Dog fight

My boyfriend brought over his lab pup Shadow tonight. Bull is Shadow's brother (from the same litter). They wrestled for awhile, then started growling. Before we knew it it was a full-fledged dog fight! I yelled "hey" at them twice before they stopped. Then they were fine. Once we got in the truck to go over to my mom's house, Nick had blood on his hand, so Shadow must have been bleeding a little. Did this happen because they've been seperated for a couple weeks? My gosh, they're only 7 weeks old!

They're just trying to see who's the "better dog". Most dogs/pups do that no matter what age they are, it's a natural instinct. Tango and Winter (her brother) fight sometimes when he comes over to play, although Winter always wins they still try to see who's alpha. I hope that made sense, hopefully someone else can explain it better:)

thanks, also i forgot to mention, Bull looked as if he was trying to mount her...there's NO WAY he's sexually mature enough to even comprehend that...is there? Plus, his sister? EEEWWW!!:D

That's a dominance behaviour. Dogs will mount each other to see who's stronger, if he was able to knock her down that would mean that he's the strongest and therefore the better dog. That's what I've heard numerous times anyway.

That makes sense...thanks, I was a little worried, as they will be living together soon. I didn't want this to be a problem!:)

Puppy racket! hehehe

in little breed of puppies,, its so cute to hear them growl(when there playing) they sound little lawnmowers or chainsaws. :D

They have to have a "pecking" order..or see who is Alpha...

My dogs are mother and daughter and when they start to "wrestle" (not sure what else to call it.), they can get pretty rough. I've also see my older dog mount her pup. (I don't think they have quite determined who the alpha dog is, yet!) :D :D

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Originally posted by Kristl
thanks, also i forgot to mention, Bull looked as if he was trying to mount her...there's NO WAY he's sexually mature enough to even comprehend that...is there? Plus, his sister? EEEWWW!!:D

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That is also part of the pecking order routine. But, even though they are brother and sister, when they do become sexually mature, they will mate with each other. Being related doesn't matter to dogs when they are driven by instinct to reproduce. So it would be a good idea to have them spayed and neutered before Shadow goes into heat. And having just Shadow done won't be enough. If Bull isn't neutered he'll still try to mount Shadow and his raging testosterone can start fights that you won't want to get in the middle of when they are older.

As long as it doesn't cause any problems, I have no problem with letting dogs work their order out. When it becomes serious however, I step in; I am the ultimate Alpha in my pack and what I say goes.

Millie mounts Cinny quite often, and Cinny could care less. She's quite comfortable with her pack position. Now that they've worked out all their differences, I do usually stop Millie when she does that.

Keep an eye on your pups and seperate them if they get too rough. It is almost time to start seperate obedience classes. It may be normal for dogs to wrestle for dominace, but not until one is bleeding. I have seen mother dogs kill their own puppies who are getting too much attention. People think it is great to keep one of the puppies or to get two pups from the same litter, but serious rivalries do occur. Mounting is a form of dominance at this time in their lives, but I hope you plan to get one or both neutered as it is not uncommon for the brother to become the father when they reach sexual maturity.

they were just trying to firgure out who was more dominant. and yea i guess bull is ;).. with time they will learn who is "top dog" ect.

Wrestling is a dominance struggle - but full-out fighting is serious. If this was really a fight, and the puppy was bleeding, I'd be very concerned, especially them being so young. Watch them together some more and see their behaviour towards eachother. Mounting, playing, wrestling, etc, are all forms of working out a pecking order. But fighting to the point of blood is a form of aggression and I would take it seriously. If that's what is going on, I would take my puppy to group classes as soon as he is old enough. Do you have any friends with dogs that you know have had shots, that could come over and play with Bull or Shadow? Socialization is the key! Maybe all that needs to happen is for one of the pups to be put in it's place before the fighting stops. Good luck.

My two will play fight - it is their way of burning up inside energy...and outside too. But I think what the others said is true. This was more a matter of them trying to figure out who was the 'dominant' dog and who was going to be submissive. The mounting is not to worry, I have known female dogs that have mounted like a male, and shocked people just because they wanted the upper hand ; ) no pun intended.
Just remember to keep an eye on what is happening.

How old were the pups when they were taking from their mother? I apoligize I don't know the story, but 7 weeks old is way young for them to have been separtated for weeks already! Ideally, the pups should have been with their littlermates til they were at least 8 weeks old, so mom could have taught them how to behave, and they could have figured out some of how to socilaize with other dogs before they were separated from their litter.

I would suggest as many play session between your two pups as possible...and let them work through some of the issues. It would also be a good thing, if you were able to get them into a puppy Kindergarten calss so they get a chance to socialize with other dogs.