My Dog Can Beat Up Your Dog!

[Wabatuckian]

Hello,

My sister and brother-in-law are back from a three year tour in England (he's in the Navy and was working with the RAF).

They have a dog named Gabby. She is part German Shepherd and part Rottweiler. I refer to her as my foster dog as she stayed with me for a few weeks while they were getting settled on the island.

She went away and I found my hunting partner, Nikki. I've mentioned it before, but Nikki is part yellow lab, part husky, and almost certainly part gray wolf (not that there's much difference between a wolf and Husky, anyway).

Nikki loves to play and loves to hunt. She's a big goof. She asks for her own space, but has never bitten a person. Even her play bites are not clamps -- she just opens her mouth and applies no downward pressure.

Anyway, Gabby is here visiting. I took them out to play as they're supposed to be the types to get along. Come to find out, Gabby is somewhat territorial and possessive. We were all playing "chase the dog with the stick" and the stick exchanged mouths and hands several times.

Then Nikki caught Gabby -- just tried to take the stick -- and Gabby jumped her!

Nikki doesn't fight, as I said. She just kills things. Gabby isn't known to fight, but as I said, she's possessive. I saw it take a second to register with Nikki that they were no longer playing. Nikki and Gabby got each other in the classic dog fight clinch, and I couldn't get them apart. Hell, I tried putting my shin through their junction, saw it jar both dogs, but ultimately it had no effect on the fight -- and I'm trained to kick. It was calculated to cause pain without breaking bone.

(By the way, this was a dangerous thing I did, and I don't recommend anyone try to break up a dog fight this way. I knew the risks and weighed them before throwing the kick).

In this corner, weighing 80lbs, Gabby, and in this corner, weighing 100lbs, Nikki.

Well, Nikki got sick of it and went under. She latched on to Gabby's throat and wouldn't let go. Gabby wasn't giving up, and though dogs and wolves very rarely kill their own, this was going downhill quickly. Nikki is used to killing raccoons and such, and as a puppy I gave up trying to give her rawhide bones after she took the biggest, thickest one I could find and bit it in two first try. Dumb dog.

Amazing jaw strength on par with a wolf. An average dog couldn't do that.

Anyway, I figured that was enough, drew the 1911, and put a bullet into a tree, shooting right over their heads. That broke it up.

Seems Gabby has a new respect for Nikki and I've seen her licking Nikki's muzzle a few times. Nikki is dominant, looks like, though Gabby keeps issuing challenges.

It's all interesting to watch.

Gabby's throat has been tender, so I do suppose made the correct call. I was going to let them have it out, but not after the throat chomp.

I always wondered if Nikki could really fight. I know she hunts well, but was never sure about her as a protector because she's just so bloody friendly.

No more doubts.

Still, they're both damned dumb dogs.

Josh

 

[Que]

Wow, I'm glad they didn't draw blood, especially from you. Good job breaking it up.

 

[rmabrey]

You forgot to tell us the type of holster and carry position

Seriously sounds like an intense moment. Glad both dogs and yourself are well

 

[tv1217]

My cat can beat up my dog, so yeah, probably.

 

[JohnP82]

Glas it all turned out ok and you were not hurt. Good job getting it broke up.

 

[HighStrung]

I had to jump into the middle of a dog fight a couple years ago. Our American Bulldog decided she wanted to take the Alpha status from our Rottie. It was 130lb defending herself against an 80lb attacker. This was their first real scuffle and it didn't end well. The Rottie never really went after the younger aggressor, just defended herself by biting down one the younger dogs snout so she wouldn't keep getting chewed on. The Amer Bulldog was determined so I jumped in and literally ripped the dogs apart (this fight was going on inside the house). When I did, I got bit by the American Bulldog (who would've expected, after all I jumped into a dogfight) right on my stomach. To finally get her to stop, I had her picked up by the sides of her neck looking eye to eye with me, my rottie just went a layed down. Upon later inspection, the rottie had half her ear torn off. Both dogs went to licking on each other and loving the way they've always done. Both rode beside each other in the truck on the way to the vet and were great. About three days later, the Amer Bull went back after the rottie, this time the first bite was on the same ear that had the stitches in it, and this time the rottie wasn't putting up with it. She snapped around and pinned the bulldog with her mouth around her throat and just sat there. Unfortunalty, we were 4 days away from giving birth to our daughter so one dog had to leave. Since the Bulldog was adopted from my brother in law, we asked him to take her back. It really sucked, both dogs were 100% friendly towards people and kids, just couldn't have that battle for alpha female going on with kids in our home.

 

[Wabatuckian]

My sister looked at me and told me that "Gabby never goes after a fight."

I didn't say anything. My sister, I love her, but sometimes you can't tell her things. We're alike in that respect I suppose.

She can train dogs like I can, but I don't think she's ever been able to get inside their heads.

I'm just dumb enough to be able to do so!

Josh

 

[DragonGunner]

Michael Vicks dog would of whipped both of them.

 

[drgnrobo]

I was wondering when a Michael Vick comment was coming

 

[snowman46919]

In before an out of state cookmeister is telling you to put all above mentioned dogs down... Sounds like you may have a power struggle, too bad you couldn't let them finish it. Had they been able to settle dominance without going for the throat it may have been the first and last scuffle they had.

 

[Cru]

Mike Vick is pissed you didn't call him to promote the fight.

 

[Que]

Yeah, I knew the MV comments would come. These are some very interesting stories. So, is it better to have two dogs of the opposite sex to prevent the desire to fight?

 

[Cru]

Yeah, I knew the MV comments would come. These are some very interesting stories. So, is it better to have two dogs of the opposite sex to prevent the desire to fight?

What do you expect when it's a story about dogs locking on each others throats? Don't roll your eyes at me.

 

[Wabatuckian]

Yeah, I knew the MV comments would come. These are some very interesting stories. So, is it better to have two dogs of the opposite sex to prevent the desire to fight?

I've always found that female dogs are less territorial and don't really have the desire to do anything but run and play. That's Nikki's thing. She tries to get the black lab to play, but he doesn't like to play wrestle, fetch, or do any other thing labs are supposed to enjoy.

I figured Gabby would be fun for Nikki, but nope, she had to start something.

Something about Nikki -- she shares. I can't find any other explanation for it. If she has two bones, she'll give one to another dog she sees as submissive. If anything, it's dominant behavior, making sure that the other dog has what is needed.

Now, maybe Gabby mistook this as Nikki being subordinate. I don't know.

I do agree though; I was going to let it continue until I saw Nikki clamp Gabby's throat. Though I don't think of dogs as kids (and believe it's abuse toward the dogs to do so!), I do draw a parallel to kids in that they must get a pecking order established as well, but if weapons come out, that's it.

Nikki had a bit of blood on the side of her face; I couldn't tell from where it came. It looks like she may have bitten her lip a bit, actually.

I don't like the references to dog fighters. I am not one and will only let them have it out as long as it's solely a dominance thing. Nikki appears to have taken it as a call for self-defense, though.

Josh

 

[HighStrung]

Yeah, I knew the MV comments would come. These are some very interesting stories. So, is it better to have two dogs of the opposite sex to prevent the desire to fight?

Both of our dogs were intact (non-spayed), this was without question part of the problem. Had they been fixed, the problem may not have prevented itself, may have still. We later found out that the Amer Bulldog is a breed that is known for its aggressions toward other dogs of the same sex(though not towards people). Had we known more about the breed, we would've had her spayed (but like I said we adopted this dog from a brother in law when he moved). Though she was still living in our house, we still felt like she was his dog in making decisions like this. It happened when she was reaching the beginning of maturity (approx 2yrs old) which only makes sense. Like someone else posted, had these two dogs been able to figure it out on their own, they probably would never have had this problem again. It's just trying to sort the pecking order, one dog had it and another dog wanted it. These types of power struggles generally don't turn serious, though they almost always sound like it (actually it sounds like they are literally eating each other, even when it's just a whole lot of bickering, barking, and growling). Whats important is seeing how the dogs are actually going after one another. Face and snout, body bites aren't usually warranting intervention so it's better for them to sort it out on their own (I still don't recommend this unless someone really really understands their dogs physical langauge). True attempt to go for the other dogs throat is serious and will not generally end well. What I was happiest about, was that our rottie (our dog) wasn't the aggressor, she just defended herself.

Edited to actually answer quoted question: Yes, in general two dogs of the opposite sex aren't driven to fight to be the alpha, since they are of different sex, they both get to be alpha of their individual sex. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that they won't fight over other things, some dogs will still fight over food, for attention from their people, a spot on the couch, or whatever.

 

[lovemachine]

and at all the MV comments.

 

[Cru]

and at all the MV comments.

Ok, well how about this then, rather than a sarcastic "MV" comment, I'll say what I actually thought.

I think it's in bad taste to post a thread on a public forum with a big smiley face talking about how "my dog can beat up another dog" where because of said smiley face and title it seems like you enjoy the fact that two dogs were trying to kill each other. It was so violent apparently that the OP even felt the need to kick the dogs (or at their mouths or something...)

So, you may roll your eyes and thumbs down all you want to comments that compare this to dog fighting, but bragging about how "your dog can beat up someone else's dog" on an internet forum is in much worse taste in my book.

 

[E5RANGER375]

 

[lovemachine]

Ok, well how about this then, rather than a sarcastic "MV" comment, I'll say what I actually thought.

I think it's in bad taste to post a thread on a public forum with a big smiley face talking about how "my dog can beat up another dog" where because of said smiley face and title it seems like you enjoy the fact that two dogs were trying to kill each other. It was so violent apparently that the OP even felt the need to kick the dogs (or at their mouths or something...)

So, you may roll your eyes and thumbs down all you want to comments that compare this to dog fighting, but bragging about how "your dog can beat up someone else's dog" on an internet forum is in much worse taste in my book.

There was no bragging in the OP. 2 dogs were fighting to be Alpha.
It's called nature. Being a college student, I would have thought you'd know that.

Comparing what happened to Michael Vick, that is low. That's what deserves the and .

 

[Cru]

Yeah, I get nature and dominance in dogs. My two male dogs get in little scuffs all the time. I just dont let them go at it until I feel the need to kick them. I also wouldn't put a " " in a thread talking about it either. Especially if I was going to title the thread something that sounded like "Nya Nya my dog beat up another dog."

I love dogs, so sure, if your dog is defending itself, or you have to defend your dog, sure, I get it. But dont expect someone to NOT make a dog fighting comment if you yourself make it seem like you are taking two dogs fighting lightly.