Question for those with more than one dog, fighting?

[lizbud]

I guess I'm lucky in that Smokey & Maggie have never had a fight
over anything.If there's ever any toy or bone in contention, all it takes
is for Maggie to whine at Smokey & he walks away from the toy.He's a
total cream puff.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Adele & Vallis have had quite a few fights since he came home. It is hard to break them up, and it sounds and looks very nasty, but neither of them have gotten injured. Usually they fight over perceived threats, so I just try to reinforce a heirarchy so they understand where they are at.

They have not tried to dispute Marta's claim to alpha, but when they begin tensing like they will have a fight, Marta will start barking at Adele (who is usually the aggressor) and try to "break it up." She will also bark at her during a fight, and I don't like it because I'm afraid Adele will turn on Marta.

Putting a handle between them was the best thing you could do- you don't want to put your hand in there! Eric usually ends Adele & Vallis' fights by picking Adele up (which isn't the best thing to do) since she will not stop and everything falls onto deaf ears....usually I try to sense a fight coming and when I see aggressive body language I tell them to "go to their crates" or anything to get them from making prolonged eye contact.

[Sevaede]

I guess my parentals and I are one of the lucky few.

We had three females Treasure (GSD), Trixie (one of her pups, GSD/Rottie mix), and Little Dog (Yorkie) and none of them have ever had a fight. Treasure was definitely alpha. Treasure has since passed away and Willy (Doxie/Bassett Hound) has come to live with the parentals. He is so passive and doesn't really care who's dominant. Trixie likes to initiate play by throwing her paw on Willys back and he really hates that. Willy does growl like he wants to do something about it but 1) he never does and 2) she thinks he is playing so she just does it until she is told to stop. Trixie will also do that to Little Dog and L.D. will just bite her and hold on. Trixie will parade around like that until she jumps down and runs off.

I think Trixie has taken alpha position. She takes everything in stride, though, so nothing goes on, really.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Daisy and Delilah have a few "Mexican Standoffs" now and again when food or space is involved. They growl under the cover at bedtime at each other if one of them is in the way of the other. Sometimes, I see them giving each other a toothy grin and I just firmly tell them to stop. If I don't remain calm, they get worse. They're also still trying to figure out which one of them is top dog