Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynne&Co.
Are your dogs altered or full males?
Intact males need to be altered if you want them to get along with each other or with any other dog for that matter.
At the moment I would keep them apart when you cannot supervise them as the fighting will continue to escalate as they mature and they could do serious or fatal damage to each other.
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Whoa, this is not necessarily so. Yes, it may help to alter one or both in this case but many intact males get along just fine if they have been brought up together. At times there were four intact male GR across the road from me. Two lived there full time, two came when the adult children visited. Breed may play a role though none of these were well bred dogs.
And it absolutely is not true that a male must be altered to get along with any other dog. My intact male has lots of doggy friends. Most girl dogs in particular, spayed or not, seem to really like him.
As a matter of fact some neutered males have a pronounced antipathy to intact males and the neutered males are aggressive towards the intact males. We have experienced this many times. It always takes my boy by surprise and I have seen him literally turn the other cheek (butt cheek
) in order to avoid confrontation. He's not a sissy, he will stand up for himself, but my boy prefers to not have to stand up for himself.
However, I mention the above just because if only one of these males of the OP is neutered it may not solve the fighting, now that it's already started. Now that they are already fighting neutering both might not help either. It might be worth a try but they might have to left in separate quarters when alone.
We do now have research that shows neutering and spaying can increase aggression and make it worse, not better. It's here:
http://www.cdoca.org/downloads/files...20Behavior.pdf
Non-reproductive Effects of Spaying and Neutering on Behavior in Dogs
Deborah L. Duffy, Ph.D., and James A. Serpell, Ph.D., Center for the Interaction of
Animals and Society, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Sometimes that link is wonky, you might have to google the title and the authors.
P.S. You should see my neighbour lady walking all four of those big GR. If two took off one direction and two went the other she'd be something out of the gladiator ring but she always gets back home in one piece and with all four.
P.P.S. No one knows for sure why some neutered males don't like intact males but a theory I've heard is, they're jealous.