Hi all, thanks in advance for any advice. My husband and I have two 4-year-old dogs, a Shih Tzu and a Chug. They’ve had fights since they were 1, with one serious incident needing veterinary care.
We had them neutered, crate trained, and put them in a 4-week training program, which helped for a while. They’re always supervised when together, and we separate them at any sign of tension. Recently, they’ve started fighting again, with the Shih Tzu often instigating. The most recent fight resulted in a deep leg laceration for the Shih Tzu.
I feel like we’re running out of options and need advice.
Your dogs have shown escalating aggression since the age of three. They should not have unsupervised contact again without working with an IAABC-accredited trainer and possibly a board-certified veterinary behaviorist. These professionals can help identify triggers, treat underlying issues, and teach you how to intervene before aggression starts.
Punishment, such as using slip leads, can worsen aggression. If your dog associates a trigger with punishment, they may see the trigger as a source of pain. Moving forward, use a crate-and-rotate system and only consider supervised contact under the guidance of a qualified trainer
@Like Hello, I really appreciate your advice. To be clear, slip leads are only used on individual walks as recommended by a trainer to aid in reactivity. I was unaware of this, therefore we’ll stop using the leads. For the time being, we’ll stick with the crate and rotation while investigating the certified trainers and behavior specialists. Thank you.
For someone to correctly speculate on the cause of a Reddit post, there are far too many possible scenarios. You have no idea what prompted the conflict or even which dog initiated it as of yet. Put an end to your unsupervised playtime; if there are no further fights, you should be OK. If they do, you’ll be there to break it up. Once the battle has passed, you may use the information you wrote down (a trainer is a lot better alternative than a Reddit post) to better understand what caused the fight and how to prevent it from happening in the future.