Both pups get on very well with sharing food & water & sleeping togther during the day. The problem is that they are constantly fighting, it starts off as playing but turns nasty, I have tried breaking them up but this makes them nastier towards eachother. I have started to shout 'ENOUGH!' when it goes from playing to fighting, they will both stop, but as soon as I have turned my back they are back to fighting again. I am concerned as it seems that the younger and smaller Jack Russell always ends up crying, but will not back down, the Patterdale cross is stronger than her & will not back down either. If the Jack Russell does try to walk away, the Patterdale cross won't leave her alone. For fear that she may get hurt I put the Jack Russell to sleep in a cage at night which is in the same room as the Patterdale Cross. It is clear that the Patterdale Cross is the dominant one. When they fight they both go for the throat, but the Patterdale grabs the Jack by the throat & shakes her, help?
Thanks for all of your help.
I do know that terrirors do not get on well with same sex, however this happened, as I was living with the Patterdale cross, but because of bad circumstances had to move home. I only had the Patterdale for a week before this happened and the Jrt was only living in this home for 3 days before I moved in with the Patterdale. The pups have been together only four weeks but the fighting has got less frequent than it was. The probem seems to be that they start off play fighting but the Patterdale does not get the hint to back off when the Jrt has had enough, she still seems to be playing when the Jrt is actually showing her teeth & growling, the Patterdale shows none of the anger signs until she is attacked badly by the Jrt. How can I show my Patterdale that when the Jrt has had enough, she has to back off?
The fighting between them has not yet caused any of them to be physically hurt, could I be mistaking this for play fighting?
Oh boy, you got 2 female terriers. Did no one warn you about this? It is very well documented that terriers can have same sex aggression issues.
You have a few choices. You can try to let them figure out the pecking order themselves as long as it does not get too vicious and no one needs stitches. The grab the neck and head shaking thing is instinct for a jack, you know what they are bred to do, yes?
Or you can try to be the alpha and not allow it to happen by being bigger and louder than they are. (use the pennies in the can thing, NOT yelling at them). It might work for a while, but usually around 6 months it will start up again as they reach adolescence. Spaying may help the situation a bit.
If the fighting continues you are going to have to either zone your home and keep them apart or re-home one.
You are correct in thinking this could be a big problem in the future.
Ok, so you don't own the jack, just the jackx patterdale? Got it. I wish I could see what was happening… it is hard to call what to do here without seeing. Sometimes it is good to just let them work it out. They are both at that age when they are learning the rules of engagement and working out pecking order. If you get tired of it, it is ok to put one or both of them in their crates. You can also try snapping a lead on them and going for a walk to get some of that puppy energy out and re-direct their focus.
Just training, training, training at this point, and try to get yourself back into a position that you can move out should this situation continue to escalate. Sorry, not a lot of help, but terriers are what they are, lol! Gotta love them!
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January 21st, 2009 at 10:57 am
all puppies will fight. but if u want them to stop, then make a "shake can". all you do is take an empty soda can and fill it with 20 coins then tape the top so when u shake it, the coins wont come out. every time your dogs start fighting, shake the can loudly and say "NO". they should be frightened and will stop
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January 21st, 2009 at 11:41 am
I have raised terriers for 25 years and I'm sorry to have to tell you that you are going to have to keep these two separated for the rest of their lives or find another home for one of them. When female terriers living in the same home start fighting, it's the end of the line. They can never be together again and no amount of training is going to change that. The dominant one will lie in wait until an opportunity arises and she will attack the other one. They will fight to the death. This is usually not true with males who may fight, but usually not to ones death.
EDIT:
Spaying will not stop the behavior, but it's still a step in the right direction. You can tell the difference between play fighting and real fighting, it's pretty obvious.
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25 years of experience with small terriers.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:55 am
it will help to get them spayed as soon as possible since they're both females, they tend to fight more fiercly. the bigger one is trying to establish dominance over the weaker one.
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January 21st, 2009 at 12:13 pm
pick up the patterdale and tell her no no bad puppy and do this every time she grabs the jrt or when they get older you will have problems . When they are old enough get them fixed and that will help calm them down. The one is trying to be boss over the other. But ususlly when puppies play it looks rough but it isnt but Im like you the grabbing & shakeing has to stop. or when the patterdale starts shakeing the jrt then put her up for about 30 minutes to a hour and when you put her by herself say bad puppy but put her to where she can see the other one and then she will know that she was a bad girl . Baby gates work great if you have a room to where you can put it and then she will be able to see what is going on . Good luck
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January 21st, 2009 at 12:56 pm
As you have figured out already the fighting is to determine the dominant dog. I would normally in practice say that once this is determined it should stop however in this case it does seem to be carrying on. The dogs are very young at the moment so you do have every chance that in time it will settle down but you dont say how long they have been together. One thing that you should put in place now is to stop feeding them together no matter how well dogs get on or dont get on they will harbour ill feelings from sharing food. Feed them at the same time but seperate this will then show both dogs that no matter who is the strong one they are not expected to forgo thier meals for one another.
Do give them time and show each one equal attention Good Luck
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January 21st, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Oh boy, you got 2 female terriers. Did no one warn you about this? It is very well documented that terriers can have same sex aggression issues.
You have a few choices. You can try to let them figure out the pecking order themselves as long as it does not get too vicious and no one needs stitches. The grab the neck and head shaking thing is instinct for a jack, you know what they are bred to do, yes?
Or you can try to be the alpha and not allow it to happen by being bigger and louder than they are. (use the pennies in the can thing, NOT yelling at them). It might work for a while, but usually around 6 months it will start up again as they reach adolescence. Spaying may help the situation a bit.
If the fighting continues you are going to have to either zone your home and keep them apart or re-home one.
You are correct in thinking this could be a big problem in the future.
Ok, so you don't own the jack, just the jackx patterdale? Got it. I wish I could see what was happening… it is hard to call what to do here without seeing. Sometimes it is good to just let them work it out. They are both at that age when they are learning the rules of engagement and working out pecking order. If you get tired of it, it is ok to put one or both of them in their crates. You can also try snapping a lead on them and going for a walk to get some of that puppy energy out and re-direct their focus.
Just training, training, training at this point, and try to get yourself back into a position that you can move out should this situation continue to escalate. Sorry, not a lot of help, but terriers are what they are, lol! Gotta love them!
References :