Boxer dogs and bitch fights. Or any female dogs living together and fighting.

[Beausoir]

I am bringing another female Boxer puppy into my home. My Diva is 3 and lovely, calm and gentle. The puppy will be 8 weeks when we bring her home.

I have heard that two female dogs can not live together peacefully and will fight to the death. I got this info from BoxerWorld.com. Many posters there claim that female dog fights are the worst because they fight to the death. One bitch will not stop until the other bitch is dead. They also claim the any problems will not manifest until the puppy is 2 years of age. Then, they describe the transition as "night and day". The two bitches go from being companions to being mortal enemies who try to kill each other. Ugh.

I've had a long talk with my vet and he assures me this is really nonsense. The dogs, with good training, will adapt and get along fine. Problems can always arise, but he thinks, given the disposition of my existing female, that things should pregress just fine.

I also spoke with my dog trainer and she pretty much echoed the vet's thoughts. With good training, strong leadership from me, two female dogs can live peacefully and happily together.

Diva is spayed and the new puppy will be spayed as soon as we get vet clearance.

Thoughts?

[skygazer]

1. I agree it's nonsense

I used to raise Boxers and had anywhere from 3 to 11 at one time.

Dogs, male or female, don't tend to "fight to the death." Where these people are getting this, I don't know. Dogs generally fight to establish dominance - once it's established, a relative peace will ensue. In addition, most fights for dominance are between unneutered males.

I have had two extremely Alpha females fight. One was my 6 year old Boxer female brood bitch and the other was an unspayed 2 year old Black Lab/Rottweiler mix. I brought my Boxer with me to pick up the other dog who I was fostering - put them in the back of my station wagon and they rocked that thing back and forth all the way home.

There were no injuries and by the time I arrived, my Boxer had established herself as the boss. End of story.

Listen to your vet.

[Beausoir]

5. Here's another Boxer question. The puppy tends to be on the smaller size

compared to her littermates. But..her paws are HUGE. I mean...literally twice the size of any of her littermates. BigFoot.

I asked the vet and he said it is a pretty good indication that she is going to be a big dog. He said it's not foolproof because puppies go through all kinds of different growth spurts. Maybe her feet just grew faster than her littermates and they will catch up.

But he did feel it was a pretty good indicator that this pup is gonna be a biggie.

[skygazer]

7. I've always found it to be a pretty good indicator

They do seem to grow into their feet!

I love Boxers - you're so lucky to have two! Post photos when you can, please - I can't have a dog where I am now and all my babies are gone. :(

Here's my Dixie -

[Beausoir]

8. OMG! What a gorgeous fawn! My Diva is a fawn, too. They could be twins!

The new puppy is a reverse or ebony brindle. Just gorgeous.

Boxers are the most incredible dogs. Once you have one, you never want another breed.

I can't wait! Thanks for your help!

[skygazer]

10. Dixie's mate was a reverse brindle

They mostly produced fawns but I got two gorgeous reverse brindles out of them. What a great color that is!

Enjoy your doggies! :hi:

[NewWaveChick1981]

2. I've had female dogs together, and that's never been an issue.

We had two female dogs, both mixed breed, that were each other's best buddies until they passed away separately from different forms of cancer. The dogs we have now are both female, and they are also each other's best buddies. The only issue we have with them is that they will have minor skirmishes over dog biscuits here and there. They've been together four years, and I've not seen any problems other than that. Your dog trainer and your vet know what they're talking about. :)

[idgiehkt]

3. that sounds a bit extreme

I don't know about this 'fight to the death' thing. I think they are fighting for dominance, until one dog submits. The first portion of a dog fight (between normal dogs, not game dogs) is just sound and fury anyway, each trying to get the other to back down before the real damage ensues.

I had a pit bull/lab mix and and a female aussie cattle dog/german shepherd mix in a fence together and there were problems to the point where I had to put a fence up between them and give them each half of the yard. The problems stemmed from the fact that I had two alpha females in the yard and I had no idea that my cattle dog would try to best an animal that was more than twice her size. She got bitten about three times (minor bites) and I said enough is enough. She just would not submit right way like most dogs would, because cattle dogs are so hardy for their size (they are bred to herd cattle so of course size is not intimidating to them). I went to keeping the cattle dog inside during the day and my pit/lab outside, then switching them at night and eventually but up an interior fence between them. I never could leave them alone unsupervised when inside, either, but if I was there they would play happily. They were both spayed too. (They never got anywhere near 'fighting to the death' or anything like that, it was just that the cattle dog wouldn't submit anywhere near as quickly as a normal dog would...all of this happened while I was at work.) It was my fault for thinking I could just put them together in a fence and they'd 'work it out' because they were both spayed females...so temperment is key, but I'm sure your dogs will do find. It seems like if they are going to fight it will be over food, bedding, or your attention; those are hot spots.

[Hobarticus]

4. Sounds like an old wives' tale...

I've seen first-hand multiple male and female dogs in a home trying to establish dominance over each other, subtly. Some bared teeth and bruised egos, occasionally. But never fight to the death. Can't see boxers being that different.

Same thing with females spoiling your lawn with urine. Pet stores even sell pills that'll neutralize the acids in their urine. Pure bunk.

[Beausoir]

6. Thanks to you all for your replies. I appreciate it.

[Maddy McCall]

9. I have two females, not boxers, tho.

Lucinda, my schnauzer, was 2 when we brought Buppy, our weimie, into our family at six weeks old.

Lucinda was kinda like a nanny to Buppy. No fighting at all...even though Lucinda had never had a litter of puppies, she was motherly to Buppy.

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Good luck--let us know how it goes.

[flvegan]

11. Uh, that's total BS, especially if they're spayed.

AND especially since one is a mature, but young dog, and the new dog is a baby.

Your biggest problem will come in one year. You'll have two very young boxers tearing the house/yard/planet apart.

I love boxers. Great dogs!

[bedpanartist]

12. no dogs, properly loved and cared for, will fight to the death

I own a large German Shepherd and a stout pit bull, and while they have their episodic moments of "Clash of the Titans" like showdowns, it's merely natural dog behavior of establishing pack dominance.

The pit is dominant and the German Shepherd always backs down, and they go back to being loving buddies. The worse fights are always over - you guessed it, food!

Unless they get REALLY out of control (about once every year when the Shepherd is feeling frisky and thinks he might be able to attain top dog status this year), I just let them battle it out to the natural end, usually going no more than two or three seconds.

Of course, they LOVE to play fight and wrestle, which is always detectable by their wagging tails.