Two females battling for dominance

[mlemiller]

I have two female boxers. One is 4 and the other is almost 2. Lately they are driving me a little crazy because they are constantly arguing. I say "arguing" because they don't draw blood, but they are always growling and barking and wrestling with each other... more violently than they did before. It used to be much more playful. My theory is that they are trying to establish dominance still. Ruby, the younger one, has the more dominant attitude for sure. However, Ruby is quite small, about 45 pounds and Beanie is about 80 pounds. So Beanie has the more dominant body by far. I am concerned that neither will ever win and they will constantly be battling each other for dominance.

Any suggestions? I try to break it up, but should I let them duke it out and get it out of the way? I know someone is going to refer me to a great training book, but I am more interested to hear what others on this board have done. Thanks!

 

[Jade010103]

I don't know if this will help you at all but I've heard for you to decide who you think is the dominant one and always treat that dog as the dominant between the two, like always pet the one first, feed them first, let the dominant one out the door first and so on. I think I seen this on an Animal Planet show or something. But you have to make sure everyone in the family knows which one is dominant so they don't do things opposite and confuse them. I got lucky, with my female boxer I also have a female golden retriever and they just kinda take turns with who is dominant over certain things.
Good luck!

 

[gmacleod]

I don't think you should just let them sort it out. Please do a search here for female agression issues or females fighting - you should find plenty of good advice.

I think you need to step in here as the "alpha" and put a stop to any and all plays of dominance between the two. The thing about females is that they *don't* always establish a heirarchy, so the fights escalate. At its worst, that actually means fighting to kill (sorry, not trying to scare you but you should be aware of the possibilities here - they're not particularly remote ones). And once serious fighting starts between females, it is VERY difficult to stop. With careful and early management, that sort of thing can be avoided.

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

You, as leader of your pack, must NOT allow this to continue. As said above, two females fighting only escalates and generally ends in tragedy.

You set the hierarchy in any pack because you are the leader. Not the dogs. If they are fighting for position as Beta (second in line), you must make sure that YOU choose the Beta, and don't let them decide among themselves. It will only get worse.

An excellent book to get is "The Dog Listener" by Jan Fennell. This can guide you in how to be leader and how to control your pack so that this sort of thing doesn't happen and no one ends up at the vet's office or worse.

Hierarchy is about privileges bestowed by the leader, not about who is strongest, biggest or the best fighter. You must put a stop to this immediately before it gets worse.

A qualified behaviorist can be very valuable in this type of work. I'd suggest, in addition to reading up on dominance and pack leadership (see our book forum) that you contact a qualified canine behaviorist ASAP and do not let this type of behavior continue.

Good luck.