SearchMy two male Dogs fighting
I have 3 Dobermann dogs, a male who is 8, a bitch who is 4 and a male who is 14 months, the young male is a son of the two older dogs.
They are all fairly well trained and obidient, the two male are very strong dogs, now the younger dog is bigger and stronger than his father.
The dogs always gont on well until recently, they would fight over toys and balls, the fights would get worse every time, often with blood shed, now they fight when they see eachother, no balls, toys or food to fight over, usually I get them pulled apart, but yesturday they went under the trees and i couldnt get near them, it was very bad and noisy and the bitch was trying to seperate them, I tought one of them was going to get killed, eventually after about 10 mins of fighting the elder dog came out and ran into the house, covered in cuts on his neck and ears, he was very weak all night and the younger dog was ok, he inly had a few marks and was walking around more confident than i have ever seen him,
I think the fighting is a power thing, fighting for position in the pack, but I dont know what to do, I am worried that they will kill eachother, or loose an eye. I think the fighting may be over now that the eldest dog submissed but im not sure and im scared to let them out together.
Thanks.
Sorry to hear about this. Hope your older male is ok. Not going to preach to you, because I know that you are feeling badly about this and worried---as you should be. This is precisely why the people of this forum and other people that have known and seen and experienced male-on-male aggression with the doberman breed try so hard to warn people to NOT have two males at the same time. Not all males will react aggressively with another male, but the chances of two males getting along all their lives and not fighting to the point of drawing blood is so very slim, it's honestly not worth the risk to see what will happen. Again, I am so sorry about your males getting into a bad fight, but you might as well expect that same thing to happen over and over and over again if you don't keep them separated from now on. I'm not going to insist that you rehome the younger one, but keep that option open, if you aren't able to separate them for the rest of their lives together.
Seriously, keep those dogs separated, because the next time will probably be even worse, and you will have no warning at all before the fight breaks out.
I had exactly the same situation as you did, but papa was over 11 by the time the son was maturing and this started. I was able to separate them and keep them separate them before it reached this stage and keep them separate for the last six months of the older one's life (he passed due to kidney failure at the age of 11 1/2, the son at that point was 1 1/2). I had a large fenced enclosure immediately behind my fenced back yard, but the areas had a common fence. Those two would trash talk to each other if they were both out.
Dobermans are notorious for same sex aggression. Hope the papa is ok, but you will have to keep them separate or he will be killed by the son. Flat out keep them separate, or rehome one.
In contrast, I have father and son Min. Schnauzers that have lived together for 10 years. While there is an occassional verbal disagreement, no one has gotten bit yet.
It is for this reason, when I lost my male back in July, and wanted a companion for Princess, although I would have liked a female for several reasons, I did not dare take the chance. I aready had experiences with female on female Doberman aggression so I now have Jake.
It can be done under the best circumstances with extensive training, Perfect control, but even then it is a ticking time bomb.
You are fortunate that neither dog was killed, and if your female had really gotten in there, she would have been hurt. You were wise not to get in there yourself. The most common result when humans try to physically separate fighting dogs, is a dog on human bite.
Aaron, I am in complete agreement with these responses. I see three options: 1)find a rescue for one of the males, personally I would send the young one 2) keep the males separate for the rest of their lives. You may need to separate the female as well, as she might get hurt by being near the reactive male she is penned with. 3) take no action, you'll have disaster.
I so hope you will resolve the problem immediately.
I have seen the physical damage that male-on-male aggression can create, no matter the breed of the dog. Unfortunately, because of the Doberman's size and strength, you likely would never be able to bring the fighters in to an ER vet. One of them would be dead or dying.
Experiencing a dog fight is frightening... don't experience another one. Do what was suggested here. Don't try and think you can handle it. To me, from your description of owning 3 Dobermans, one of them your "breeding pair" and the fact you kept a son... means you do not know a lot about the breed. So you probably should get your female and male fixed, take this as a lesson learned, and rehome your last puppy.
I have read thet once one dog submits it is over and wont happen again, im not sure if this is true or not,
would getting both dogs neutered help?
It isn't so much the submission thing as it is same-sex aggression. Even if one submits, they will still fight, ESPECIALLY if they are both unneutered and you have a female around. Wow, that just skyrockets the danger level!!! When I get my doberman, I'm planning on getting a male, one, because I've always wanted a male dog, and two, because we have a female dog and are most commonly in association with other female dogs. Same-sex aggression is so real, my friend. You really should re-home the younger dog while he is still "adoptable". Unless you can keep the dogs separated for life, that is your ONLY other option. I am sorry for you and your situation.
You are not going to want to ever risk letting them together again. Neutering can sometimes help, but they already hate each other and I doubt that it will get better.
No one is going to want to adopt an 8 year old male, you should neuter the son and rehome him. Please please neuter him first and do a background check on anyone who is interested - ask for a vet reference and check it. Pit bull scum bag fighting breeders/owners will take "free to good home" dogs to use as bait dogs for fighting pit bulls.... and they can lie convincingly.
Please take the advice that has already been offered above, you're risking the life of not just one dog but 2, same sex aggression is nothing to mess with and it never has a happy ending.
Rehoming your younger male will be easier than rehoming your older male, I highly suggest that you go this route and quickly.
Such a sad and scary situation.
it WILL happen again and it will get worrse. For the safety of your dogs, you and yourself I would highly suggest re-homing one of them immediately with a rescue. Don't hide the fact that he fought with your other male either as they need to make sure not to home him again with a household with a male in it. If you aren't willing to do that then they need to be kept completely seperate from this ponit forward. Doberman's are well known for male on male aggression. Many of us have had these same conversations with others on the forum. It usually starts as they near 2 years of age and there is not way to 'train' it out of them or stop it. Havng a female together with them only adds fuel to the fire.
do what's best for your dogs and let one go before they really hurt each other.
Nothing else to say here that hasnt already been said,.....now just act on it ASAP!!....Please!
I do hope that you're taking this advice seriously, as this is a situation that can and WILL spiral out of control very quickly and not have a positive ending.
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You need to rehome the younger male NOW while he is still at an adoptable age. Getting him to a reputable rescue is your only good option. Do some research on same sex aggression on Dobermans. Chances are good that you WILL end up with a dead dog on your hands, sooner rather than later.