Fighting or just acting Ferocious???

[shine]

Things have been a bit better between Bodhi and Ribbit (Bodhi has been showing alot of food aggression toward him)....until last night.  Then I got dumb and let Ribbit into the workout room where I have been feeding Bodhi.  Bodhi went and stood over him and growled.  Any of the other dogs would have walked away, but Ribbit is our Resident Stud Muffin so he growled back....and they started fighting.  Bodhi was on top of him and they were snarling like they were killing each other and in an awkward spot so I couldn't get them apart (I have herniated discs...makes it damn hard for me to manhandle Bodhi!).  My husband finally pulled them apart.

Here is the weird thing, though:  Bodhi had a few chunks of hair pulled out of his chest area....but there was not a mark on Ribbit.  A little bit of slobber, that's it.  With Bodhi on top of him for as long I thought he would be torn up.  It seemed like forever...was probably only 30 seconds, but long enough for a Newfoundland to do some damage to a Cocker Spaniel. 

Is it possible that they are only pawing and snarling and not biting??  I just figured when dogs fought, they FOUGHT.  But I've seen many dog fights where damage was inflicted very quickly, even when the dogs were closer in size. 

Have you ever had dogs that seemed to be tearing each other up, but weren't biting??  We are still working with Bodhi, going to start working with Ribbit (because he has always shown aggression toward just about everyone)....it is slow going with my husband and stepson gone all the time, so I am scheduling Mandatory Training Sessions...I just wondered if anyone else has ever experienced this...

[kathryn]

When mine have skirmishes I'm quick to break it up because there have been a couple of times when it's turned to a full blown fight.  There has been minimal damage with the Mals but the intent was extremely serious.  The other thing I have noticed is if one is one the ground then the fight escalates pretty quickly as opposed to if they are both still standing. 

It is possible that Bohdi has learned to use his size to his advantage instead of his teeth.  So the intent for a full fight was there but he doesn't have to use his teeth to get his point across when he can use size and weight.  Not sure if that makes any sense or not.

[mynameislola]

When I train dogs with resource guarding and aggression, the first thing the owners get to do is buy a crate and a food dish for every dog in the house.  The crates get put in seperate rooms, preferably with another room between them. 

They only get fed in the crates for at least a month before I come back and start training.  They get fed in pack order and the first one has to be finished and its bowl removed before the next eats.  Scrub and hide the bowls between feedings.

Some trainers suggest letting the dogs fight until one establishes dominance.  I'd rather have dogs that will share nicely.