New Female Dog Fighting With Neutered Male In New Home by: Emily
Hi Janice,
Thanks so much for submitting your question. This is a great one and I'm sure many other dog lovers have experienced questions like yours.
I don't think the concern here is so much that your female dog is un-spayed and the male dog is spayed, I think it's more a question of two dogs having to share the same territory.
It sounds like the female dog has recently come to live in the male dog's "home." He will have territorial concerns about a female entering his territory.
However, it sounds like she is the one who is being more aggressive. She may have a more aggressive or dominant personality and be working to establish her position as the "pack leader" over him.
It is important that both you and your daughter and any other human inhabitants in the home are keeping the upper hand and retaining your dominance over both dogs.
The family should really have a "human" pack leader and neither dog should rule the roost in your house.
As the dominant leaders, the humans say who can fight and when.
You certainly need to protect your male dog from injury from the female.
If this is going to be a permanent/long term living situation for the dogs, they need to learn to tolerate each other. It is fine for them to work out the kinks and see who's in charge, but fights that draw blood (or that look dangerous and are escalating) need to be addressed.
I would suggest separating the dogs physically when they fight and having them do a sit-stay, or down-stay while in the same room and under your control.
If you have not been doing regular obedience exercises with each dog, this is an excellent time to start.
