Female on female fighting - Page 2

I KNOW what caused the fight I experienced.  We'd moved and I knew it was an adjustment on my female and I'd been soft with her.  She is NOT a soft dog.  So of course, by giving her a little too much freedom, she thought she was pack leader.  We have worked on that and she knows who the pack leader is again.  I just have to get past my anxiety about two female together so I don't actually cause them anxiety.  I did learn a lot from one fight.  Biggest lesson is I HAVE to be the pack leader if I want my female to behave properly....I can't back down and let her get away with everything just because there is a change.  She knows who the pack leader is again now and I won't make the same mistake again.

As far as just getting a male....I tried with a male and I just wasn't happy.  I've doggie sat several males that belong to friends and while they were cool and fun, I just like females better.  I like the edge they have.  I just want them to take it out on a sleeve rather than each other.

Thanks so much for all the great advice.  I do feel like their hope.  I just have to be a very strong leader.  I can predict what my female is going to do already so I will just have to use caution while learning about the new female.  Thank you!

All's I can say is good luck.  It's not an easy task. 

I have a spayed 11 year old female and a intact almost 3 year old female in my house.  Plus a 6 year old intact male.  I would NOT suggest bringing another female into the house.  These girls are OK, but I have to keep a very close eye on them.  I do not have to keep them separate, but have to be ready in case they decide to get into it.  They got into it pretty bad just over a year ago and it was not pretty.  I did not end up with stitches, but I did have three pretty good bites through clothing that bruised pretty badly.  For the novice dog owner/handler it is not an easy task to break up a fight.  The only reason this was not worse is because they do not hate each other and are quite fond of each other.  Sleep in bed with us every night together.  When the fight happened I came down on both very very hard.  They recently had a very minor scrap, that lasted all of five seconds and I still got nailed.  I don't even know by who.   If my older bitch were a bit younger I do not think it would be working, plus I'd realized from earlier experiences with other dogs, that she truly doesn't want to fight if push comes to shove.  She's definitely mellowed.  Though she was the one that got me bad the first time.  She's got a broken incisor and that was apparent on the bite bruise.  LOL 

You do need to be the pack leader.  But not everyone is a Cesar Milan.  Procede with caution, as you do not want to get hurt again.  That was a pretty serious fight for you to get nailed that many times. 

A male would work out so much better, the boys, for the most part just let the girls push them around and all is well. 

My boy checked out (into another room) when the bad fight happened.  Wanted no part of that!

i had to put my young female gsd into a rescue because she and my son's gsd/mix female just started getting into it and the older they got the more it was gonna happen. we want our dogs to be together in the family, not one kenneled while the other is out. so, my girl went to a rescue where they rehomed her (i still support them financially because they saved us all). a few months later we got a male. they get along great and if he gets too rambunctious for her (he also outweighs her by 30 lbs) she puts him in his place. no bitch fights. i learned after the girls started getting aggro with each other that gsd females can and will fight to the death. the thought of coming home to a bloody mess and injured or dead dogs was too much. pretty much every web site i went to (after the fact) said that 2 females was not a good idea, fixed or not. and they all said that there were exceptions, but i simply couldn't take the chance. i'd get a male if you already have a female. i'd love to get another gsd, but i won't cuz i'm worried about screwing up the chemistry they have now. good luck.

I am constantly amused and chagrined that people come here asking for advice and help and then FAIL TO HEED IT. Can it work that one has multiple dogs of the same sex loose in the same household or kennel? Yes, it can, but if it does not work, there is HELL to pay.

It is a cardinal rule for me, based on years of experience and hearing hundreds of pleas from people needing to dump their GSD because they foolishly mixed two females and a serious fight, often ending in the death of smaller dogs, ensued. 

It is NOT worth it and when you get hurt again, or worse yet, someone who does not know better tries to break up a fight or you have dogs trying to kill each other, be sure to let us know that we were correct.

Kyle, I am really glad you had that glove on. Even so, it sounds like a nasty bite.

Good  luck.

I came here to lay out my desire (to add another female), my one bad experience, and see what other people have experienced.  I did not come here to get flamed.  I want a lot of responce and I will heed that.  I feel very confident there are breeders and owners on here who have more than one female dog and can give me their experiences.  I have not purchased or adopted another female at this point.  I want to do my research, especially knowing that the fight I encountered was pure error on my part because my personal dog was not seeing me as alpha (I was able to gain control of the other dog), I should have been in control of my dog period.  My female has very successfully lived with a submissive female before without a problem and I believe she could do it again.  I do want to know what people with more experience (and more dogs) than myself are doing.  I am young, I've had a GSDs around since I was a kid and eventually there will probably be two females on my property.  I have plenty of time and four acres so I can balance seperating.  I would prefer that my females get along but if they don't, I want stories of what you guys have experienced (and a huge thank you to those who have given me that!)  Before I had left my female unsupervised with a submissive female with great success, but that was before the fight and the fight actually scared me so I will never leave two females together unsupervised again, no matter how well they get along.  I am at a point where I want to learn from people who have successfully and unsuccessfully had two females, how they have handled the dogs, and etc.  Thanks so much to those of you who have given me that information.  I want all the info I can get BEFORE I decide to add another female or not to.  Thanks for the stories and I'm sorry to those of you who have sustained injuries.  And for the record, I have NEVER dumped a dog and if I do get a female and they don't get along, they will be seperated and remain in my care...I don't "dump" my dog just because it has an issue.

Having two females together now is OK for me only because they get along for the most part.  I had to think long and hard before I added the second female GSD.  the older one was 8 at the time and I knew that she was very good with puppies, in fact an excellent puppy raiser.  Though she is a tough old queen and I do treat her as the dog pack leader, ie: she eats first kind of thing. Did the math and figured that by the time the younger one was socially maturing, the older one would be 10 or so, which was the case.  So, I knew that the older one would have the edge off of her.  Like I said inmy earlier post, if the older one was younger there would be more trouble. There was another female in the house up until August.  A very old non confrontational Dobie mix.  They ignored each other a lot. But, I do have to say that the older one ignored the "youngins" more.  Amazing what respect they showed her.  Would go check on her and stuff. 

The next dog will be a male....

I always loved this photo......

There are lots of things in life that may be possible but the result may not be worth it. Only you can decidewhat risk you are willing to put yourseld, you dogs, you family and your friends in. Like Jodie, I have many GSd's in the house at one time. Obviously there are only 2 sexes, so I have several same sex dogs in at once. My dog's love me, but I am the ABSOLUTE leader. No matter how careful you are, things can still happen...2-3 dogs in another room of the house and something starts. You go t the bahroom (really!) , someone knocks at your door, a house guest opens the wrongdoor or gate and the dogs get into it. If I have a few dogs that start to get into a fight at the first rumblings I yell no, and correct them both, and they part like moses and the red sea...but once the fight gets going, you are not likely to be able to stop it with a verbal correction, and maybe not even with physical correction. Hodie is right, you can't correct one in the presence of the whole pack as the other want to get in an 'and further more' bite to 'back up' the pack leader by attacking the dog that is being reprimanded by the pack leader (in this case human) . 

Not everyone wants to live on pins and needles. Most people are not in the dog business, or are not prfessional trainer,s and they want to enjoy their dogs and be relaxed around them. I refuse to sell same a same sex dog into a household that already has that sex. The dog MAY get along for life, the person MAY be vigiliant 100% of thetime, but I can't be sure of that. Even I have some fights begin, but again, they are only together when I am here AND there is no outside stimulus to set them off. I have doors on every room in my house, including a door to separate the front half of the house (kitche,/dining and living room) from the back half of the house (computer room, bed rooms, laundry and bathrooms. Ihave mulitple exercsise yards, and must be ever mindful of who I pur where. If is not a life style for most people. Continued....

JGA continued here...

You tried one male and didn't like him. Maybe you pcked a soft male! What is your reason for wanting a 2nd dog?  Not being critical, just curious. If you get a 2nd dog so they have companinship when you are gone, that does not work with 2 females (or 2 males). If you want 2 dogs to work, ok, but why not get through SchH3 with the first before thinking of a 2nd?

The only real female/female compatible paris I have had have ALWAYS been mother/daughters that have had regular time together throughout their life. The mom would let the daughter, even throughout adulthood, share her crate, but NO other female.  The daughters defer totally if their mother tells them to back off. I have had 5 such mother/daughter pairs over the years, and they worked for me, but don't think you can ever let a 3rd female be with a mother/daughter...they won't just fight, they will kill her if given the chance. I am srure not everyone has had the same experience, but it works for me. I must say, however, that I can't let siblings remain together.

Are you single, and if yes, do you plan to remain that way? Not all family members will want to live such a high stress, always vigiliant lifestyle...

JGA, you make some EXCELLENT points.  I want a new dog to do SCH with.  I have always wanted to get into SCH then I was fortunate enough to get to doggie sit the Sch H3 female that my  dog decided to go off on.  I spent hours outside training with that dog every day.  I knew I would like Schutzhund, but didn't know I would LOVE it.  I'm severely agoraphobic and normally fo not go outside unless I need groceries.  The Sch H3 female changed my life, I was out working with her every day, I built some agility equipment, I took her to visit friends and family....it was just wonderful.  I loved the life she gave me.  The day her family got her back, I went back to my old ways of not going outside.

I will add that their fight was my fault, I'd had them seperated, did not secure the door (Heidi, my female was in the house) and Heidi got out.  They were getting along, so I had to push it and throw a toy, the Sch H3 female of course out ran Heidi and got it and Heidi went off.  I think that was a very stupid situation and not either of the dogs fault.  I should have had another person with me and had them on leashes, no toys, and all that.  It was my mistake.

I want another female to do SCH with and get me back outside like the Sch H3 female did.  Heidi doesn't do outdoors.  She is WONDERFUL to watch movies with and lounge around with but she will not even touch a ball, only plays with fluffy squeeky toys, I literally have to push her out the door if it's raining.  I tried agility with her and she's more clumsy than I am (which is bad).  She's just not a sport dog.  I love her more than words can say and would NEVER part with her.  I just need a new companion who will get me outside, lots of drive, all that.  The Sch H3 female did more for me than 9 years of therapy and meds.  To me, that is priceless and I so miss what my life was like with her.

I can deal with keeping two seperate because Heidi wants to be inside all the time.  I have a full basement and when the Sch H3 female was here I alternated them between one upstairs, one downstairs, and one outside.

Oh yeah, I am single and have no intentions of changing that.  I am very devoted to my dog and she is number one.  The last person I was with said, "You love Heidi more than you love me."  The sad thing is that it was true...lol.

Thanks for all the help guys!