The only breed with zero chance of dog fighting is a hot dog.
[QUOTE=Big_Grey_hunter;5748641]
The only breed with zero chance of dog fighting is a hot dog.[/QUOTE]
And that is not a dachshund, those are a bit trigger happy.
A fellow here is right now in the hospital with a very badly infected hand, courtesy of a friend’s wiener dog, that he reached over to pet without thinking.
His words, “it looked sweet just sitting there looking at me”.:eek:
Never pet someone’s dog without asking first.:no:
In our vet clinic, one of the more aggressive dogs is a chihuahua, that they don’t even keep in the waiting room, just bring right into a room.
The vet has to watch every minute, he will try to take on any dog or human.
The owner tells he is nice at home, but he is all teeth at the vets.
While some breeds can be more dog aggressive, terriers one, that doesn’t mean every dog in that breed will be, just as you may find a bad dog in the generally sweetest breed.
I have rules in my house…
No more than one female dog at a time. Two females will fight WAY before two males will.
No more than one intact dog at a time. Preferably everyone is spayed/neutered.
I like at least 2 years between dogs, not because I worry about fighting, but because I don’t want to have to deal with 2 young dogs at a time. One is more than enough work.
I don’t care what breed. I’ve had pits, I have a cattle dog (she’s the only girl. She will always be the only girl, because she’s a bit of a bitch), I have a boxer, and I’ve had various mixes.
Currently, I have a fear aggressive 12 year old lab/greyhound/chow mix sleeping on my couch next to my boxer. The cattle dog mix is playing with the kitten. They all understand the rules of the house, that state that I am the head bitch, and as such, I dictate where everyone sleeps, eats, and plays. If there are disputes, I catch them before they can get bad, and I settle them. Period. It’s really not hard.
For anyone who wonders, I train with postive reinforcement methods, and think Cesar Milan is the worst thing that ever happened to dog training.
I have always had female dogs, we currently have 4 of various ages, a 13 year old brittany that has never shown any aggression of any kind to anything or anyone or any other animal (well, moles and squirrels don’t really count do they?), an 11 year old boxer/rhodesian ridgeback cross that has only show aggression to people, and two 4 year old littermates that are aussie/golden retriever crosses. None of them are aggressive to each other, the one aussie will try to “herd” the other dogs, but that it is.
I have also had two female beagles at a time, then the beagle with a brittany, then the beagle and two brittanys, and then the two brittanys. No inter-dog aggression with any of them ever.
Maybe I just got lucky. Or maybe because I do my level best to nip any signs of any aggression in the bud at the first sign. And my dogs know I am the boss dog in this house.
The only dog fight we had was with the aussie and the stray that lived with us for 5 months, and that fight came out of the blue, and I would bet my life it was that the stray got sick of being “herded”.
I will say that trying to break up a dog fight is one of the scariest things I have ever had to do so far in my life, and hope to never have to try to do it ever again.
Lots of good info and insights here, as usual = )
I certainly don’t have years of experience owning packs, but I agree with a lot of what’s been said here.
Certain breeds definitely are more predisposed to having DA. For example, I know a lot of excellent dobie breeders who will tell you that same sex aggression is often just a fact of life with dobes and that you have to be very watchful for it.
The main key is prevention. Knowledge of each breed’s idiosyncrasies, training and exercise will go a long way towards a stable pack. Also helpful is to pick dogs carefully that will blend with your current pack.
I have a greyhound and chat quite frequently with owners that have several (people having packs of 5+ are not uncommon at all - and these are casual owners that aren’t breeding and don’t compete their hounds). Racing greyhounds tend to be pretty good at living in a pack, as they’ve been bred for it historically and more recently (a DA greyhound is likely to be a lot of trouble at the track). They are also a pretty laid back breed in general. Plus, most are used to wearing muzzles at play from young pups, as thin greyhound skin is very easy to tear even with just a casual play nip. So that’s a precaution that many people with more than one greyhound use during play or while unsupervised.
Still, there are some that get placed in only-dog homes or that are adopted with the understanding that they are not “other breed tolerant,” as some greys are total breed snobs. So they can have issues just like any other breed.
As has been said here a lot, any breed can fight = ) I do think there are some breeds that are less predisposed to it though.
Define “fight”
I had chows for fifteen years. I know how to get blood out of/off of any material known to man.
Now I have border collies. Two bitches and a dog. Yeah, they’ll get into it sometimes, but to break it up? All I have to do is speak to them sharply. They might leave a lot of dog spit on each other but they have yet (knock wood) to draw blood.
To me, if one doesn’t have to physically intervene with a heavy/sharp/or electrified weapon, it’s not really a fight. More of a disagreement, really.
[QUOTE=keepthelegend;5745976]
If I had to come up with one breed, it would be a Golden Retriever. Most of them are very non dog aggressive. Stay away from terriers and a lot of the working dogs that form intense human bonds - they often are not that tolerant of other dogs irritating them.[/QUOTE]
Ehhhh I can’t agree with you on that one…we’ve had our golden for almost 14 years at this point and we have never been able to trust her with other dogs. She’s not people aggressive unless you come between her chew or food and her, but hasn’t done more than growl. However, she did take a chunk out of our other dog’s face. This one was a very submissive border collie mix. Best dog ever! I love our golden to the end of the earth but we have to be very careful…better to not set yourself up for failure!
I think while it is individual a lot of the larger spaniels (springers, clumbers, sussex, etc.) are very laid back and get along with other dogs. They are just very soft dogs with laid back characters. I was recently at a clumber specialty and was amazed to see about 30 loose, intact clumbers who didn’t even know each other being let loose to play together in a fenced area behind the host hotel. My own Clumber that I showed went to dog parks every day and his best friend was big intact male Bouvier. It was funny because our neighbor’s pitbull and German Shepherd would throw themselves at our fence like the hounds of hell every time he was in the backyard and he could have cared less - he never responded and would wander around wagging his tail and just ignore the mean doggies. Spaniels were developed to hunt in groups, but not as a pack the way a hound would. Its a totally different dynamic. They are just sweet dogs.
Lula Belle
we’ve had our golden for almost 14 years at this point and we have never been able to trust her with other dogs. She’s not people aggressive unless you come between her chew or food and her, but hasn’t done more than growl. However, she did take a chunk out of our other dog’s face. This one was a very submissive border collie mix. Best dog ever! I love our golden to the end of the earth but we have to be very careful…better to not set yourself up for failure!
I knew someone who babysat her mom’s female golden, and that dog was not all tail wags and kisses. She said that the dog was controllable on a leash, but she didn’t want to be petted by strangers and she didn’t like strange dogs in her business. So, she walked her around her yard and around the block when it was quiet - but since she was a golden, people would literally run up to pet her or unleash (!) their dogs so they could play with the golden. Apparently, occasionally there were some interesting incidents and she’d have to throw herself in front of people.
Irish Wolfhounds!:yes:
Of course they weigh as much as a calf and have an average life expectancy of about eight years. Lots of back problems, too.
But damn, you can’t make one bite you. Or anyone/anything else.
Go watch the IW ring at a show. The handlers just leave the dogs in a great grey hairy pile by the ring, and grab a lead when it’s time to go in. I don’t know how they wind up with the right dog.:lol:
[QUOTE=Casey09;5750531]
Lula Belle
I knew someone who babysat her mom’s female golden, and that dog was not all tail wags and kisses. She said that the dog was controllable on a leash, but she didn’t want to be petted by strangers and she didn’t like strange dogs in her business. So, she walked her around her yard and around the block when it was quiet - but since she was a golden, people would literally run up to pet her or unleash (!) their dogs so they could play with the golden. Apparently, occasionally there were some interesting incidents and she’d have to throw herself in front of people.[/QUOTE]
Ugh. So frustrating.
Goldens and labs are 1) SUPER popular, and so have a huge issue with overbreeding and BYBs and 2) are sold as awesome super perfect family dogs from birth…
Because of this, so many of them are not the sweetness and light they are touted to be. They really can be lovely family dogs, but, as with ANY dog, you have to put the time in and really be careful about breeding.
[QUOTE=pAin’t_Misbehavin’;5750620]
Irish Wolfhounds!:yes:
Of course they weigh as much as a calf and have an average life expectancy of about eight years. Lots of back problems, too.
But damn, you can’t make one bite you. Or anyone/anything else.
Go watch the IW ring at a show. The handlers just leave the dogs in a great grey hairy pile by the ring, and grab a lead when it’s time to go in. I don’t know how they wind up with the right dog.:lol:[/QUOTE]
They ARE generally sweet, aren’t they?
But according to various studies, done in the 70s, 80s. And currently, sad to say, the mean age of death is about six and a half. Now, I have had quite a number that have lived til ten almost eleven, in forty years of owning them, none have achieved eleven, although it does happen and I have just learned on one who lived to fifteen, a record!
It is fun to see them at a show, they do have this “My People!!” response and form piles as show, exactly right! But, they do require sensible management, just as foxhounds or any pack hounds do, aggression probability is never zero unless you are talking hot dogs, good point!!
It is indeed amazing to see large groups of them who are strangers to one another interact peacefully and joyfully. However, individuals who dislike each other can occurr, fights can be unbelievably traumatic in in rare instances they do occur.
Just agree, generally they are such gentle giants, but never forget what they are capable of. As the saying goes, “Gentle When Stroked, Fierce When Provoked”…
Had JRT’s and they were dog aggressive, but we loved them. Now we have AHT’s which are American Hairless Terrier( or a Hairless Rat Terrier for better description.) They are a bit terrier-like, but Awesome with other dogs and with people. AND they don’t shed. We have brutal winters here, so i buy dog Jammies. They are little jumper outfits you can find online. But i also learned to sew for my dogs. I love the breed so much. We also have 2 Chinese Crested Powder Puff’s And they are somewhat standoffish with certain dogs. But they never fight.
[QUOTE=Houndhill;5750760]
currently, sad to say, the mean age of death is about six and a half. Now, I have had quite a number that have lived til ten almost eleven, in forty years of owning them, none have achieved eleven, although it does happen and I have just learned on one who lived to fifteen, a record!
. . .
[I]ndividuals who dislike each other can occurr, fights can be unbelievably traumatic in in rare instances they do occur.[/QUOTE]
Wow, six and a half?
I guess the oldest IW I ever knew personally was ten. She still travelled with us to shows, but she couldn’t climb stairs due to back problems. It took three of us to get her into the motor home - one on each end and one supporting the middle!
I never witnessed an IW fight, but I remember back during the eighties there were two brothers who despised one another. They lived with different people but of course saw one another at shows and occasionally, due to handler error, got too close to one another. I was never around when it happened but stories of their battles sure made the rounds of the handlers.:yes:
ALL dogs can and will fight.
When you add a bully breed to the equation the chance of a fight MAY be higher. They are bred for dog aggression, tho not their original use. Does it happen, yes.
I currently have three pit bulls (two neutered males and a spayed female) and a spayed Xolo foster. The Xolo is more likely to start an issue than any of my pit bulls. And she is more aggressive toward my female than she is my males.
I am the only “resource” she gaurds and as such I have to be aware of situations she will react in.
A criss cross of genders in any home is a good idea, regardless of breed.
Well put. And like many facts of life, they don’t have to rule your life. You manage and remain vigilant. We have four Dobies - two females (ages 8 and almost 7) and two males (ages 4 1/2 and 21 months). All are spayed/neutered. The girls have never had so much as a tiff. They share an Ex-Pen as a kennel and sleep together on the couch at night. Our older male despises the “baby” but is too busy being my Velcro to worry about antagonizing him, and we don’t leave them loose and unattended together for any length of time. But still, we watch. Any snark is noted 
and sometimes snark is returned tenfold to the giver to make sure that he or she knows that they are not in charge. Food can be mine at any time. A toy can be mine at any time. Play can stop at any time. They can be told to get off the couch/bed at any time, to leave a room at any time, to move out of the way at any time. There are rules, and they all play nice. They are happy dogs.
bort84 wrote
Goldens and labs are 1) SUPER popular, and so have a huge issue with overbreeding and BYBs and 2) are sold as awesome super perfect family dogs from birth…
Because of this, so many of them are not the sweetness and light they are touted to be. They really can be lovely family dogs, but, as with ANY dog, you have to put the time in and really be careful about breeding.
I would agree that breeding is a big responsibility and that dogs require socialization and training. However, I also think that it is crazy to pet a dog that you do not know without asking or to let your dog approach a dog that is walking on a leash. Not all dogs appreciate that!
I do think that their are probably some dog breeds that are less likely to get into skirmishes than others. However, one thing I can’t get a clear picture of from the OP is how many dogs are involved. I think that one of the best ways to prevent fighting is to have two dogs - one of each sex, several years apart in age.
Where are you getting this info ???
[QUOTE=Blinkers On;5752216]
. They are bred for dog aggression, tho not their original use. .[/QUOTE
I suppose that may be the case in some pitbulls bred by asshats but what other bully breeds are bred for dog aggression???
Yeah, I was just mentioning all the things labs and goldens have to put up with because they are always thought of as amazing love bug family dogs. That definitely includes silly strangers thinking it’s totally okay to come get in your dog’s face.
I have a greyhound, and almost nobody (except uneducated little kids) will approach her without asking. People often haven’t ever seen one off the track (and my girl is quite tall), so they tend to be much more cautious. Which is great = ) I feel for the golden and lab owners that get bombarded whenever they go on a walk. I think I also tend to give off a don’t even think about coming to talk to us vibe…
I know some people that have the opposite problem though - thinking that because they have a lab or golden or “family” dog, that it’s okay to let that dog wander around and “say hi” to everyone. Eek! See that snarly big dog over there straining at the end of his leash??? He does NOT want to just “say hi” to your dog!
I had a beautiful little cocker spaniel, but she was not friendly to strangers. Of course, kids always wanted to pet the cocker spaniel (looook it’s Lady) and not the friendly, friendly collie. Of course.
