Help!  My Papillons are fighting!

Dear Suzydog,

I have 2 male Papillons, age 1 year and 10 months, both intact.  Both went through obedience class.  They are half brothers (same daddy) bred by different breeders.  They fight each other for toys and treats.  I buy two of everything but each wants the other's toy or treat.  If one is chewing/playing with a toy the other one will stand in front of the other and bark his head off or steal it.  Or they will actually fight.   I pull them apart, take the toy away and put them in their carriers for several minutes.  I also tell them NO fighting.  I have tried distracting the dog that is barking with another toy.  That usually doesn't work.  They just go back at it.  How do I get them to play nicely with each other?

Oh, why can't we all just get along?

I hate to tell you this, but sometimes dogs share toys and treats, and sometimes they don't.  We humans generally are most useful when we stay out of these situations, let the dogs determine their own relationship/hierarchy, and allow them to communicate in their own way.  We often try to somehow equalize our cohabitating dogs because we feel that it's "fair", but that's not the way of the canine world, which actually thrives on inequality.  

In a 2-dog household, one dog is usually dominant over the other.  Trying to fix that usually creates more of a problem than there already is.  Giving equal toys or treats to both dogs at the same time simply gives your dogs something to argue about.  We humans think:  "It's only fair that they each get one toy.  Now they should each be happy and understand that the other dog has no more or less than the other."

But the dogs don't seem to get it, do they?.  One always wants what the other has, even when he already has one!   Does one of your dogs usually end up with both toys or treats?  If so, he is probably the "dominant" one in this twosome.

Don't confuse this kind of dominance with dominance over other dogs.  The dominant dog in your household is not necessarily a "dominant dog", if that makes any sense.  Dog dynamics change with each new dog and sometimes they even change between dogs.  I suspect that neither of your dogs is particularly dominant and they can't come to an agreement over who's higher on the totem pole.  The dogs who continually argue and snipe  are the ones who aren't happy with their middle position.  Truly dominant dogs are very cool customers.  No one ever challenges them, so they are very rarely in fights. 

Evaluate the severity of each interaction.

Evaluate your dogs' interactions.  Remember, dogs like to talk and wrestle; that's what they do.   I ran a cage-free dog daycare where 40+ dogs "talked" and wrestled  all day.   There is a distinct difference between the sound of dog "talk" and dog "fight".    You probably already know what their regular "conversations" sound like and how their voices change when they are truly angry.  We humans often mistake canine conversation for fighting, just because most of the sounds that dogs make is some form of growling or barking.  Listen.  Is it talk, or is it truly menacing?  Look at their faces.  Are they having tough dog fun or are they really about to put holes into each other?

The fact that you have two adolescent unneutered males is not making things easier here.  They are both in the midst of the most macho, hormonally charged time in their lives and will continue to be like this for another six months or so.  By the time they're 2 years old the hormones will start to calm down a bit and so will they.  Right now, think of them as two 15 year old boys with guns, fighting over whatever 15-year old boys like… sneakers, cheerleaders, pizza?  Are these boys going to load their guns?  Are they going to actually pull the trigger?  My point is this:  Your boys are hormonal and not very  wise, but they're not completely clueless either. 

There is some potential for an all-out fight during which the dominant one is determined.  During this fight someone might be hurt and have to see a veterinarian.  This does not necessarily mean they will have to be separated afterwards.  As a matter of fact, it will probably be the first moment they will be able to live together harmoniously because they'll finally both know where they stand in your household hierarchy.   

But it sounds like you won't have as serious a problem as all that.  If they're barking at each other, and stealing, they're actually being pretty respectful of each other.  This kind of vocalizing usually means "Hey!  Give it to me!  I want it! " or "Hey!  Pick that up and let me chase you!  Come on! "

The fact that they've already nipped at each other actually bodes well because it means

1) they're biting without injuring,

2) they know that it hurts, and

3) they know and that the other one won't want to play much after a nip. 

Puppies learn bite inhibition with other puppies this way and that's a major lesson in any dog's life.

Remove the cheerleaders.

It's wise to remove the most highly charged items—the food and animal-based ones.  That means biscuits, cookies, jerkies, rawhides, pig's ears, hooves.  What's usually OK:   Gumabones, Kongs, ropes, stuffed animals, rubber squeakies, etc.  They may still argue over these items but they're more on the level of "Air Jordans" than "cheerleader" in our 15-year old boy analogy. 

Separate them at mealtimes too, on a permanent basis.   If they free-feed all day long, switch to meals by picking up the food after 5 minutes, whether the dog has eaten any or not.  Put the food bowl back down 4-6 hours later.  Pick up the bowl after 5 minutes and repeat until your dogs eat their meal in under 5 minutes.  This process may take several days.

Punishment for behavior modification

Consider getting several water bottles or squirt guns for quick corrections when they start up.  Plant them around the house so you're not running around looking for one whenever you need it.  Water guns are nice for loving dog owners because they're a harmless but effective (unless, of course, you own a Lab, who loves water).

Three important notes on punishment:

1. Punishment is useless and harmful if your timing is bad.
2. Punishment is only helpful in the long run if you associate it with a verbal command.
3. Punishment is most effective and easiest to administer if you can counter it with an equal or larger amount of verbal praise for adjacent non-bad behavior. 

Punishment is only effective when it is delivered at the instant of the infraction—not before, and not after.  Wait until the instant your dogs actually start to nip or scuffle, and then squirt them while saying a word like "NO" or "STOP"- - whatever word you and your husband can choose and use consistently.   Stop squirting the instant they stop fighting , and immediately praise them for not fighting until they start up again.  If they're neither fighting nor getting along, it's best to just watch silently and wait for something you can convincingly praise or punish.

What will happen is that after a few weeks (depending on the incidence frequency) your dogs will have such a strong association with the squirt and your command word that your verbal command alone will stop the behavior, without the squirt. 

Be stingy with punishment.   Save it for the true infraction; the true scuffle and nip.  Why? 

§  Because over-frequent punishment will cause them to believe that they are not allowed to vocalize at all while interacting.    Growling is the only way a dog can tell you how he feels.  A dog who's been punished for all growling moves directly to a bite "without any warning". 

§  Because if one gets a squirt every time he interacts he'll start to associate the punishment  with the other dog and may start to truly dislike him!

If your timing's good and you're consistent, over time they will start to play nicer.

Actual Punctures

If they are really putting holes into each other you'll have to forego all toys when they're in the same room together.  If they continue to find things to fight over, you might have to muzzle them both when they're together, or keep them permanently separated.  But I don't think you're at this point with these two.  Adolescent boys can be jerks, and they can hurt each other… but it's not the norm.

All in all, I'd predict you'll be enduring mostly harmless barking, stealing/playing, possible nips and "conversing" for some time and then in a year or so you'll find it has decreased in frequency, particularly if you use your squirt guns at the rare but opportune moments that you'd like to eliminate in the future.