Pups Quarreling, in an "I'm going to kill you kind of w

[Guest Anonymous]

:(

Bet you've heard this one before. I have 2 males pups from the same litter (5mths old). My husband (who lives apart from us) has another male pup from that same litter, same age, obviously. In addition to the male pup he also has a 5 year old female. Ok, my 2 do the customary "fighting" if you will. Once or twice a week it gets a little more heated than I prefer, but nothing too serious. However, on 3 separate occassions when my husband and I have tried to get together with all the pups there has been some blood shed (with the pups, although if we don't reach an agreement on this it could be either of us :wink: ). Sadly my request for some feedback may involve my frustration with the hubby as much as the unfortunate situation with the pups. You see, as I mentioned in my Introduction, we got the 1st pup (Buster Pi) for my (from a previous marriage) son. Although my husband already had a dog of his own, while we were getting my son's pup, he too took one. Six weeks later my son and I took in another one from the same litter who was still living out in the cold (burrrr). What has me upset is that a) my husband took in one of the pups (who in my opinion is the instigator because the bad fights have always involved him and never my 2 dogs together), b) my husband is incapable of accepting that this is a possiblity because he refuses to admit that he's too stern with the puppy, leaves him alone too much, and that the puppy is hyper, and c) my husband says that he is going to find another home for his pup but he continues to debate the situation rather than just doing the right thing which in my opinion is to find a new home for his pup. If he were to do that we wouldn't have anymore of these dangerous fights (in which on 2 separate occassions both of us have been injured). I think 3 dogs to a 3 person household is enough, that's 1 dog each. I understand that he loves his puppy, and I don't want him to be sad, but it's gotten really bad and I'm afraid my son may be next to be injured. I will not stand for that. Thanks for letting me vent.

[Lokipups]

For starters, one should NEVER take littermates, that's a whole lotta trouble right there. In all honesty, you would be doing the right thing if you rehomed two out of the three, and give the pups the opportunity to grow apart from each other. Littermates, unfortunately, will bond very tightly to each other, making it very difficult to train them to work (train) for you. You'll almost always see one pup looking to the other for guidance, when it should be looking at you instead. And then there's the fighting issue. Two male littermates now at 5 months will have some noisy clashes, but when they hit maturity at 14 to 16 months, you're going to have some all out battles for dominance. And then throw in a third one, one of them is going to be badly hurt, and very dog aggressive for the rest of it's life, which isn't fair to any of them. You didn't say what kind of breed, but if it's a purebred, there are rescue groups that can help find excellent new homes for them.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hmm? I wonder why my vet hasn't so much as flinched about it. She's well aware that they are brothers. Seems like she would have mentioned that there would be issues. My 2 males (half Mountain Cur/half Husky mix) are scheduled to be neutered in late May. I wonder how much that will help. My 2 have never had a full-blown fight, the 3 bad, blood-drawing, us injured fights involved their brother who doesn't live with us. Rehoming any of the puppies is a touchy subject. My son is very attached to one, I'm very attached to one, and my husband is also very attached to his. We have some serious decisions to make, and the sooner the better. :cry:

[courtnek]

ALL OF THEM need to be neutered, and ONE OF YOU needs to be Alpha.
You can stop the fighting with a strong Alpha presence, but it takes time and strict rules. It is true that it is often hard to raise littermates, for all the reasons mentioned, but it can be done. You have to use strict pack rules, and no slacking is allowed. This scenario is a pack setup, you need an Alpha with a strong personality to literally '"rule the roost"...

[Lokipups]

Unfortunately vets get none or very little in the way of behavioral and training education, they have to focus on the health of about a dozen different species, so it really doesn't allow them to learn about specific animal behavior. And that's what keeps me in business :lol: .
But really, try and keep them separated as much as possible if you absolutely must keep them, separate crates, feeding, and training times, you'll be grateful down the road if you do. But rehoming at least one of them would still be better, I know it's awful hard to do, but it would be the right thing to do if you can't separate them in your home. The problems will really start to show around full maturity, anywhere around 14 to 18 months of age depending on the breed.

[KP]

Lokipups napisał(a):

Unfortunately vets get none or very little in the way of behavioral and training education, they have to focus on the health of about a dozen different species, so it really doesn't allow them to learn about specific animal behavior. And that's what keeps me in business :lol: .

EXACTLY. Remember vets can offer a medical standpoint... (although I wouldn't particularly agree with many vets in some areas) Behaviorally you have to remember they have little to no experience in unless they use their off time researching and learning about. It is a common misconception that people believe veterinarians are a one stop shop. Many vets get a little over their head in that area too. Remember they aren't miracle workers and they don't have all the answers or even the right ones many times. I would never leave every answer in the hands of my vet. They give me their opinion and I research their answers and get from other places. You have to get out there like you are right now and find more than a biased view.

I also agree that accepting littermates is not most of the time a good idea. While it may work for some depending on the temperaments I think given that you are having issues at 5 months and the fact that they are littermates...it is GOING to get worse no matter how much alpha you work into the schedule. They will do a lot better in separate homes. It's kind of like sibling rivalry. No matter what kind of diciplining goes on it's between the personalities the spats can be pretty bad. There isn't much you can do. Structurally littermate conditions work a little differently than two strange dominant dogs. They aren't as easy to get through to.

[Malamum]

Although I personally don

[Guest Anonymous]

Thank-you so much for your feedback. It has certainly given us more information to base our decision upon.

Additionally, for the first time, my 2 pups had their first blood-drawing fight just a little bit ago. That seals the deal at my house. I will have to find a home for the 2nd pup we brought home. The original intention was to do just that when we brought him home mid-January. I should have followed my instincts then.

Wish me luck everyone. For a time I am going to have a broken-hearted 10 year-old son to help through this. However, I am certain that it is the right thing to do.

Thanks again everyone, it's good to be in good dog company. :cry:

[ellieangel]

You are doing the right thing....if you contact a rescue you could act as foster while they find the pup a home then they will be able to do homechecks etc for you.

Good luck :wink: