Have a great 32 lbs Irish Terrier. Very strong, fast and exceptionally nimble. Lives to guard our property and keep squirrels and wild turkeys off it. Highly socialized get along and plays with dogs of all breeds, small or large. At age 5 suddenly is very aggressive when a full-sized German Sheppard walks by on a leash. Worse, neighbor down the block has 2 smallish dogs who bark and snarl when they walk by on a leash. My dog suddenly goes crazy trying to get at them. Afraid she'd cause serious harm is she ever got loose. Looking for a program to watch or book to read on reducing dog's aggression when both dogs involved are female canines.

I've had the same problem, never knew a solution.

Will be watching this thread closely.

So you're saying the dogs are in a cat fight?

If you can invest the time in a good trainer who provides training at their facility with other dogs. Ours was about an 8 week class. Big Part of your problem is your dog does not now who is in charge.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: old rugged cross,

There’s a reason that female dogs are called bitches.

ETA: ORC may well not be wrong. That is a common behavioral problem with dogs. On the other hand, some dogs are extremely aggressive and while they may tamp it down and “maintain” while the boss is around, you may not be able to break them of the aggression when unsupervised.

Those bitches can irritate the most peaceable of males!

My Clark has a similar issue, he is usually OK with other dogs, unless and until they give him a low growl, at which point he's "OK dude, if you want a fight, let's go!" He is also very reactive to the sight of specific breeds, Huskies and Malamutes. We attribute the latter to an encounter before he came to us at about a year and a half old. He has a never-will-heal scar on his leg, and his tail was amputated, perhaps due to fighting against a pack in his youth.

"Soft" gradual introductions/acclimation to dogs he distrusts on sight do not work at all. Keeping them apart/out of Clark's sight is the only strategy we have managed to find that has any chance of working.

Otherwise, Clark is a real sweetheart, both with humans and other dog breeds. A dog's early experiences seem to be very hard to overcome, but professional obedience training can't hurt. This will also go a long way to establishing you as the leader of his pack.

Are all the dogs fixed?

The Terrier is neutered, don't know about her "enemies." Terrier knows who is in charge, she doesn't care and does her own aggressive thing.

I have never had two female dogs. 2 males yes, a male and female yes.

If you figure it out, lets us know, especially those of us with 2 sisters and mother, or 2 daughters and a wife. Sister/Sister/Mother battles are the worse of thermonuclear war. Nothing in the Genva Checklists applies. If mom and sister A are fighting, sister B will act as an arms merchant for both. My father had the best action plan when these battles occurred when I was growing up: go to the movies, hopefully a double feature and if it was really bad, go hunting or fishing. His advice, "I love them both (the two who were fighting) and I would hate to have to testify against the survivor."

Try this: keep a leash at hand. When your dog shows aggression, tell her no, hook up the leash and lead her to an area where she can see the pack but can't join, and tie her up. A doorknob on the other side of the house can serve the purpose. Separating her from the pack is how she would be disciplined in the dog world. You are exerting your authority as the alpha and teaching her that aggression inside the pack is unacceptable. Do this every time she shows aggression and ig shouldn't take long to get the message across.

Dogs doing dog stuff. We had over 60 people at our BBQ on the 4th. I was surprised how many people brought their dogs with them. All were leashed at least. Must have been ten dogs there at one time. I knew it was just a matter of time before a dog fight broke out. Ten dogs and a lot of food close by equals a dog fight.

Sure enough it eventually broke out. One dog that is a bit young and aggressive that belonged to some friends that were staying with us had been left in the camper. One of the kids opened the door and it dashed out. Started sticking it's nose up every dogs ass it could until it hit the wrong one and all hell broke loose. Took about two minutes to break it up. Women were screaming dogs were snarling and barking, just general chaos. I just stood and watched it all transpire surprised that it took as long as it did to happen.
Some of the women were so shook up they apologized and left. I just told them that's exactly what will happen when you get too many dogs in one place with food around. In other words make better choices on where you take your dogs.

As others have said find a good “balanced” dog trainer, each dog is going to be different and need a different kind of pressure. I really like the American standard dog training videos.
Lots of videos on you tube. I really like his approach.

https://americanstandardk9.com/

Had an idea that I wanted to contribute. Many aggressive dogs are much more restrained around puppies. Perhaps engineer situations where your dog can be acclimated to the presence of others by including the younger set. Obviously, without their protective mothers around too. Adoption events might be a good place to explore, and may be useful for general acclimation purposes. I do not recommend dog parks or other situations when dogs are not leashed. Group obedience training sessions where your dogs can observe others being praised for behaving in a more civil fashion.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Had an idea that I wanted to contribute. Many aggressive dogs are much more restrained around puppies. Perhaps engineer situations where your dog can be acclimated to the presence of others by including the younger set. Obviously, without their protective mothers around too. Adoption events might be a good place to explore, and may be useful for general acclimation purposes. I do not recommend dog parks or other situations when dogs are not leashed. Group obedience training sessions where your dogs can observe others being praised for behaving in a more civil fashion.

I would
Never put a puppy in that situation!

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
If you can invest the time in a good trainer who provides training at their facility with other dogs. Ours was about an 8 week class. Big Part of your problem is your dog does not now who is in charge.

I believe this was my situation, the dogs were more or less "friendly", somewhat tolerable, but there was a tension because dominance was not settled. It ended in a vicious attack out of the blue with an expensive vet bill and long recovery. The attacking dog had to move out, as sweet as she was with people.

Will look for a trainer.