Two Dogs Fought (All Info Shown)

[Ivy_sin]

Basics: I have four dogs, three living on the main floor of the three story house, and one in the downstairs. The three on the main floor with me are Chili, Maddy, and Drizzle. Separated from the American Bull Dog, Neeta, who lives downstairs for safety reasons. The two that got into the fight are Chili and Drizzle; completely shocked me, though rest of family was quick to jump into it as someone's fault, who needed to be sent to another room for time out, and just over all that nothing I said mattered (though I was the one who was sitting beside them during, only one who saw it, and separated them).

Dog Info: Both Chili and Drizzle were found within the last year and a half by the road; Chili as a walking (well, she didn't walk, she crawled at the time) skeleton and is the most recent addition, and Drizzle was a barely-aware-of-how-to-walk/run puppy before her.
- Drizzle is a little over a year old, tall, fit, black mix between wolf and Deer Hound -- a little intimidating if you come up the driveway and she is on the hill above you and is staring you down with her head low, but she has no meanness in her and just wants to play all the time.
- Chili is about a three year old white Pit Bull, who doesn't really bark or growl, just whines constantly when she thinks she is being left out. She likes to plow her way through whatever to come see you and give you a look from her big, dark eyes and give you kisses until she can lay in your lap, snoring. Though she is (its obvious if you watch her) the jealous type.

With Each Other: Normally (I have to say 'normally' now, because of this new, and just happened less than an hour ago event), the two of them like to sit on each other, lay their paws on each other, kiss each other, run all over the yard together, sleep on the same couch corner together, and roll over to end up on the other one. Rarely is one seen without the other, and this bond started a week after bringing Chili home and letting the two out in the yard together. After some tense watching and an air snap once from Chili at first, and Drizzle's instant I Love You, Lets Be Friends approach, they were the youngest and most adventurous of all our dogs.

The Fight: I was sitting in the living room with the three, Maddy behind me laying in her usual spot between two chairs near the wall, and playing tug-o-war with Drizzle over a sock. Drizzle is the only of the three on this floor who will actually play tug-o-war; Maddy doesn't play, and Chili lets go easily without a fight. Chili was pushing against my side as she watched the back and forth between Drizzle and I, and eventually I let her have my end of the sock.

The two did their own tug-o-war several times, Chili always being the first to let go and then Drizzle looking between us to see if anyone would continue to go with her endless energy. I was happy to see the two sharing a toy and playing like I'd seen other dogs do, since any dog we've ever gotten has been weird in some way and not like that (fetch, heel, chase it, give kisses ...rare and exciting things for me to see out of a dog).

I don't know what did it, but Chili let go of the sock and lunged forward at Drizzle, who let go of the sock a moment later with a surprised expression before rearing up and slamming back into Chili, too. Neither drew blood, and Chili was the only one with her hackles raised from head to tail (and foaming everywhere; never seen her even drool before then). Drizzle, who most people don't think could fight at all due to her personality, was the one who was running Chili backwards and keeping Chili's head down so that she never had the chance to reach anything.

Maddy was the one barking her head off from her spot, glaring at the two over my shoulder while I tried to yell at them, but obviously that did not work so I put my hand on Chili's back; Chili instantly hit the floor with big eyes and crawled off to the side a moment later. Drizzle went back to wagging her tail after she had trotted away and back for a few seconds, and laid down on her back on the other side of the room so I could rub her belly. After a minute she picked up her head and leaned across me to lick Chili's face and then head off to see other parts of the house.

- I expected the forgiveness and general Okay, I Don't Know What Happened attitude from Drizzle, since she is the lowest ranking dog in the group of four, and I expected the Oh My God, I'm So Sorry look from Chili, too. I just didn't think they'd go after each other after being together and being so close. My family said I didn't know what I was talking about that they were going to kill each other one day and that the two should not be together for a while, and no more toys.  

[Krissim Klaw]

You are reaching a delicate time in your packs balance. Drizzle is just starting to reach maturity. She is no longer a cute little puppy but a young lady and that can change the interactions within a group. Unfortunately female on female aggression seems to be the worse in dogs. Female dogs are far less forgiving and more likely to hold lifelong grudges. Females when fighting also tend to fight to kill. You are going to need to watch them very closely at this point to make sure things don't escalate. I would also suggest not leaving them out alone together unsupervised.

My top suggestion would be to look for a reputable dog behaviorist in your area. They will be able to do a home visit and see the dogs in their natural setting. There could already be cues that there are issues bubbling beneath the surface that you and the rest of the family are missing because they are so subtle. A good dog behaviorist will be able to catch on to these tiny vibes along with teaching you what you need to look out for and giving you better insight to what is going on.  

[Ivy_sin]

Krissim Klaw

You are reaching a delicate time in your packs balance. Drizzle is just starting to reach maturity. She is no longer a cute little puppy but a young lady and that can change the interactions within a group. Unfortunately female on female aggression seems to be the worse in dogs. Female dogs are far less forgiving and more likely to hold lifelong grudges. Females when fighting also tend to fight to kill. You are going to need to watch them very closely at this point to make sure things don't escalate. I would also suggest not leaving them out alone together unsupervised.

My top suggestion would be to look for a reputable dog behaviorist in your area. They will be able to do a home visit and see the dogs in their natural setting. There could already be cues that there are issues bubbling beneath the surface that you and the rest of the family are missing because they are so subtle. A good dog behaviorist will be able to catch on to these tiny vibes along with teaching you what you need to look out for and giving you better insight to what is going on.

Everyone is about to leave here again for a while so I will try to settle on the couch when they do to keep an eye on things; I've been bed ridden mostly for a while now so the less running after them to see what they're barking at now, the better. Though, when I was last in the room with the two of them a bit ago, they were curled up like a Yin and Yang symbol again with their heads resting on each others' backs, sleeping. I know about the grudges between female dogs, which is part of the reason Neeta is kept away from the others downstairs...

I believe the closest dog-person is a county over (we live in a small town out of the back woods; most people here have hunting hounds that live outside or they have dogs they don't really treat too well and are out wandering), who used to train police dogs and now has a kennel. I can get my g'ma to call her if she thinks that Chili is worth it (my family, like most, have a fear of anything that even looks like a Pit Bull; they were wary when she first came home with me and they have been quick to jump on her ever since).