# Puppies always fighting...



## 2puppies (Feb 27, 2009)

My husband and I bought 2 new puppies about 3 weeks ago. Cupcake is an 11-week-old male spoodle, and Dog is a 15-week-old male Blue Heeler. We plan on getting them fixed once all their shots are finished (one thing at a time!)

They obviously love each other - they can't stand to be separated, they snuggle while they sleep, and often will lie there, chewing on the same stick or toy.
However, they fight/wrestle a LOT. When we first got them, it was play-fighting, but I asked the vet how to tell if it became more serious. She said if they start yelping, or if the growling becomes more intense.
Well, they pretty much don't play-fight at all now. It's always really intense growling, and almost always there's yelping. There haven't been any injuries that come out of it, but I am worried that as they get older and stronger, they could hurt each other.
It seems they fight often when one is jealous of the other (which is often). It doesn't matter how many toys we buy them, as soon as one of them picks up a toy, the other one wants THAT toy. We have a yard full of sticks, but as soon as one puppy picks up a stick, the other puppy wants THAT stick. The other night we watched as they wrestled over a piece of newspaper. One puppy had the newspaper, so the other one grabbed it, and it ripped. That puppy promptly dropped his piece, and went for the piece the other puppy was holding. Another rip, and the puppy dropped his piece and went for the piece the other puppy was holding. Newspaper everywhere, but that one piece of newspaper kept getting smaller and smaller until it resulted in a wrestle.

I don't get it! We separate them if the fighting gets too crazy, and they just cry for each other (ie I'll be in one room with Cupcake, and my husband will be with Dog, and they won't do anything except for cry).

I know it sounds like play-fighting but it's really not. Dog (blue heeler) is especially savage... he makes some incredibly horrible bark/growls that he previously only reserved for the cat.
Any help would be appreciated... I just don't know how to make them get along!
We have them booked into puppy pre-school but couldn't get them in till the 17th of March  It was the only vet around our area that offered the pre-school.


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## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

To be honest, it sounds relatively harmless -- usually, the louder a dog scuffle, the less you have to worry about, and aggression is VERY uncommon in puppies this young -- but I'll take your word for it. The solution lies in separating them before the fight escalates. 

It's not uncommon for a dog to suddenly want whatever toy another one has. This is a normal part of play. 

However, when things get to a point where you're uncomfortable, get between them and separate them using a baby gate, or crate them. If you're scared of getting between them, get someone to help you hold the hind legs of one dog while you hold the hind legs of the other; then they should be wheelbarrowed away from each other. This is the best way to break up any kind of dog fight.


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## 2puppies (Feb 27, 2009)

Hmmm OK. Maybe it is just play. I'm not scared of getting between them - their mouths aren't strong enough to hurt me, and they don't want to hurt me when they're fighting, so I usually do go in and pull one of them away if they're fighting.
Guess we'll just keep monitoring it!


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## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

Do they ever play bow? Do they switch roles during play -- for example, the puppy getting chased suddenly turns and becomes the chaser; the puppy who's on top is then the puppy below? Or is it usually just one puppy bullying the other?


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## 2puppies (Feb 27, 2009)

They do switch roles. It's usually the smaller one picking fights with the bigger one, but sometimes when the big one's hyper he'll pick the fights.


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## gizmobaby (Apr 30, 2007)

Sometimes when my dogs play with each other, they sound like they're maliciously attacking each other. But then if one goes too far, they'll make the other know and they just stop. As long as they know their limits, they should be fine. Limits as in no blood shed or its pretty much your call since you're the one watching over them. But sometimes you might have to intervene, because my boyfriend's friend's dogs were playfighting and it got way out of control. One of them was actually bleeding, so he had to stop it right away. Be careful if you do so, he almost lost a finger (literally).


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## Trainer (Feb 18, 2009)

What you are seeing is normal play for pups this age. Get used to it, it is going to go in for at least 2 or 3 more years. They are having fun. If they weren't they wouldn't be good friends when they are not play fighting. You may even see some blood sometimes but try not to worry about it. As they get bigger and faster a stray tooth is bound to graze some skin and cause a little blood. Pups/dogs are much tougher than humans are. It may look like they are killing each other but the rougher it gets, the more fun they are having.

My dogs pretty much play fight every day. They even have a time picked out. Around 7pm and it usually lasts about 15 - 30 minutes. It gets real loud and rough. All of a sudden they will stop, face each other, and shake their bodies. Then they lay down together and rest. Usually there isn't any blood but occasionally there is. Their teeth are bared and they look and sound plenty ferocious when playing like this.

Oh, to answer your question ... how do you know if it's real fighting? If you have to ask the question, it is play. When it's real, you know it and it won't have to ask. Once you have seen a real fight you will always know from then on. BTW: Your 2 dogs most likely won't ever have a real fight. I have had multiple dogs for over 20 years and have never seen a real fight between my "pack members". I have seen a real fight between one of my dogs and an outsider.


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## 2puppies (Feb 27, 2009)

I have seen 1 real dog fight, ad I gues that's what makes me nervous. I was house-sitting 2 staffies for a friend of mine. One evening we took them for their usual evening walk, let them off their leads, and within seconds they started tussling. A few minutes later, we saw that one of them was bleeding on his chest, and they wouldn't stop. They were grabbing each other's throats and ears, there was blood everywhere. And the sounds were so horrible. There was no way we were stepping in and stopping them, but I felt so helpless. After about half an hour they were finally exhausted and stopped. They were covered with blood, and the male (they had a male and female) could hardly walk. He was limping badly. When we got them home, we found that the female had bitten through the male's leg so badly that there was muscle exposed. He had to go to the vet the next day, and I think he had surgery (the owner's mother took him while I was at work).

They got along fine for the rest of our stay, but I found out a few months later they had an even worse fight in their own backyard, over a rat, and the male was almost killed. They re-homed the female thank goodness. But yeah. Scary times. I don't want to go through that with my own dogs!


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