puppy conflicts!!!!!!!!

I have 2 Akita pups just barely over 3 months. All of a sudden they have started having bad fights. They have drawn blood several times and one of the times it was my blood. Is this normal???? They are very loving towards each other most of the time... I don't want to give one away but I am not sure what to do.....

Most breeders won't place two dogs from the same litter into the same home. It means a lot of extra work - they should be getting one on one time alone without the other one, so they bond with you as the human vs. each other. They can have playtime together but should be in separate crates/rooms most of the time.

I know with my golden's breeder, she will not place a pup in a home where there is a dog under the age of two - hers or anyone else's pup. And she voids the temperment contract if someone gets another pup before the first one turns 2 as well.

Good luck!

Lana

I am not ambitious enough to raise two golden retriever pups together, let alone Akitas!

There was a thread on a similar question just recently you may want to check out:
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71342

Well, it's not really normal for them to be fighting to that extent at such a young age, but akitas are prone to dog aggression.

You need to separate them to prevent any further fighting. Giving one away would not be a bad decision in this case, but if you are going to keep them both you need to be committed to keeping them separated.

Also, contact a trainer who can help you with assessing the situation and show you how to work with them better than we can over the internet.

Of course it is normal. It is called establishing a pecking order, but there is a reason for placing puppies at 8-12 weeks and not placing two in one house hold. I'm not going to say to get rid of one, but it is time to separate them. Separate crates/confinement, separated during feeding and separate play and training time. they can be allowed to play together, but only short "play dates" and only supervised. You want these puppies to bond to you not each other. Time to split the children up.

I would return one to the breeder or keep them separated. I know our rescue has a very hard time with puppy litters once they reach a certain age because they start fighting, that's why we never place two together.

What happened when you got bitten?

I've got to agree that it is normal. I've heard of a fox terrier breeder that had to separate her puppies really young or by the time 8 weeks rolled around she be down to one puppy :yikes: I think the Scott and Fuller book even mentions this in their studies where they raised dogs in packs. I think the terrier breed had to have some individuals removed to keep the experiment going, bc they were hurting each other.

What genders are your puppies?

i have one male and one female

In that study they found they could not keep more than 3 terrier pups together with out risk of packing on pups. (as a side note I learned this the hard way with Dekka, she was attacked by her littermates so badly I wasn't sure she would live. Afterwards I separated the pups more, and every one then got along.)

Keep them seperated. I had this issue and still have it with my Border Collie twin brothers. They need to be kept seperated 80% of the time for me to have happy dogs. It's a pain in the rear but it works. When they are together they love each other so long as they can have their alone time.

Many if not MOST Akitas are highly dog aggressive. This is something that anyone who owns this breed should understand. This is called learning about a breed and it's inherent tendencies BEFORE YOU GET IT.

I would turn a jaundiced eye towards any breeder who would sell 2 puppies to a novice owner without CLEARLY letting them know that dog aggression, and often even OPPOSITE SEX dog aggression is common in this breed.

http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/akitas.html

http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/faq/akitas.html



Time for separate lives for these puppies except when under careful supervision.

Thanks for the links Redyre! That site is one of the only things I have ever read that actually makes an effort to tell the truth about the breeds. I do feel sorry for new owners who get a puppy without any idea that the breed is well known (to those in the know) for xyz behavior problem. Most breed information tries to only say nice things about the breeds and couch all the warnings in very careful ways so that it's easy to miss. For example- "reserved with strangers" typically translates into spooky without tons of socialization. "dominant" often translates into serious grooming issues or resource guarding. This site tells it like it is. Very good resource.