance

From what I have read here that's why siblings, especially same sex can be very hard work and not advised. I can't really help but suggest that for foreseeable they are separated when unsupervised.

Someone can help more Xx

We always make sure someone is in with them and
They are never left alone there's always someone around

I would also keep them seperate when no one is able to supervise. You could try reintroducing them together on lead at opposite ends of the room and remove any objects that might cause a disagreement

siblings hard work

is there any food down on the floor or toys

Have you any idea what triggered the fight this time or the time before? Is it only the two times or a regular thing? Have you any idea what your dad does differently as they don't fight when he is there?

You said that they are never left alone together....

Natalie.claire wrote:We always make sure someone is in with them and
They are never left alone there's always someone around

...but it sounds as though they were alone together this morning?

Two bitches together, especially litter sisters, will often fight. Having another dog there seems to make it worse for some reason.

For the time being you will have to keep them separate. Give all three time to calm down and then introduce the dog to one of the bitches, then to the other. Then introduce the two bitches - hopefully you'll then be able to have all three together again. Please don't leave them together without supervision for the time being.

No there where no toys and no food down we don't let them have
Toys because they don't share .
Also it was 9.30 at night when it happened I was in the living room
And they went to greet my mum.
It happens every couple of months wen my dads away.
Not sure why they don't do when he's here think it could be because
When my dad shouts they always listen

I think the simple answer is that, whenever your dad's away, don't leave them alone together.

Do they not listen to you or your mum at all? What sort of training do they get on a regular basis?

Could be one or all of them are anxious when their 'alpha male' isn't around, maby they 'fight' to try and find authority between them as your dad isn't there.
It only takes 1 anxious dog to trigger and upset the 'pack'

If it only happens when your dad is away then that IMO is why.

It is hard to keep two staffords of the same sex and similar ages together. I'm not going to pretend we don't have incidents cus we do! I have three staffords and two JRT crosses. The staffs are Skibadee who is 7 years old, her duaghter Tali who is 4 years old and her daughter Kali-Mist who is 6 months.

I find problems occur when there is imbalance in the pack, for example if one of the group goes away for a couple of days and comes back, or if me or my other half go away. Also bringing new dogs or changing their routine can cause them to lash out, as can hormonal changes.

For example last night we were just sat on the sofa and Kali-mist was sat beside us, then Tali was about to get up and for no reason Kali-mist went crazy and started snarling and snapping at Tali (and trust me this wasn't a game!). Tali is DA and very flighty and quick to react, she didn't back down and started going loopy too. Luckily I am very in tune with them and was quick to react. It is important that you put them in their place and try and sort things asap because otherwise it will make it harder to re-integrate them as a pack. I always step in, after all I'm 'top dog' and what mummy says goes! I always seperate them, move them to opposite sides of the room and give them a thorough telling off (loud shouting and making them sit and pay attention!) until they stop focusing on one another. Then whoever instigated it gets body blocked from coming near the rest of the family (rejected!) for an hour or so. After that they feel guilty and usually show some submissive behaviour, crawling and avoiding eye contact with me and the attackee. I take this as showing respect and submission and after that we give them a treat to add another memory block between the arguement and the present time. Usually this is enough and they forget about the fight and you can dstart treating them as always.

Last night with Kali-mist was the first time she has ever been aggressive, I put it down to the fact that she is in the receptive stage of her first season and her hormones are all over the place. She got a telling off and sulked for the rest of the evening and even though she was invited into the bedroom slept in her crate on her own. This morning things were back to normal and her and mummy-tali were helping me sort out the chickens and playing in the garden!

You have to be ready to step in with staffords, a small disagreement can turn serious as they never back down to confrontation. I'm not saying we have these occurances often, sometime 2 or 3 times a year but you have to be ready to step in when they do happen. It helps that staffs are very sensitive and react to the sound of a raised voice but if it comes to it and they won't let go of one another you need to keep them still so they can't do any further damage.

Wow that turned into a bit of an essay, just wanted to let you know that all is not lost and you will be able to sort things out. Don't keep them apart too long, best bet get two more people who know dogs and get the three of them out for a walk together, keep them on-lead and brisk walking for 4 or 5 miles, their attention will not be on one another and this will reinforce in their minds that they are a pack and family.

Good luck!

Just a update we got told if the RSPCA that
It will only get worse.
So mum & dad came to the horrible decision about
Putting the females in to the RSPCA as female will fight to the death
So we mite nit if been so lucky next time
I don't agree with the decision of my babysin
A cage all alone but it wasn't my choice

So have he dogs gone , decision made or what ?? Was here any thought given o at least keeping one of the females and the male as it seems the 2 females are the instigators ?

why not keep one of the bitches?

Because unfortunately both females are
Trying to fight the male.
And couldn't take the chance in case they
Bite.
This has happened 3 or 4 times now
In the last 12months.
Don't want to take anymore chances.

Just a viscous circle that needn't be, why do people not think before they get a dog, more lives in a rescue

but is this when they are all together ??? or individually ??? It's never wise to leave them all alone and it seems that's what has happened here ?? You really need to sit down and work out where the problem really lies. Do they all have their own cages ?? I've only got 2 we separate them when we go out and put up with the spats , end of , they are dogs and thats what they do from time to time. My Breeder has 4 together and they share lovely but they asre always separated at the critical times in their own crates

What a shame My girls fight tooth and nail all the time but they settle down. I do crate them when I am out as I wouldn't like anything to happen while I am out.

I don't mean to be rude but you posted this at 00.15 last night and less than 24 hours later your decision is made yet this is something that has happened "3 or 4 times in the last 12 months" surely there could mbe a bit more effort made on cures and workarounds before you come to such a decision

I've been watching this thread, and I've got a question...Has damage been caused on any other occassion?

Most of the time, when dogs fight it's just alot of noise, more of an argument than anything else. When my sisters dog lived here with Lizzy (and Loki for 5 months) they had the odd spat and once or twice there was a bit of accidental damage. Other than that, it was all mouth and no trousers.

As for making this seemingly snap decision, I would at least attempt to rectify the situation. I would seek out a behaviourist that could help you devise a routine for them, whereby during particularly exciting times you could separate them.

And, are they all entire? Having all or some of them neutered may well help in part.

Also, the RSPCA are morons, for me, they're the last organisation I'd go to for advice, but that's just bitter ol' me.

Anyway, please at least give it a bit more time before turning their lives upside down.

The problem lies as my mum was bitten as she
Tried seperating them and I was bitten the last time.
It's not that we made the decsion do rapidly
We have thought about it for some time .
We now are rethinking the decsion and will wait till
My dad is home tomorrow.
We never intended to do this and will try avoid it
At all cost as we love our dogs and not cruel owners.
Just sick of living on eggshells with them thinking
Are they going to fight each other when someone comes to the
Door.

well hope you do the right thing and weigh up all of your options

Personally i don't think you have the confidence to keep these dogs anymore. In hindsight you should not have gotten the sibling bitches, but whats done is done. If you let them go to a rescue they will get put down, there is too many about and they won't keep any that are potentially aggressive.

In this situation i think your best option is to consider rehoming one of the bitches to someone who knows about sbt and about aggression (a good sbt rescue will put you in touch with someone) and seeing how the dynamics change.

My two bitches used to fight and my sbt would fight the male too if he got involved, but she would never fight the male on her own.

Take all three out to a place they dont know, and introduce your male to the both females and then keep whichever one gets on with him, they may just need alone time (away from the other sibling) to build the relationship with him.

In future you should never buy siblings.

We do have the confidence to raise these dogs.
We raised them for years along with the mother of the siblings
The reason we keapt 2?was because nobody would take one of them
So rather than put her in a rescue at such a young age we
Kept her along with the other it was never a problem
Untill they where about 9 months then it started.
We where trying to make the right decision for everyone
Including them we still are.
Just means my dad will have to stop working away so the problem can
Hopefully be solved.

Ok well good luck then

Natalie.claire wrote:We do have the confidence to raise these dogs.
We raised them for years along with the mother of the siblings
The reason we keapt 2?was because nobody would take one of them
So rather than put her in a rescue at such a young age we
Kept her along with the other it was never a problem
Untill they where about 9 months then it started.
We where trying to make the right decision for everyone
Including them we still are.
Just means my dad will have to stop working away so the problem can
Hopefully be solved.

These are just the responsibilities of a breeder unfortunately and if you are prepared to breed pups then you must be prepared to keep them all if you don't get them homed , sorry if I seem blunt but we see breeding problems quite a lot here. You did the right thing to hold onto the unwanted pups and now you should do the right thing with your responsibilities to them.

Can I ask what happened to mum then , you said in an earlier post you had to have one of your dogs PTS was this her ??

I find this thread disgusting is all I am going to say.

I wish I never bothered spending ten mins of my life writing that reply...

What a shame..

I shed tears for all the dogs bred for money and end up in rescue centres.

My pup could of ended up there.

Don't get another dog ever.

Just an after thought, but are the two bitches coming into season yet? This could cause a bit of an upset with the male. I do hope you can get this sorted out before too much damage is done.

We had to get the mother pts as she was very ill.
We didn't intentionally breed them we had the male booked
In and the vets had to cancel as there was a more urgent
Case. Before we could get him in the damage was already done.
The mother was suppose to be 5 when she was pregnant but when
We took her to the vets they said she was much older.
As we got her from my dads brother because the home she was
In she was treated badly.
We tried to correct the behaviour but we didn't know how
Long she had been treated like that.
Throughout her life she didn't like men only my dad.
It was hard to make that choice but she wasn't happy in the end, she couldn't move properly she was always in pain.
For everyone thinking what a bad owner I am I am not
Saying how discusting this thread is we are still thinking
And usually when dogs bite they get put down but there still here .
Mum had to get stiches because of it.
We are trying to right the bahaviour and as for saying we should
Never get a dog again this is the first time it's happened with our dogs fighting

Saying how discusting this thread is we are still thinking
And usually when dogs bite they get put down but there still here .

Sorry you don't like my comment but that's how I feel about this whole situation you found yourself in.

You say usually when dogs bite they get put down, erm not really no I know many many dogs who have bitten someone and are still alive an well never done it again. In this case only the owners are to blame for this outburst IMO through poor judgement through out the process of getting to where you are now.

You say you never leave them alone together though the way it reads makes it sound like they were alone together.

You had an "accidental breeding" hate the use of that term and the thought of how people take it so inconsequential.

You kept 2 of the pups from that litter because you could not sell them, keeping 2 bitches from the same litter when the sire is still in the house, is just crazy IMO. To then start worrying about the consequences after they start fighting, worried about them biting your children, other humans, seriously injuring each other.

Then state your getting rid of them all because you cant risk them fighting and biting someone again as your mum got bit.

I cant stand people breeding dogs when they don't have a clue what they are doing. I am not keen on breeding dogs at all but of cause it is necessary, the least people can do is try and get it right and do plenty of research before doing something so important and dangerous.

When I read stories like this I can only think why has it got to this stage before going to ask for help from someone?

I don't get how "Accidental breeding" even happens, you say he was booked in for the op but it was cancelled, well surely you take more care in making sure he don't get access to any bitches who have not been spayed?

Just seems like a total lack of thought and knowledge which has got you in the situation your now in, ultimately it's the dogs paying the price.

Sorry if you don't like my views and I am not judging you as a person at all, just annoyed its got this far before asking for advise and taking what the RSPCA as good advise. Sending them to rescue now where they would most likely get PTS for mistakes made by humans. I know that decision is now under review again just trying to explain my frustration and please do not take it personally.

I understand what your saying but I know its because of us I don't
Need everyone to tell me.
We never made anything from the puppy's
We gave them away to people we knew ie family and friends
As I found out not long ago and explained to my mum that the RSPCA would be the last place to turn to as an article I read from
Daily telegraph said that over half the dogs they 'save' get put down
They class unable to be rehomed just because there is no room
It also stated that the use some sort of gun like a stun gun or something
To put them down. I couldn't see or allow my mum to do that
But when I told her she was shocked they would do such a thing.
Sorry again for the long post but dad will be back in a few hours
And is usually fine when he's here.
Also have introduced the male again to the females for about 15 mins then
Take him back upstairs with me.

Whos spending time with the females? Who walks them all? How many walks a day to each dog get?

Have u read my post? You need to follow my advice and IMO get the male neutered.

Nosipho wrote:Have u read my post? You need to follow my advice and IMO get the male neutered.

They still never? oh my days.

Natalie.claire wrote:I understand what your saying but I know its because of us I don't
Need everyone to tell me.
We never made anything from the puppy's
We gave them away to people we knew ie family and friends

I think what has caused the heat in this thread is the fact that these two bitches were bred in the first place, not whether the pups went to good homes, nor whether you made any money out of them. Entire dogs should always be kept well away from entire bitches and if you can't do that you should either neuter (as you were going to do) or you get rid of one of the dogs - it really is that simple.

However, what's done is done. Waiting for your dad to return may help temporarily, but is not a long term solution. Ideally you should be looking for a forever home for one of the bitches, and the only people who are qualified to help you with this are the rescue centres. Some of these will advertise your dog on their sites & will home check any potential new owners so that you can be sure they will go to good homes.

If this isn't an option for you, then you need to keep all three dogs seperated unless there is somebody in the same room as them at all times.

Once two bitches fight (probably over the attentions of the dog) they will rarely get on well again.

Have either of the bitches been spayed?

The male is already neutered and none of the females are spayed

Hayley wrote:

Nosipho wrote:Have u read my post? You need to follow my advice and IMO get the male neutered.

They still never? oh my days.

Dunno just didn't see any reference to it, still I don't know if it would work for everyone. Maybe it only works for me cus I can strike the fear of god into those little pooches with a hard stare! Haha, got to love em. The only thing they are frightened of is me opening my mouth!

Natalie.claire wrote:The male is already neutered and none of the females are spayed

Ok. Why are the bitches not spayed? Either or both of them could be coming into season & this will affect their mood and their tolerance of each other.

I would sugest that the first thing you should do is get both bitches spayed. Now. Before you even decide whether or not you're keeping one or both or neither. If you decide to part with one or both of them you don't want them to go to anybody who would use them as breeding machines, so the sooner you get them done the better.

They have just finished being in heat not long ago a few weeks I think.

Oh my days,

When I lived at my mums we had 6 dogs in total, yes 6,
4 gsds and 2 staffis, neither of which where neutered/spayed at the time ( and no accidental litters ) anyway, out of the blue they started fighting, constantly, so we ended up getting all 6 spayed and neutered, within a few weeks, it was peace and quiet, well I say that they were still typical dogs just with out the aggression.
It costed loads but I'd rather spend my money on my pets by neutering/spaying and seeing how it goes rather than giving up.

You NEED the confidence and being able to have CONTROL as you have a powerful breed in your hands at the end of the day.
When I got Max at 9 weeks of age, I took on a commitment that would last a life time, regardless. He is now 5, he's not what most people call perfect because he is a handful at times, but that's due to his illness, and I know he's the only dog I have but like I said its sometimes really hard but other times really easy.. But I would never consider getting rid of him!

Anyway I'm not even sure why I'm responding, because you haven't said anything or responded to what people are trying to say, you posted a topic asking for help and that's what people here are trying to do...
I honestly don't think taking them to RSPCA will resolve anything, not for these dogs, there lives will only be shortened due to the no space and like someone else said earlier on this thread if these dogs have an aggression of any kind will most likely be PTS.
And I have to disagree about dogs biting are usually PTS, wrong, my staffi Max has bitten me, my OH and a friend, but that was no fault of his own and would never put him to sleep!

I'm sorry if I seem harsh but end of the line is

You posted asking for HELP and these kind people are replying trying to help

Sorry everyone for caps, I'm not shouting just pointing out important words.

I have been replying to people's posts
And if I haven't I'm not being ignorant I'm just
Replying to all the posts in my post

Hi just read thru the thread you must be in a terrible situation................. but who are these dogs first of all? and what input do you have with them?

Hello, you came on this forum asking for help, forumites have given you a lot of stick which is not helpful in the present situation, but it is understandable. Take on board all the good advice given and come to a reasonable decision which helps all the dogs.
Some of the comments made on this thread may well deter other owners of staffies to ask for help. I know we are all distressed at the situation, but constructive help rather than constructive criticism should be the order of the day and will encourage those who have serious problems to air them on this forum.

Can't add anymore in regards to behavioural advice, but I will say if you're going to rehome do it privately to somebody that you know has bull breed experience. There are far to many unwanted staffs in centres and aggression isn't a "rehomeable" trait unfortunately, if you sign them over for dog aggression and fighting the odds won't be in their favour. Just a thought, sure you could keep them separate until you find somewhere for them to go, if you decide to?