**Dog question**

Hi MO Board Peeps~ I know we have some members who have bred dogs or have had experience in the animal area-and I have a situation I desperately need help with. I have never experienced a problem like this, so-any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated-and I thank you in advance. I have 2 large dogs. Dozer-who will be 6 in Feb-is a blockhead black lab and weighs every bit of 180#-rules the roost and has been our only dog until last December. I bought my husband a blockhead chocolate lab. Sebastian just turned a yr old the end of last month.  They have been together, in the same penned area (an acre of land) since we got Sebastian. They share a dog house (huge, as you can imagine) and their food dishes. We have never had a problem until Saturday night and then all weekend.  Dozer has been attacking Sebastian-and I mean downright fighting, drawing blood!!! We finally moved Sebastian out of the pen area last night-and he is now in the pool area-which is fenced as well-and has some grass, but very little. About every 1/2 hr, we had to go out and break up a fight, in which Dozer was the aggresor and Sebastian would be fighting back-but he is the one who was always on the ground. When we decided to take Sebastian out of the dog area-Dozer was chasing him around-acting like he was going to mount him, panting hard-and Sebastian kept running from him, of course, and then Dozer would follow. This has never happened before. My hubby says its because Dozer is always being bothered by Sebastian and he is finally sick and tired of it-but Im not so sure-come on, now-its been 10 months and NOW your gonna start rebelling-could this be possible? I am afraid to put Sebastian back in with Dozer-I dont want Dozer to hurt him any worse than he has-will he? Or is this something the two of them must work out between themselves? Sebastian is a big boy as well-but not as big as Dozer. One thing I might mention-is that for the first time since we have had Dozer-he has been in the house overnite-by himself-because he is housebroken, and Sebastian hasnt come in with Dozer-but thats the only thing thats been different-and hasnt been in the house in over a week-due to company and so on- Thank you for any advice or suggestions. I am at a loss and I know that some of you have had experience with more than one dog etc-and yes, they are both males, and no-neither are nuetured-they are both registered and can be bred-thats why we havent gotten them nuetured.  Thanks again. I appreciate any advice. Janet P.S. As long as the advice isnt to tell me to get rid of one of them-thats NOT an option here.

Tough situation!  I was a hobby/show breeder up until this summer when my health issues got the best of me and I rehomed all but three of my dogs (Shih Tzu and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels).  Mine are all inside my home - so that can make a bit of a difference in the dominance/food aggression issues in how you do the feeding. I've never had labs or really big dogs, so I'm not sure if this is a breed thing, a dog aggression thing rearing up or a pack order issue.   I'd say it could be triggered as your lab is probably coming into maturity and the Dozer is being challenged and isn't liking it much.  Do they fight at any other time, other than over the food?  If not, then just feeding them separately would be an immediately resolution to the problem.  If they are fighting over more than just food, then some training is needed.  I highly recommend Cesar Millan's (The Dog Whisperer) methods.  He specializes in these types of harder to train cases.  http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/ I wish I could be of more help.  With my toy dogs, I usually always feed them in their crates, so I can make sure everyone eats their own food.  So I've never personally had to deal with this.  Maybe someone else has and can help you.  I'll be praying you find a solution!! 

Thanks Traci, They arent fighting over their food. Isnt that strange? Food and water arent the issue-we dont know what it is-they can be anywhere in their pen and be fighting- Maybe it is because they are not fixed-in which case-I guess they will both be going in to get fixed-they are more for our pets than breeding, and we love them both very much.

Thanks for the response.  Janet

Hi.....I think it is because they have not been nuetured, even though there isn't a female around they both feel the need to be the pack leader or the dominate one......Dozer feels threatened by Sebastian because he is no longer a puppy...... as far as Dozer trying to mount Sebastian that is a definate sign of domination.......This may not get any better with them both being unaltered adult males.....I wish you Luck.......Kimberly

You know I have heard before that animals are a lot like children. They compete for attention. I think having Dozer in the house and not Sebastian showed some kind of "favoritism" and in turn made Dozer feel like "head honcho". I am in no way a professional in this area, but just wanted to throw out there what I have heard before. It does make sense.  Cheryl

Could very well be because they are both intact males - and because of the combination of the breeds or something.  With my two particular toy breeds, I have two intact males here right now, and we never have fighting, never did.  Now intact females - that's a whole nother story. 

Hi Hun....you need help with those ol hounds of yours?....lol  First off, I do agree with some of the suggestions given to you about your babies. Feeding time, testosterone, leader of the pack can all be reasons for fighting, well to them anyway. The one thing you DON'T want to do is put a female in there with them....they will fight to the death over her! As you know, I have both a female yellow lab and a male golden retreiver. The female has a few years on the male and both are still able to breed. They have fights but not that bad and it's usually over that fact that Jake wants a little and Gracee isn't in heat and when she comes in, we separate them...Jake whines the whole time but he just has to deal with it. I'm no professional but my thoughts on the problem are...Dozer was there first so he is leader of the pack, also the biggest. Sebastian came along later and needs to understand that no matter what, he is second in command until further notice (we won't go there)! When Dozer was brought into the house, it showed him, he is the BIG dog!  He got to sleep where the master sleeps! This is a big thing for dogs! I bet he then, being what he thinks is the "Alpha male" went outside showing his dominance to Sebastian and that he was special, like a kid getting a special treat! With them being in the pen together and they both are "intact" there is an overload of testosterone in there. Having both fixed should fix the problem. I wouldn't just have Sebastian fixed! This will just help Dozer prove his point! I do know that SOME dogs that are agressive all the time don't get better after being fixed but with your posting about the "mounting" I'd say yours dogs would be good candidates. With Dozer being as old as he is, I'm SURE he has passed the point of wanting to get some and the only one he has to take it out on is Sebastian and of course Sebastian is wanting nothing to do with that as most males will let you know with no problem! Because Sebastian is not letting Dozer take his innocence, the fight is on! I would not put the two "intact" males back together until both (my suggestion) are fixed. Also, if you try bringing both in the house together, especially while still "intact" you may have a ******g contest going on....so avoid that as well. Your house, furniture and family will thank you for it! Training classes may help but as I'm sure you well know, with testosterone...boys will be boys!! To prove my point, my husband's stepdad had a Dachshund that trapped a male cat between a wall and the water heater and got him some.....meoooowww!! They gave the poor cat away the next day!...lol Also, there are MANY good sites on the net that will help you with the issue if you need more advice! Your also welcome to contact me if you want my help...Love you all, Deb M