Many owners complain that their dogs usually fight with others without any reason. So how to stop puppies from fighting?
If you cannot figure out the remedies, our article may offer a helping hand. Let’s get started!
What Are The Reasons Why Dogs Fight Each Other?
It is normal for puppies to fight. Here are multiple contributors to puppies fighting.
Guard Their Owner
Dog is a sentimental being that can feel our love through feeding, brushing or cuddling actions.
Therefore, when it senses an upcoming menace, our puppy is willing to combat with the hope of safeguarding its owners.
Guard Other Resources
A dog also has its own valuables, such as bones, toys or food, that it appreciates. As it is very sensitive to noise and vibrations, a dog can easily detect when others come close and invade its territory.
It will, in turn, fight and show aggressive behaviors due to the natural reflex.
Sibling Puppies’ Rivalry
In a dog family, when a mature dog becomes old and gets sick, younger ones can grab this chance to overturn the hierarchy and deny obedience commands.
This phenomenon is referred to as inter-dog aggression, which often takes place in an unstable dominance hierarchy.
A Sudden Change In Their Household RouDog barking and wagging tailine
Some immediate changes, such as their owners leaving for college, can stress dogs greatly. Some might feel that they are abandoned and no longer cared for.
Over time, separation anxiety accumulates, and this buildup will result in numerous violent conduct, like the propensity to fight.
A Change In The Canine Social Interactions
When dogs leave their home and join a new canine group, they have to compete against each other for food portions.
Sometimes, they do so with another purpose of finding a leader in a newly established hierarchy.
Dogs Could Become Overstimulated
Dogs might become excessively aroused by common triggers, namely welcoming another resident puppy or mail delivery, leading to overstimulation and other extreme emotions.
That’s why they use a fighting tool to release these negative feelings.
Underlying Anxiety
Mental disorders, such as anxiety or stress, could be the culprit behind dogs’ bad behaviors.
For instance, when a puppy is over noise-sensitive, it might be annoyed by strange sounds, like truck delivery or microwave ticking noise.
If these sounds persist for a while, and stress surpasses the threshold, it may fight for others to feel more comfortable.
Improper Socialization
Dogs, which are improperly socialized, are more inclined to attack others. A notable symptom of this lies in body language misunderstanding.
For example, some puppies entice it to play, but an unsocialized dog can regard this hint as a fighting provocation.
The Mutual Play Might Escalate
In many situations, dogs seem to establish a harmonious relationship at first. But this play can turn into a skirmish when the tension escalates.
One dog could become rough, and a puppy fight would break out as a consequence.
Enclosed Spaces
When dogs are confined in an enclosed room, they can feel quite stifled and uncomfortable. In this case, violence can be an effective respite, helping them out of this suffocating situation.
Reaction To A Shock Collar
Some owners use a shock collar, a metal bracelet delivering electrical stimulation, to control their dogs during the training process.
When it comes into use, a high electricity voltage will impact your puppies, and they will be shocked.
This practice seems harmless but is potentially dangerous because it can cause great aversion to dogs. Over time, they might get stressed and fight for others to avenge the invisible rival.
Medical Reasons
Under a few circumstances, your dog might be in pain or physically hurt. The level of thyroid substances heightens, which is responsible for social aggression between dogs.
That’s why your puppy is ready to attack others if they bump into or come close to it.
How To Stop Puppies From Fighting?
Here are four steps that help stop puppies fighting each other: Separate them first, observe their behaviors, distract their attention, and finally help the weaker dog by cheating.
Separate
When you notice that your dogs are going to have a fight, you must separate them to avert worse scenarios, such as the risk of injury.
Your health is also jeopardized if you are in proximity to the conflict.
Observe
After successfully separating, you continue to observe your dogs’ body postures. With these warning signs, a puppy fighting will likely explode:
- Baring teeth
- Making unusual noises, such as continuous growling
- Staring
- The eyes start to turn red
- Stiffened body
- Raising two ears
- Dog barking and wagging tail
Distract
Diverting your dogs from their intentions is not easy, as a fight might end when one dog is in a submissive position.
However, you can use some distractors, like toys, sterilized bones or other valuables. This method is quite effective, especially in sibling pups’ rivalry.
Cheat
When the situation seems less intense, you could hold a weaker dog’s legs and lift it on a stronger one’s back.
In this way, the fight would reach its natural conclusion while the dominance dynamic still exists.
How To Train Puppies Not To Fight Each Other?
- Let dogs socialize together under your strict supervision.
- Monitor your puppies when they are playing with other dogs. As presented above, many games might become frantic chaos, so you should be careful.
- Remember some notable gestures, indicating that a fight is going to arise.
- You can create many situations evoking the fighting urge in dogs. But divert their attention by calling their names, creating sounds or providing toys. Repeat this practice, and they will gradually act on reflex and stop attacking.
- When your puppies overcome the aggression issues, you should show praise or give their favorite gifts, namely toys or bowls of food.
- You can consider crate training, which is also good for calming down your puppies’ behaviors. Yet crate training is sometimes hard to accomplish.
The Bottom Line
Hopefully, this article helps you solve the question: How to stop puppies from fighting?
After thoroughly contemplating our post, you will also get more in-depth knowledge about the reasons and warning signs before each fight.
Thank you for being supportive, and have a good day!
