Aggression & fighting

[evergreenhope]

I'm hoping for some insight and maybe some pointers. Our cast of dog characters: Charlie, female 7yo German Shepard; Maggie, female 5yo Basset Hound; Riot, male 2yo French Bulldog. Our cast of humans: Me, female 45 yo; daughter "P" 26 yo; daughter "E" 20 yo.

We've had all of our dogs since they were puppies. All are altered. "E" moved out of the family home last August and "P" moved out in February. Both visit often. On March 5 we received some terrible family news. After sharing this information with both of my daughters they came by the house, "E" about a hour after receiving the news and "P" a few hours after that. Soon after "E" arrived, Charlie and Maggie got into a fight. While separating the girls, Riot then went after Charlie which is usually the role he plays. We weren't watching them when the fight broke out so we have no idea what happened immediately before and the dogs are always happy to see my daughters. They were separated for a bit with Charlie outside and Maggie and Riot inside. "P" arrived and we decided to see if they would be okay being together again. "E" threw the ball for Charlie, she went after the ball and I let Riot and Maggie out. Charlie came back with the ball and dropped it (which is not how fetch works with her), walked over to Maggie and attacked her. Both dogs tore each other up pretty good and I ended up with a bite on my middle finger.

I then kept them separated for about a week, mostly because I'm with them alone a lot and breaking up three dogs is a lot by yourself. Through out the week, Charlie would come up to the sliding glass door and Maggie wouldn't get close to the door, Charlie snarled at her a few times. Over the weekend, while my husband was home, the dogs were all put together and things seemed fine, some tense circling each other but we discouraged that and everything seemed fine.

One day the following week, "P" stopped by on her way home from work. She came in, greeted the dogs and we were standing in the kitchen talking. The dogs were on the other side of the counter so again we didn't see what happened but a fight broke out between Charlie and Maggie. Once again, they were separated and kept separated until my husband came home.

Yesterday, "E" came by and Maggie was sitting behind her, between "E" and the dishwasher. Charlie walked over and attacked Maggie. "E" ended up taking Charlie home with her but that's not a long term solution. I'm assuming this is some kind of jealousy when the girls come to visit? Why now? The tension from the bad news? I don't know what to do. I've had dogs my whole life and have never had a problem with fighting. Help please!!

 

[kimmarqy]

@evergreenhope Your daughters are now high value resources since they no longer live there and the dogs are resource guarding.

It appears that you should just separate the dogs when your daughters visit and rotate dogs. Although annoying as it is, this will be safer for everyone.

Resource guarding can happen at any time and without warning. The high tensions within the family and your daughters visiting have put pressure on your dog's to get attention from the high resources.

 

[evergreenhope]

@kimmarqy Thank you! Is this likely to be a permanent issue?

 

[kimmarqy]

@evergreenhope It depends and that's hard to say. You would ideally have the dogs leashed when you are ready to try to have them together with your daughters around and have very strict rules, which is not fun when you are trying to visit. You would keep a very close eye on the dogs body language and redirect or correct and anti social behaviors before it progresses. This can be very hard because it could be as subtle as an eye look or a tail raise.

You have to intervene before it starts and that is hard! If you can I would have a dog trainer come over and evaluate your dogs during normal times and when your daughters are present. They can give you real time help!

 

[evergreenhope]

@kimmarqy Thank you for your help! Have a great day!