Jack Russells fighting

stevveyg

Hi all,
i have two Jacks, father & son, ages around 4 & 18 months, the past week has been pure hell, with the youngest constantly starting fights, at first it was just snarling and showing teeth, but now they both are drawing blood,
it is causing alot of distress to the household as we don't want to leave them alone at any time,
from what i am reading online its all about power, alpha dog etc.
basically im just looking for advise on how to handle the situation, if anyone here had a similar experience?
i don't want to have to get rid of either one of them as they are both part of the family at this stage,
thanks!

boxerly

Are they neautered ?If not I would get them done asap

stevveyg

boxerly wrote: »

Are they neautered ?If not I would get them done asap

no neither are, i was thinking that may be something to do with it. Should i get both done?
thanks

boxerly

If they were mine Id get them both done

Fieldies Dreams

stevveyg wrote: »

Hi all,
i have two Jacks, father & son, ages around 4 & 18 months, the past week has been pure hell, with the youngest constantly starting fights, at first it was just snarling and showing teeth, but now they both are drawing blood,
it is causing alot of distress to the household as we don't want to leave them alone at any time,
from what i am reading online its all about power, alpha dog etc.
basically im just looking for advise on how to handle the situation, if anyone here had a similar experience?
i don't want to have to get rid of either one of them as they are both part of the family at this stage,
thanks!

like you said it the whole alpha dog thing...there trying to prove whos boss to each other.

I had a father and son boxers that used to fight each other a bit always over food or toys,so we feed them seperately which worked...and we wouldnt leave any toys in there dog run for them to fight over.

Id say youl have more trouble with jack russells though because there terriers and are more firey! best of luck

RICARDO1982

I have 2 JRT's too. They are both neutered and are male / female so dont fight I reckon neutering the younger one will do the trick as he will adapt to change quicker, the 4 yr old will not give in as easy
Maybe a dog trainer or behaviourist will have better advice
in extreme cases one could have to go to another home?
Hope you get it sorted out

RICARDO1982

But neutering will definatley calm things down to some degree

stevveyg

thanks guys, will call into vet tomor and seek his opinion!

DBB

RICARDO1982 wrote: »

But neutering will definatley calm things down to some degree

It perhaps is that one dog is trying to make a point to the other, but it's not because one dog "wants to be boss" from a world domination point of view.
Look, dogs are much like kids. Some kids will push certain other kids around in certain circumstances. Kid x, for example, may tend to be pushier with Kid Y when it comes to getting goodies in granny's house, whereas in their own home, kid Y may push kid x around when kid x tries to takes his toys. But nobody calls these kids "dominant", even though the rationale behind their behaviour is the same as that between feuding dogs!
I'll bet if you think about it, you can think of loads of examples like this that apply to you or people you know.
You can be sure that the problem here has been looming for some time. In addition, there tends to be more problems of this sort between closely-related, same-sex dogs, especially independent breeds like terriers.
Neutering can really help, problem is that it is preferable to neuter only one of the dogs... I'm not going to say which one because I don't want an owner to read this and choose the wrong dog.
The relationship between your dogs is probably quite complex, and it wouldn't be right to leap to conclusions. Instead I think getting the help of a qualified, repeat, qualified behaviourist would be wisest. If you let us know where you are, it might be that there's someone suitably qualified near you.
Finally, the internet is a dodgy place to do research unless you're sure you know what you're reading is bona fide. However, I think when it comes to issues of dog behaviour, the internet is lethal, and I'd take most of what you read on it with a very tiny grain of salt.

Edited to add: re asking the vet's opinion, very few vets have any even basic behavioural knowledge. I've heard the best of vets giving the very worst behavioural advice. So tread carefully.

TooManyDogs

+1 for only neutering one.

Neutering both can result in the exact same rows as now but neutering one creates a bigger gap so there's no reason to fight over anything because one is the clear boss.

Advice is normally to leave the more 'dominant' one entire and neuter the more submissive one but like DBB said you'll have to look at your dogs and decide for yourself

stevveyg

. If you let us know where you are, it might be that there's someone suitably qualified near you.

i am in the ennis area, thanks for the sound advice.

DBB

stevveyg wrote: »

. If you let us know where you are, it might be that there's someone suitably qualified near you.

i am in the ennis area, thanks for the sound advice.

Lucky you! You've a super lady right on your doorstep! Bev Truss of www.petproblems.net, her contact details are on her site :-)

DBB

TooManyDogs wrote: »

Advice is normally to leave the more 'dominant' one entire and neuter the more submissive one but like DBB said you'll have to look at your dogs and decide for yourself

I didn't want to say which should be done because the so-called "dominant" dog is not always the "dominant" one, and advising an owner to choose which is which may mean the wrong dog is done, but also may make an owner look for problems that aren't really there.
Like I said, some dogs are "dominant" in some situations, whilst the other dog may be "dominant" in other situations or locations. So picking one over the other can be risky.
Which is why I suggest getting a specialist in, rather than sweating over which one yourself!

TooManyDogs

DBB wrote: »

I didn't want to say which should be done because the so-called "dominant" dog is not always the "dominant" one, and advising an owner to choose which is which may mean the wrong dog is done

So picking one over the other can be risky.

But surely it's better for OP to have as much information as possible at his fingertips? I also said in my post that he'll have to look at his own dogs and make a decision.

At the end of the day if he decides to neuter only one he will have to make the decision and neutering the 'dominant' one is one of the most common pieces of advice the OP will hear, better that he hears that it's not as black and white as people make out and is not an automatic solution.

Getting in a behaviourist is a good idea OP, they'll advise you but the decision will still come down to you if you only neuter one so do as much research on the subject as possible

belongtojazz

I live with 3 Jack bitches and have had the same problem for the past 3 weeks or so. After the youngest drew blood on the eldest and got injured herself I decided enough was enough and got a behaviourist in... Best thing I could have done!
She was able to explain the dynamics between my girls and pin point why the problem was happening ( young fit dog, trying to usurp the current "manager") and give me the tools/skills I need to prevent this from happening.
It is very very difficult for those of us living with this problem to see the root causes and identify solutions, in my opinion this is a situation that requires expert advice.
Although Jacks are small they can inflict a lot of damage both to each other and anyone who tries to intervene. It is also really horrible living on a knife edge waiting for a fight to happen.
We aren't playing happy families in my house yet but I am now confident that I will get them relating in a non aggressive manner.

Best of luck

DBB

TooManyDogs wrote: »

But surely it's better for OP to have as much information as possible at his fingertips? I also said in my post that he'll have to look at his own dogs and make a decision.

At the end of the day if he decides to neuter only one he will have to make the decision and neutering the 'dominant' one is one of the most common pieces of advice the OP will hear, better that heo hears that it's not as black and white as people make out and is not an automatic solution.

Of course the OP needs to be equipped with info, that's not the point I was making.
The problem is that it can be quite difficult for a person to pick which is the actual "dominant" dog, and so the wrong dog may be neutered. In this scenario, the problem may get even worse!
That's why I didn't want to advise to neuter the "dominant" dog because the wrong choice may be made.
The same dog could be very "dominant" (sorry, the word makes me cringe because of the modern connotations) in one situation but completely non-"dominant" in a very similar situation. Some are "dominant" inside the house, other outside the house. Some are pushy with one owner, but not the other.
Or, it may have nothing whatsoever to do with dominance. There is a chance that one of OP's dogs has a medical issue that is causing this behaviour.
The problem is that someone else will come along with a similar problem, read this thread, and race to the vet to get the dog that they perceive to be dominant neutered... And all because they read it here first! It's just not right to advise something as major as neutering based on what the owner posts on a forum what they think might be going on, based on what they've read on the internet!
We're both on the same pitch in advising that OP gets professional advice, because trying to decide which is the right one to neuter (if either) is too risky.