Step 1 - Immediately After a Fight The important thing is to attempt to separate the two animals without putting yourself or others in harm's way. Once the animals have been separated and placed out of reach of one another, the next item of business is to check both dogs for wounds, blood, or bite marks.
Can dogs live together after fighting? The answer is, most of the time, YES. There are times when dogs may be like an incompatible couple and need to divorce, but in general, there are things you can do to help combative pups get along.
Throw a blanket or jacket over each dog so they can no longer see each other. Or spray the dogs' faces with citronella spray, lemon juice spray, or a vinegar spray. Use an object to separate the dogs. Be certain to keep your hands and face as far from the dogs' mouths as possible.
Dogs may fight for a number of reasons. Even dogs that live together or are related can and will fight. Unfortunately, some fighting dogs will not stop fighting until an injury occurs that results in one dog backing off. However, some triggers are easily identified and can be avoided.
If the situation is escalating rapidly and it's impossible to prevent a fight, focus on breaking up the fight in the safest way possible. According to internationally acclaimed dog behaviorist, the late Dr. Sophia Yin, it's important to avoid actions that may cause the dogs to transfer their aggression towards you.
If fighting is severe, dogs should be completely separated until conditioning and other treatment protocols can be put in place. Re-homing should be considered if the aggression poses a significant safety issue.
Forgiveness brings stress relief.
Both tended to spend more time together after the conflict regardless of if they had an existing relationship. While it seems dogs do forgive after a fight, there's still a lot more to learn about reconciliation in dogs. In some multi-dog households, it doesn't always work out.
Just like people, dogs feel loss after a loved one dies. They can also become depressed after a traumatic injury or an attack from another animal.
People and dogs can become injured when there's a fight. Also, a dog will remember that he's been attacked. It may be very difficult–if not impossible–for them to get along afterwards.
In a real fight, the dogs will target the stomach, throat, and front legs and the victim of the attack will often retaliate by grabbing a hold of the other dog's neck. If your dog is involved in such a fight and receives severe injuries, take him to the vet immediately.
The fights may start out as snarling and growling over space or other resources. If left unchecked, serious fighting can ensue resulting in injury or even death. Fighting occurs because the dogs have not established a stable dominance hierarchy. Dogs have no sense of equality, so one must always be the leader.
One of the common ways your dog will try to say sorry is by making “puppy eyes” or tucking its tail between its legs. Avoiding eye contact and lowering their ears are also common ways for dogs to apologize.
Grudges with other dogs
To them, that other dog = bad news, even if they don't remember exactly why. Your dog isn't actively “holding a grudge” against that other pooch, but they are responding to the negative association that was formed the first time, and strengthened every time since.
One school of thought is to reintroduce them as soon as you and they calm down. As their “alpha” leader, you must be calm and in charge. Another school of thought is to give them a few days to cool off and reintroduce them to each other like you would a new dog in the home.
While we can't just ask them, we can observe them – and most evidence seems to indicate that, yes, dogs experience grief in some form. In fact, it's likely that they feel all of the emotions that go along with grief when they lose both human and canine companions during their lives.
When a dog loses a companion, two- or four-legged, he grieves and reacts to the changes in his life. Dogs alter their behavior when they mourn, much like people do: They may become depressed and listless.
However, recent research from a team of investigators headed by Mylene Quervel-Chaumette at the University of Vienna's Messerli Research Institute provides data that shows dogs do interpret and respond to signs of stress in other dogs, particularly those they are most familiar with.
Should I punish my dogs when they are challenging each other? Punishment should be avoided. The dog-dog relationship will not be improved if you scold, punish or hold down a dog as punishment; in fact you may make it worse by punishing the dog for signaling and communicating their aggressive intentions.
That being said, it is entirely up to the owners whether or not their dogs fight. Two alpha females can get along just fine if the owners are true leaders or they may fight if the owners are not.
It can take up to one month for an old dog and new dog to really settle in and accept each other's position in the pack. If you want a second dog, you need to be ready to commit to this process and not panic.
If you do not do this, the dog will often charge back and start fighting again, or if you release the dog too quickly, the dog will turn and attack the person who had his feet. Dog fights are a very dangerous thing to try and break up alone.
Increased exercise and regular obedience training may also be effective in reducing aggressively dominant dogs, and some forms of training may be used as distractions, focusing the dog's attention off of negative stimuli in a training technique known as a counter-conditioning treatment.
For the happiest dogs and the safest household, opposite sex dogs almost always do best together. Many same-sex combinations of dogs will fight, sometimes to the death. Those who work out a dominance order may not fare much better.