This is a multi-dog household’s greatest fear. What happens if my dogs start fighting? Even for families whose dogs get along well and have had no previous conflicts, it is important to have a plan in mind for this scenario. The fact of the matter is that even if you have happy, friendly dogs that love each other like siblings, it doesn’t mean that they won’t have an “off day”. Things that can contribute to a fight are resource guarding, developing reactivity towards others, anxiety, hyperactivity, and lack of boundaries. Even a high energy moment greeting mom and dad as they come home from work can lead to a breaking point. 

So what do we do if this happens? 

Disclaimer: This does not apply to every situation and should be done under the care of a professional. Some fights can be significantly more serious than a simple squabble. 

1.  Prioritize you and your dog’s safety. It is much easier and safer to separate two fighting dogs using barriers around you like a door, a chair, a pillow, and ultimately a leash where possible. It is highly likely that owners who try to separate their dogs using their own hands will experience an unintentional bite and prolong the fight. 
2.  Separate the dogs completely from each other. This is where crate training becomes much more than just a potty training tool. If you were not already using a crate schedule for your two dogs, then that might be a major contributor to how the fight started in the first place. Crating your dogs periodically through out the day gives both dogs a chance to decompress, take breaks from each other, and it is one of the best ways to enforce appropriate boundaries for dogs that want to push each other’s buttons. Constant boundary crossing is one of the greatest contributors to fighting household dogs.
3.  Give your dogs time. Please do not be in a rush to put two fighting dogs back in the scenario that led to the fight in the first place. Even if it means you are giving your dogs one whole day or one whole week, they need a chance to decompress from the incredibly stressful thing that just happened. Reintroducing them too soon means they are far more likely to fight again just because they are anxious and anticipating conflict. That anticipation will actually cause another fight.
4.  Do something fun and stress free while still implementing boundaries. Go on a walk with someone else to help walk the dogs with some boundary space between them. Exercise and fun will increase the happy hormones and help dissolve the anxiety that is residual between the two dogs. This will help us take away that “fight anticipation” we talked about in step 3. 
5.  Reintroduce slowly, safely, and happily. Over the course of a few days or weeks, take slow steps while reading body language to reintroduce your dogs together under the best of circumstances only. This means pick up toys, treats, food, etc to eliminate possible resource guarding. Involve Yin and Yang activities like the ones we discuss in our blog about Yin and Yang activities.. If you are seeing signs that your dogs are not ready, do NOT push it and return to steps 2-4.
6.  Prevention is key. Do we know what triggered this fight in the first place? More than likely, owners need to increase their boundaries, crate schedule, and Yin/Yang activities to decrease the likelihood of a fight. If resource guarding was a contributor, owners should be picking up all toys, treats, bones, and bowls and offering this thins separately in kennel time or on place command to alleviate the anxiety over sharing and losing resources.