Random Fighting.......or is it

[Bigrod]

It has been awhile since I have been to this forum. Last visit, I was disappointed to see that the board had crashed and the previous post were no longer available. The forum served as a chronicle of my life with dogs over the last few weeks. Oh well. Its good to be back.

I have four labs now......(2) rescues and (2) labs we have had since puppies. The two puppies are now adults. 2 and 3 years of age males and they are intact.

They usually get along, but once the younger lab started to mature, they have been having skirmishes. The fights usually happen around dinner time but it may be a dominance thing or both. No one has gotten more than a scratch or two and they usually stop after a few seconds or I get involved. Is this their way of figuring out who is going to be dominant? Will this continue or escalate. I

am coming off (3) knee surgeries so I have not been able to spend as much time with my dogs as I used to via walks, training and exercise.

I am considering getting them both clipped, but not sure it will stop the fights. Any suggestions?

I think I already know the answers but an curious to know what you guys say.

RT

[LucyTudeOn4Feet]

I've never had males, so I can't speak to that. However, Lucy has had two doggy friends in the past that she could no longer play fetch with when they matured around 2-3 years old. She was 5 or 6 when they hit 2-3 years old, and skirmishes broke out.
Can you feed them separately? Lots of people with multiple dogs say they do that.

[Snowshoe]

Dogs are like people and just form a liking or a dislike for some others. You say they have not had their usual amount of exercise and the fights seem to be around dinner time so two things to try first are more exercise and separate feeding spots. I think.

[Tanya]

agree with the above.

at 2 the younger one is coming into maturity and this is when you are likely to have issues between dogs as they figure things out. As it sounds like the issues are focused around food it's at least an easy fix. Keep food hidden (behind a door) and feed separately (in their crates or separate rooms) and remove bowls before they are free to walk around again. Less exercise can mean more build up energy and frustration which yes can cause issues between dogs as well.

[KenZ71]

Exercise solves a lot of issues. That can be in the form Of training to sit, stay, rollover, pickup dropped laundry whatever.

You can try rolling a ball down a hall while one sits next to you. That takes a lot of work, but a good training experience.

[EmmaJo11]

I have no suggestions as we have the same issue with our Lab and my mom's Border Collie. So I am going to follow this thread if you don't mind.