E325- What to Do When Your Two Dogs Suddenly Start Fighting

0:00 [SPEAKER_00]: If you have multiple dogs living in the same house and your dogs just started fighting, we're going to go over some things that I've worked on for a long time. [SPEAKER_00]: I work with a lot of these cases and I'm going to keep this short and sweet because I know a lot of people out there are frustrated, they're sad, they don't know what to do, they are confused, you know, here's the thing.

0:20 [SPEAKER_00]: You could do all the right things and your dogs can still fight. [SPEAKER_00]: your dog is going after each other has nothing to do with your training abilities necessarily the continuing process of them being successful does but it's important to know that you've done nothing wrong likely that has made the dogs fight and i should just add okay if you're giving the dogs toys and they've researched guardian yes you've caused it um... if you're giving a dog more attention to the other and you're letting them all over your furniture you may have caused it as well but [SPEAKER_00]: especially if they know better.

1:05 [SPEAKER_00]: So, your dogs who are fighting, people always say like, can we make it like it used to be? [SPEAKER_00]: Can my dog actually do live in peace and harmony like they used to before? [SPEAKER_00]: And the answer may be no. [SPEAKER_00]: Dogs who get into these really nasty fights and cause issues, cause harm, cause physical injury may never be the same again.

1:29 [SPEAKER_00]: The reason that people get really frustrated and sad and confused and shocked even is because when dogs started to mature and start to develop, dogs start to change personalities, right? [SPEAKER_00]: So what we did when we were two or three is not what we're doing when we're 14 to 16, right?

1:46 [SPEAKER_00]: So our interest changes, what we want to do changes, everything starts to change. [SPEAKER_00]: So a lot of people see this shift and change once the dog sexually matures. [SPEAKER_00]: Once the dog gets between eight months to 14 months, that's when these things start to happen. [SPEAKER_00]: So if you're at home, and you go, wow, that's my dog.

2:04 [SPEAKER_00]: Right in that window, all of this, so I hear this all the time from my clients, all of a sudden, right? [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not all of a sudden, it's actually just your dog becoming who they are. [SPEAKER_00]: So my main question I wanna answer here today is you may never be able to get your dogs to go back to where they were.

2:22 [SPEAKER_00]: And no matter how much money you spend on training, it's not going to happen because your dog simply don't like each other anymore. [SPEAKER_00]: Now they're just in a household that, you know, stressful for them, but take it as a matter of fact. [SPEAKER_00]: I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's what you need to hear.

2:39 [SPEAKER_00]: Training can absolutely make this successful. [SPEAKER_00]: But it's not going to make your dogs like each other. [SPEAKER_00]: That's an important piece to understand as you're going through the process of training is you can train your dogs to have better recall, better leave it, better place, better stay.

3:00 [SPEAKER_00]: All of those things are going to help minimalize [SPEAKER_00]: the dogs going after each other. [SPEAKER_00]: For sure, but there's no trainer in the world. [SPEAKER_00]: I don't care who they are. [SPEAKER_00]: How many followers they have? [SPEAKER_00]: How much money you give them? [SPEAKER_00]: That will be able to get your dogs to like each other after they've crossed that violent barrier of fights.

3:20 [SPEAKER_00]: And I also understand, and this to me helps people, I think, dogs are very primal animals. [SPEAKER_00]: So they don't walk around with vengeance, and they don't walk around with spite, and I'm going to get you when I can. [SPEAKER_00]: It's more about like, hey, you know, I don't really agree with you.

3:37 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to fight when we have an opportunity too, but I'm not going to hunt you, likely. [SPEAKER_00]: So you have a lot of options to keep your dogs in the same household successfully. [SPEAKER_00]: but you're still not going to be able to get them to like each other necessarily. [SPEAKER_00]: So my advice for people who have dogs who don't like each other and are violently fighting is simply finding a home for the other one if you feel like you've exhausted all training options.

4:04 [SPEAKER_00]: And people may think that that's crude or even unprofessional, but the reality is is your quality of life, both of your dog's quality of life is awful. [SPEAKER_00]: You're stressed, you're walking on egg shells, you've come to realize that your dogs don't like each other, and there's nothing that you can do about it.

4:20 [SPEAKER_00]: Once you face that reality and realize like, hey, maybe this dog would be better in a single house hold with somebody else, maybe a family member or somebody you know. [SPEAKER_00]: Because a lot of times, it's like my dog is perfect, [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, well, your dog isn't perfect, and this isn't the perfect scenario to have your dog in.

4:38 [SPEAKER_00]: So again, it's not anything that you might want to hear, but this is the reality of you might want to really audit. [SPEAKER_00]: How much stress does this happen causing in your life? [SPEAKER_00]: And how much danger does it cause your kids, your other dog, if they're smaller, if another dog, if they're older, like how many more fights can they go through, how many more stitches, how many more vet bills can you afford?

4:58 [SPEAKER_00]: and your dogs are clearly telling you like I don't like this living arrangement so that's one consideration. [SPEAKER_00]: The other thing is is like I said is doing your advanced obedient training but also having a crate and rotate process. [SPEAKER_00]: I know a lot of people who live in a household where they have to create and rotate which means one dog is either in the crate or backyard and the other dog is out and more rotating the dogs throughout the dog's lives.

5:20 [SPEAKER_00]: People do this all the time because they want their cake and need it too. [SPEAKER_00]: Is it difficult? [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, is it more work? [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely, but does it decrease the fights to almost nothing because you're controlling it? [SPEAKER_00]: Yes. [SPEAKER_00]: So you could do that.

5:33 [SPEAKER_00]: And again, create and rotate in high levels of obedience. [SPEAKER_00]: If, and I tell people this all the time, if you have behavioral issues with your dog under any circumstance or context, and you don't have level three obedience with your dogs, there's nothing you're going to be able to do about it, even if you want it to.

5:48 [SPEAKER_00]: Think about it. [SPEAKER_00]: Level three obedience is asking your dog to do whatever you want them to do under any circumstance, distraction, or environment, and they do it. [SPEAKER_00]: That's what you need. [SPEAKER_00]: That is a necessity. [SPEAKER_00]: That is an absolute guarantee you have to have if you're approaching behavior modification or management within the same household as two dogs that we're fighting.

6:09 [SPEAKER_00]: If you can't ask your dog to come when they're looking at each other weird and they don't do it, [SPEAKER_00]: So that's really important that you have really good foundation. [SPEAKER_00]: So you could create and rotate, keep the dogs happy and safe and alive and everybody's good. [SPEAKER_00]: You could do that, absolutely.

6:27 [SPEAKER_00]: But you also have to have in conjunction with that high levels of obedience to make sure that there aren't any incidences that's kind of split between the cracks. [SPEAKER_00]: If I tell you to come, if I tell you to leave it, you leave it. [SPEAKER_00]: If I tell you to down, you down, that's really helpful.

6:39 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, if you don't have that control, there's a higher way higher risk of dogs, you know, getting into serious fights. [SPEAKER_00]: So you may never be able to change them, especially if it's happening all of a sudden, air quotes, when they're at that eight month mark or 12 month mark, all of a sudden, this is happening.

6:56 [SPEAKER_00]: That's probably just who they've become, that's who they're developing into. [SPEAKER_00]: You could create and rotate, you could have high levels of obedience, you can use barriers throughout the house, but I'm just telling you that I don't want you to be frustrated and have the misconception that at some point your dogs are going to like each other because you've spent a lot of time in money on training, but that's not going to happen.

7:16 [SPEAKER_00]: your dog's personalities and their emotions and their feelings towards one another is not going to change no matter how trained they are. [SPEAKER_00]: But, and however, you can still have a good quality of life and a much better quality of life if you have better obedience and controlling with your dog so we're fighting the house if you're willing to put in the work.

7:34 [SPEAKER_00]: So again, I told you guys this is going to be short and sweet. [SPEAKER_00]: We get these questions all the time. [SPEAKER_00]: I have multiple podcasts with real [SPEAKER_00]: Right here on my podcast, if you guys search specifically on my audio podcast on iTunes or Spotify. [SPEAKER_00]: If you search, can two dogs who fight live with each other again, you'll be able to find them all over.

7:53 [SPEAKER_00]: I actually talk with people who have gone through this in real time. [SPEAKER_00]: So if this is something you're struggling with, I highly suggest going to check out. [SPEAKER_00]: My other podcast, even if you can't find them, throw it in the chat, chat. [SPEAKER_00]: What? [SPEAKER_00]: No bad dog's podcasts hosted by Tom Davis goes over, dogs who are fighting in the same household, and it'll find you all the episode numbers you guys can look up.

8:14 [SPEAKER_00]: So hopefully this is helpful. [SPEAKER_00]: Again, it's probably not what you want to hear, but it's what you absolutely need to hear. [SPEAKER_00]: And I hope that this is helpful for you guys. [SPEAKER_00]: And I hope that you trust this. [SPEAKER_00]: I've been doing this for a very long time.

8:24 [SPEAKER_00]: Um, and I've had obviously dogs my entire life and I can just tell you that these are the things that are the realities of owning dogs who are fighting with each other in the house. [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, again, uh, hopefully that this is comforting and helpful and, um, it was a, it was educational for you guys.

8:39 [SPEAKER_00]: Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel if you're watching this on my second channel and make sure you follow me on Spotify. [SPEAKER_00]: If you guys are listening, um, appreciate you guys so much and we'll talk to you on the next one, peace.