Aggressive Brothers

[Kristigarr]

We have 2 six month old puppies. Within the last month they have started fighting with each other. They aren't fighting over food or toys, they just attack each other. We just recently had them fixed and was hoping this would slow down the aggression, but if anything it has made them worse. Has anyone dealt with this, or have any suggestions as to how we can deal with this problem?

 

[2BullyMama]

Welcome to EBN

Sounds like they are fighting for alpha.... use 'Nothing in Life is Free' very easy training tool and it will teach them that YOU (all humans MUST participate) are alpha. This may be a life time training session as some will take 10 miles if you give them a smidgen of an inch.


http://www.englishbulldognews.com/f...ioral/33985-life-free-training-technique.html

 

[brutus77]

I agree with Christine, make sure you find a training that is going to work for you and stick to it. EVeryone in the family has to be on board and be consistent. My Brutus likes to be a jerk sometimes to his brother Frankie and I immediately stop the behavior and put him in a time out. This teaches him that he cannot act out toward his brother.

 

[cali baker]

I have two bully brothers too and one is sweet and carefree whereas the other one is a bully towards his bro. They grew up together and I hoped and hoped that the younger (Finn), who bullies his brother Tate would grow out of such behavior but this isn't the case as they're now 5yo and still Finn needs to be "top dog" all the time. I've just learned to separate them when I feed them, and when they're given snacks or a toy. I also make sure to praise each one equally and not to side with one or the other. It's still a learning process for me (and them)! I did get a trainer involved at one point too so maybe that's something you should look into. It's something I plan on doing again but just haven't found the time to do it yet.

 

[minibull]

I hoped and hoped that the younger (Finn), who bullies his brother Tate would grow out of such behavior but this isn't the case as they're now 5yo and still Finn needs to be "top dog" all the time.

This is discouraging as we just brought a 5 year old male bully into our house and our first bully, 4 year old Buttercup, is a real bully! Our new guy is easygoing but he's stopped putting up with her aggression and we've had to separate them. We have learned to do it calmly and now are doing 'Nothing in Life is Free' in addition to working with a trainer, but Miss Bossypants is adamant that she is top dog and our new dog isn't inclined to agree.

 

[minibull]

Short-term update: Our trainer discovered that loudly banging cake/muffin pans together at the start of Buttercup's aggressive behavior puts the kibosh on it and gets her to defer to commands from us. Doing it mid-fight is not as effective. I feel a little bad that she acts scared of the pans when I bring them with me when we go to sit down together as a dogs-humans group, but at the same time I'm glad she's scared of the pans because they prevent animosity and injuries.

The Nothing in Life is Free approach is working very well for us. No love or food until she and her new brother working for it.

I failed to mention that Ms. Bossypants is not yet spayed and Winston is unneutered (but sweet and easygoing as pie until he gets attacked). Trainer said we need to spay and neuter (or at least spay Queen Buttercup) to really get to the root of the problem.

 

[2BullyMama]

Great update and progress... Stay focused and consistent

[emoji106][emoji106]

 

[g8erjackie]

We have 2 six month old puppies. Within the last month they have started fighting with each other. They aren't fighting over food or toys, they just attack each other. We just recently had them fixed and was hoping this would slow down the aggression, but if anything it has made them worse. Has anyone dealt with this, or have any suggestions as to how we can deal with this problem?

Are they really fighting, like drawing blood or play fighting? Ruckus and Regina go at it and it can sound vicious but they're always just playing.

Good luck to you. I don't know what I'd do if my babies didn't get along.