Is there anything I can do to stop my Staffies fighting?

[helen156]

I have a 3 year old Staffie bitch (spayed) and a 10 month old Staffie dog (neutered).

Normally she is very mothering and they play fight a lot which is no problem.
It has got very nasty twice and that is very scary and difficult to break up. Are my husband and I making it worse by interfering?

[andy-hughes]

This is standard pack behaviour.

Any dog will find its place in the pecking order, and submit to those further up the pack - the humans, and make its presence felt over those further down - a younger or smaller dog.

It is the nature of males to try their hand at moving up the order, especially if the older dog is a bitch. Your pup may be seeing how things go if he pushes a play fight a bit further, and your bitch is probably putting him in his place.

It is unusual for such a fight to go on for long, or to get too serious - it usually looks and sounds far more distressing and harmful for you than it is for them.

I'd be inclinded to leave them to it - as they both mature, they will settle down, but if it gets to be a frequent issue, you may have to look at re-homing one or both separately.

[lankeela]

Although in many cases I would agree with the above, I am afraid that where Staffies are concerned it will get worse, as although they are reluctant to start anything, they can sure as hell finish it. I think you will be very lucky indeed if you get away with neither of them being seriously injured, or even yourselves being badly bitten. When dogs fight, they forget all about their owners, and if you try to interfere, whichever dog you get hold of will think it is the other one and will go in even harder.

Trying to stay calm can help, as shouting and panicking will make matters worse. Try to get them each side of a door and gradually close the door with one on each side. If one is more aggresive than the other you can try putting a stick or something like that through the collar and turning until it lets go, then get the other one out of their pretty damn quick.

Although having the male castrated might have calmed him down a bit, it is not a 'cure all' and any learned behaviour will have to be trained out.

If it gets worse, then I am afraid the only answer is to rehome one or the other, before one of you gets really hurt.

[helen156]

Thanks Ian,

That is what concerns me so much I know the staffie breed quite well.