how do i get two male dogs to stop fighting without neutering?

Question

i have two english bulldogds that are brothers from the same litter. my husband and i want to stud them. they are first and foremost pets though. we would like to know if there is an alternative to having them neutered. they are 8mo and cant be put together prriod. they are both crate trained and even try to fight through their crate even though they cant see each other. any suggestions?

my dogs are NOT aggressive in nature. they both are big babies ...seperatrd. the love our 5 yr old daughter and would never harm us or her. we use the 'alpha down' tecnique and the each know who is the boss of them. its just like when they get together they get so excited then one gets mad and they cant stop until we seperate them. i dont want to get rid of one because one is my husbands and one was a gift to me from him. he has spent over 5000 on them already just in buying them and shots. and like i said they are pets

going to bed thanks for the answers ...looks like i am gonna have to sell one. thank you vet for the advice

Answer 1

Put them in completely separate households. I'm serious. There's really no other way around this problem....and it's only a matter of time before you are faced with MAJOR veterinary bills when they accidentally make contact and fight like you would not believe.

Wish I had a better answer for you, but male hormones are incredibly powerful things. Even if you get them neutered, the hormones will still be in their bodies for a month or two after the surgery....so don't even TRY putting them together before then.

Neutering at a younger age (before puberty) would very likely have prevented this problem. Now that they're already fighting, however, neutering may or may not be successful at putting a stop to it. The longer the behavior goes on, the less likely the surgery is to be successful at correcting it.

P.S. PLEASE have their spines x-rayed (can be done now) to rule out hemivertebra, and their hips x-rayed (at 2 yrs of age) to rule out hip dysplasia BEFORE studding them out. Please also have them screened by your veterinarian for other common hereditary problems that this breed is so well-known for. There are already enough English bulldogs out there who are genetic nightmares. If your dogs are 'good' in that respect, however....then I certainly hope you are successful in helping to improve the breed and eradicate some of the many problems they have which have been caused and perpetuated by repeated poor breeding over the years. (I'm sure you wouldn't want to contribute to that and inflict preventable genetic disorders on unsuspecting puppy-purchasers.)

P.P.S. As the old saying goes, "never say never." At only 8 months of age, you cannot possibly predict what they might or might not do in situations yet to occur. Virtually every dog attack reported in the news, the owners are quoted as saying something like, "He's never been anything but a big baby and we wouldn't have thought in a million years that he'd EVER hurt anyone." I recommend some strict obedience training by a VERY experienced professional, ASAP. But why you would choose to keep these two dogs 'together' over your daughter's safety and welfare is totally beyond me....

If they happen to somehow get out of their crates (which happens) and go at each other and she gets anywhere near them, you won't be able to stop them short of a bullet.....no matter how much they love you. (Like I said, hormones are VERY powerful things....they don't HAVE to be 'aggressive in nature' for this to happen.) And by then, it might be too late. Is that REALLY a chance you're willing to take???!....Even if it's only a one in a million chance in your eyes? (It's more than that much of a chance.) You and your husband gave EACH OTHER that little girl.

If you had two intact male chihuahuas (as an example), they might be just as likely to fight each other. The difference is, they aren't nearly as likely to fight each other to the death....and more importantly, they don't have the body stature and jaw structure capable of killing a child who happens to get in their way.

Please rethink this....I'm begging you.

Answer 2

Two Male Dogs Fighting

Answer 3

Train them. If you are the Alpha then they don't have to fight for that postion (as it sounds like they are doing). Plus, they are still pups and have to figure out who is going to be the more dominant, anyway. Unless dogs are trained to fight, they rarely cause each other serious damage during a dominance ritual. It's usually loud and there is a lot of muzzle smacking back and forth, but rarely do they even draw blood, let alone cause injury.

Get a book from your local library or bookstore and USE the info there. The only difference between you and a "professional trainer" is that they have read the books and you haven't yet.

If you are going to stud (and are serious about it) you need to be looking at the show circuit anyway, at least for obedience if not conformation. Otherwise you're just another "backyard breeder" and we have far too many of those now, thank you. Dog showing is fun, not very expensive if you do it yourself, and a great way to see what else is out there. Plus, people LOVE to talk about their dogs. Having a dog that's on the circuit and has just a CD behind his name will bump your stud fees 50% easily.

It seems apparent to me that you have a LOT to learn about canine behavior before you ever consider studding these dogs out. Fortunately, if they are 8 months old, you have another 16 months before you can even get their hips rated with the OFA (you ARE going to have them OFA'ed, right?) and have plenty of time to figure out what you are going to do.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
how do i get two male dogs to stop fighting without neutering?
i have two english bulldogds that are brothers from the same litter. my husband and i want to stud them. they are first and foremost pets though. we would like to know if there is an alternative to having them neutered. they are 8mo and cant be put together prriod. they are both crate trained and...

Answer 5

The owner of the dog needs to know how to "operate" the dog, same way you can get into a car that's in perfect running order but if you don't know how to drive you won't have much luck making the car go anywhere. If the owner doesn't know how to maintain the training, the dog will soon become untrained again. Read more here https://tinyurl.im/iydko

People seem to think that once a dog is trained, that's it. Not true. You must reinforce the dog's training every single day in some way. It's best if the owner and the dog go together to get trained. As a professional trainer once said to me "We can train any dog in 2 days. It takes longer to train the owners

Answer 6

At 8 mo old they are fighting to establish dominance. This is a natural thing for them to do in the dog world at that age. The problem is not in your dogs but in you and your husband. You must establish yourselves as the dominant pack leaders(Alfa) before the dogs get to much older. After they get a year or two old it will be much harder to do. Especially if they are being studed out. The best way to do this is? Every time either one of them starts to show aggression towards the other grab them both by the side of the neck pushing them to the floor and holding them there untill they submit. At first they will most likely resist and squirm around as you try to hold them down. After a few moments their mind set will change and they will relax and go limp. They may even do a little of submisive urination.This is them submiting to you. Don't worry they will still love you. All you are doing by doing this is establishing that you are the alpha pack leader and that you are not going to tollerate that kind of behavior. The reason this method works is that all dogs have a pack instinct just like wolves and this is how pack leadership is established in the wild. By the Alfa pack leader being in controll. Remenber every time you do this" and after they have submitted to you show them both affection. Because in the wild the alfa will show affection to both after they have shown submition to him/her. You must be consistant with this because it will take more than once. And seperate there crates or it will be harder to accomplish this. Good luck

Answer 7

No way, no how would I keep two males dogs and not have them neutered. Studding them out is not as simple as finding a mate. I hope your prepared for that. Best for everyone to have them neutered. Even then, they may continue to fight. I've seen it break owners hearts when they then have to figure which one to find a new home for because the fighting continued.

http://www.bulldoginformation.com/breeders.html

Answer 8

Ok... hitting one of them is not the best idea.. it feels pain, its aggression intensifies. When they fight, try making a loud sharp sound to distract them, although this will usually only work in small fights, and if the dogs are really intent on fighting, it is not going to stop them. You don't give enough detail to be able to accurately guess the reasons behind this sudden change. In any case of aggression in dogs, the best bet is to see a trainer/behaviourist. It is less expensive than you might think.

Answer 9

Either one or both are alpha males. Nuetering usually will not help the fighting. I have two. you must always keep them apart. Also you must always keep them from other alpha males. At 8 months, you may get a little help with neutering. Once they are adult its too late.

Answer 10

Don't get 2 males without neutering them, period. Either keep them separate at all times or neuter one or both of them.