How do I stop this fighting?

Hi folks, I don't know if anyone can help but we have a Puli, male, who is now approx 3yrs old, and a bearded collie, 6 mths old, and usually they are friends, but sometimes Milly, the beardie, will start growling and then it is all out war, and we have to seperate them. This on bad days can happen up to four times a day, and I getting to the end of my leash! I have had various ideas to this, could it be that she, being the only female, is trying to assert her authority, or is it just that is going through her teenage years or is it something a little more subtle than that. Please help our house is turning into a war zone.
Sarah

Do you know what triggers the growling?
Is food or toys involved, is it playfighting that escalates etc?

Hello Trouble, I am really not sure what triggers the fight, Milly can be lying down fast asleep, then she just starts growling, and you just sense that Dylan is going to be in for it, I might add though they have never done each other any damage, in fact, if Dylan would only retaliate and put Milly in her place that would probably solve it only he whimpers and goes into hiding behind the TV.

I know how strssful fighting dogs can be - I spent the 1st few weeks with my foster always on edge
For the now I would say keep them seperate unless you can 100% observe any interactions
try and step in before the fighting happens, so if you are SURE that its Milly starting it (make sure Dylan isnt even looking at her - remember a hard stare is agressive to a dog - if Dylan is doing that then he is starting it) then the offending dog is given a time out in another room

they soon learn that agressive behaviour looses them access to you

also how much 1 on 1 time do they have with you? I deff found doing more training and walking with one dog at a time helped

With that sort of thing I would step in before he feels he has to defend himself. It does sound a bit like uppity teenagers thinking they can rule the roost. As soon as she starts I would tell her very firmly to "leave it" and if necessary take a step towards her to reinforce the command. The idea is to stop her in her tracks before she gets to the stage of fighting, be consistant and if necessary remove just her from the situation briefly if she will not back off when told to. I find with teenagers stepping up the training in all areas seems to work well and makes them less uppity generally.

One thing that sprung to mind is that could Milly be coming into season? I know that bitches temperaments can really change when their hormones are kicking in.

Scorpio that's exactly what i was about to ask! Out of interest - is the Puli an intact male?

Sarah J, just looked back through your posts as my memory was hazy, you posted a while back about Millie bullying your Pulli. What steps did you take to address it? If we know how you have been dealing with that it might help us give some advice about this latest development.

Hi woodstock, yes dylan is intact, we intend ti get Milly done ASAP though (£169), sorry, probably posted this before, but that was when Milly was Quite new and things did initially settle down, this is why I have a theory about a stroppy teenager, and Milly trying to assert her authority as the female she think she ought to be top dog.

Totally agree with Trouble's advice.

I would also get your beardie checked out by the vet, just to make sure there are no underlying health issues making her grumpy.

Try to keep a close eye on their interaction to find out what may be causing the sudden aggression, but in the meantime step in before your beardie has a chance to start a fight.