2 males fighting...need advices

1331 Views 15 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Murreydobe, Sep 27, 2006

dobermanchile

Discussion Starter · Sep 20, 2006

hello doberman chat !

i am danish guy living in chile. i have my 2 male dobermans at my house in the mountains.

the old one is almost 2 years, the little one is almost one year. what happen is that lately the big one attacks the little one. the little one rolls over and put him in surrender position, but the big one just keeps on. the little one got many toothmarks over his body from those "attacks" lately.
in the beginning i thought it was just a fight for the rank, but the little one dosent fight, and now it is too much for me.

i have been travelling quite a lot the last couple of months, and someone said told me that the big one "is missing the leaderdog (me). can that be true?

is this normal and what can i do ??? i have concidered castration. will that make the big male less aggressive towards the little one ??

best regards and thanks
morten

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

Rebel73

· #2 · Sep 20, 2006

Ouch...prepare for an earful...

I'll let someone else chime in on that, but let's just say most members here agree that 2 male Dobes is NOT a good idea...

Deacon's-MoM

· #3 · Sep 20, 2006

Dobermanchile,
welcome to the board!!
I am sure you will hear better advice from other people on here but you may have a real problem on your hands. Doberman are known to be same sex aggressive. There have been some cases where it works out fine but for the majority it can be a dangerous situation. I would have both of them neutered immediately. I am surprised the older (sounds like more aggressive) one has not hurt the younger on yet, especially with neither one of them being neutered. The younger one is just coming to the age where is he mature that could be the problem. I wish I could tell you there was an easy fix. I would make sure anytime they are together they are carefully supervised and make sure to NEVER leave them alone together. Good luck :sadcry:

Fitzmar Dobermans

· #4 · Sep 20, 2006

Dobermans are notoriously male on male aggressive. What is happening now will only continue to escalate until one of your dogs is seriously injured or dead. They are too close in age and neutering may help some but it will not take care of the problem. Your 2 year old is just now maturing and coming into himself - the one year old is a threat but not mature enough to fight back yet.........he will given some more time.

You need to either place one of the dogs in a new home that has no males, or be prepared to totally keep them seperate for the rest of their lives. Please neuter the dog you decide to place BEFORE you let it go to its new home.

Good luck to you. This is something that happens to people frequently. I'd like to punch whoever sold you the second male........ it is surely breaking your heart to have this happen and it could have been avoided if the breeder had refused to place a male in a household that already had a male.

See less See more

dobermanchile

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 20, 2006

first of all thanks for the quick replies....though it is a tough one for me.......

in south america breeders are private people who dosent know much about dogs, so i think i rather should punch myself for not joining this board earlier than the guy who sold me the second male....

IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO HAVE BEEN IN MY SITUATION, AND IT WORKED OUT ???

I LOVE THEM BOTH, AND GIVING ONE AWAY IS NOT EASY....!!!

micdobe

· #6 · Sep 20, 2006

Not after the fighting started. Once it stars, it almost always escalates. Some male Dobermans won't even tolerate puppies. Those that do, usually tolerate the male puppies for one to two years, when the younger dog enters puberty; that's when the fighting starts. As your younger dog gets older he will stop submitting and start fighting back.

Occasionally two Doberman males will be able to live together in peace, but that is unusual. If they are going to live together peacefully, the type of fighting that you are describing won't even start. Since it has started my opinon is that your two are not going to get along.

If you want to try keeping them together, get them both neutered immediately, then see how that goes. But don't leave them together unsupervised.

Deacon's-MoM

· #7 · Sep 20, 2006

I am so sorry! I know that their have been people to have two male dogs and them never getting into any fights but i am not sure about anyone stoping it once it starts.
I know it must be so hard. I wish you had come here first too. I know you love them but just remeber if you do end up having to give one away you are preventing one from getting seriously hurt or even killen.

Dobesanddragons

· #8 · Sep 20, 2006

These might be helpful to you, they are past discussions on this same topic

http://www.dobermantalk.com/showthread.php?t=1658&highlight=two+males

http://www.dobermantalk.com/showthread.php?t=1095&highlight=two+males

http://www.dobermantalk.com/showthread.php?t=2171&highlight=males+fighting

http://www.kinetic-unity.com/males.html

I am sorry about your situation, Dobe males are known for being same sex aggressive when maturity hits. Once they start the aggression, it usually only escalates and gets MUCH worse as the others have said.

See less See more

TracyJo

· #9 · Sep 20, 2006

I can only echo what the others have said - I'm so sorry that you're going through this - I can't imagine choosing between one of my 2.
A note though - if you decide to try neutering, remember it won't be a quick fix. It could take a few months at least for you to notice a behavioral change - make sure you keep them seperated until you are 110% sure they can be trusted together.

Hero's Mom

· #10 · Sep 21, 2006

dobermanchile I'm so sorry that your going through this. I do agree with the others. There is very few dobe males that can live with another male. That also goes for female/female too. I do think you need to neuter both and separate both of them. And thats not 100% that it will work. I know how you feel about letting one of your baby's but I know you wouldn't want them to kill each other or one of them get seriously hurt. I wish I had a magic wand to cure your problem.

Lexus

· #11 · Sep 21, 2006

dobermanchile said:
first of all thanks for the quick replies....though it is a tough one for me.......

in south america breeders are private people who dosent know much about dogs, so i think i rather should punch myself for not joining this board earlier than the guy who sold me the second male....

IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO HAVE BEEN IN MY SITUATION, AND IT WORKED OUT ???

I LOVE THEM BOTH, AND GIVING ONE AWAY IS NOT EASY....!!!

I am so very sorry for your situation.... I'm so glad to see though that you are searching for help on it. Unfortunetly, it will not clear up with you being home with them more. As was mentioned, the fighting will probably continue until one is dead or seriously injured. I've run across dobes in shelters near me that I would give my eyeteeth to get out, even to just work with and place with a new family, however, I have a male aussie, and while he is the most submissive dog I have ever met, I won't take a chance on him winding up dead or injured. And God forbid if any person gets in the middle of it and gets hurt as well. Personally, although it will hurt, I would neuter both, and place one elsewhere.

Please keep us updated.....

doby

· #12 · Sep 27, 2006 (Edited)

Yes, sorry to hear it but its true, I know what you are going through it will probably be one of the hardest decissions you will ever have to make, it was for me. Sadly i myself was in the same situation not long ago and had to come to terms with the truth and that was that it was not going to get better, i put it off for a long time but as time went it got worse and worse i ended up separating them. One at my fathers place and one at my place, but that way i couldnt spend as much time as i wanted to with either one and sadly my father could no longer bear the dog there so i was forceced into a decission and i hated myself for doing it but it was for the best of them and i know that know, i recently gave one of my dobes away, i will miss him dearly and will never forget him.

alienex

· #13 · Sep 27, 2006

Are Dobe males aggressive to other male dogs say in the waiting room at the vet?

Im very sorry about your situation. Thanks for bringing it up to educate those who didnt know.

MaryAndDobes

· #14 · Sep 27, 2006

Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no. You have to know your own dog. It's never a good idea to let males start making eye contact in situations like the waiting room at the vet because sometimes that is the start of an escalation to an incident. For whatever reason, they start eyeballing one another and apparently that issues some kind of challenge and one might take exception to it and before you know it, they're trying to get to one another.

JavasMom

· #15 · Sep 27, 2006

Speak to your vet. I have no idea if neutering will be the answer - it will help with some of the agression, but will it cure the behavior of one dominating the other?

Murreydobe

· #16 · Sep 27, 2006

alienex said:
Are Dobe males aggressive to other male dogs say in the waiting room at the vet?

This is where training and socialization comes into play. It's not asking too much to expect *any* dog to accept the presence of other dogs in controlled situations (i.e., on leash) in public.

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.