[Grarypealumma]

I am a pit bull owner/lover. I got my Sadie Mae a little over a year ago- for xmas....she was 2 months old.
She is the best....she has a personality. she is so spoiled.
I have 3 kids. my youngest who is 8 yrs old...used to be scared of dogs....any dog. she loves my dog as much as i do.
About 6 months ago, a friend and his female pit came to stay with my family. At first the girls were jealous of each other. Yet both received tons of love and attention. both dogs came in heat the same week. that was challenging! And unfortunately Harley Ann locked up with the neighbors dog....now she's pregnant.

These dogs have been side-by-side 24/7. Harley is about 6 weeks pregnant. She is huge now and its challenging for her get around. Harley is one of the most timid and gentle pits i have ever met. Sadie Mae has been obviously the dominate one of the 2.

Last week while playing around they started to growl, an show teeth. i seperated them and forgot all about it. couple days later, Sadie was playing w/Harley owner and Harley became aggressive and attacked Sadie. we got them apart and there was a little blood. I bathed them. she licked each others wounds and all was good. Til the next day, i wasnt in the room so i am not sure what happened but this time they attacked each other. Not stopping locking on to each other. it took everybit of 7 minutes to get them apart.

They both were tore up. it was brutal and altho they were fighting we were aggressively breaking it up.
I was in shock and almost sick. it took EVERYTHING we had to get them apart. The wounds of round 2 were way worse. After cleaning them up. i seperated them and still have them apart. My dogs are not people aggressive- even while breaking them up. Sudenly they have developed severe aggression against each other. Will this ever change? i am hoping after Harley has her pups she will be less aggressive.

My confusion comes from not understanding how this happened. i am praying it is b/c of the pregnancy.

Is it true once they have fought....they always will?

I Love these dogs and my house is almost too small to keep them apart.

Thanks-

[apannamma]

Wow, what a wonderful example of pit bull owners and why the breed is in the shitter. You don't understand why two females might fight (here's a hint, they are pit bulls) and your dog is pregnant, you don't have room to keep the dogs apart but you are going to have room for 10+ puppies nobody will want? Why exactly was your in heat dog anywhere near an intact male again? Here's an idea, call around until you can find a vet that will spay/abort your dog. Get a breakstick and learn how to use it. Keep the dogs apart. Get the other dog fixed before she "accidentally" gets pregnant too.

[ZwHRoTTn]

Welcome. I changed your thread title and moved it to the General Dog Discussion. You should get more responses here.

First off, I'd look into getting this bitch spayed ASAP. I believe it's too late to have an emergency spay (aborting the litter), but this would prevent any further "accidental" litters. If the other bitch isn't spayed either that's something I would definitely be considering. If you don't want to spay, it's only responsible to keep the bitches INSIDE when they're in heat and they only go out leashed to go to the bathroom. It's usually just much more convenient to spay, especially if you aren't planning on breeding. The cost of a spay is much less than the possible vet costs you can incur from complications during the whelping, taking care of the puppies and possibly caring for them indefinitely if you can't find homes.

Perhaps others who have had pregnant bitches can help provide some insight as to whether this fighting could be hormone related, I would imagine with two possibly intact bitches there could be a link but, it is 100% possible that they need to be separated from now on and they should absolutely be separated when unsupervised. Same sex aggression is most common with any breed of dog. Typically opposite sex gets along better, but even then there are dogs who just cannot be trusted.

Hope others have some more insight for you.

[ZwHRoTTn]

I attended an aggression seminar a few years ago and the number one at risk sex combination for dogs in general is two spayed bitches, he claimed it was the absence of horomones. Intact males came in second.

But either way, if they're DA, they're DA, doesn't matter what sex, intact or not as Amber said.

[Mymnnarry]

Wow, what a wonderful example of pit bull owners and why the breed is in the shitter. You don't understand why two females might fight (here's a hint, they are pit bulls) and your dog is pregnant, you don't have room to keep the dogs apart but you are going to have room for 10+ puppies nobody will want? Why exactly was your in heat dog anywhere near an intact male again? Here's an idea, call around until you can find a vet that will spay/abort your dog. Get a breakstick and learn how to use it. Keep the dogs apart. Get the other dog fixed before she "accidentally" gets pregnant too.

[emorbimefed]

Talk to the vet and see if you can get a spay abort. If finances are an issue you can check into help locally. There are often programs fro Pit Bull owners to get free or very low cost spays. There would be an extra fee, but it's better than what you'd spend feeding and then giving shots and dewormer to anywhere from 6-14 puppies that you will have for at least 8 weeks before you can even start to find them homes and longer because it's not like Pit Bull mixes aren't a dime a dozen in pounds, shelters and rescues nationwide.

Whatever you do, the best advice you have gotten is to make sure both dogs get spayed ASAP.

Dog aggression is common in the breed, same sex aggression is probably the most common form DA takes. Many Pit Bulls get along just fine until they reach maturity. Considering the one is old enough to have gone into heat, it is entirely possible that she is mature enough to have "turned on". Or it could be the hormones. Or simply her feeling protective of herself and threatened due to the pregnancy.

[Rwujnezq]

2 intact bitches, 1 who is pregnant and hormonal, hell yeah you're going to have a fight. They're called bitches for a reason.

Pit bulls fight, it happens, it's what they were bred for. And yes, there is a possibility it will happen again even after the pups are long gone. Same sex aggression is fairly common.

Keep them separate, especially when unsupervised. Get one spayed now, get the other spayed when the vet deems it appropriate. After the pups are gone, and both are healed up from their spay, you could try an on leash introduction and see how that goes, but don't get your hopes up.

Also, fix the pups before they leave, or give them out with a spay/neuter adoption contract. There are low cost spay/neuter databases that can help you out, or have potential owners prepay a speuter with their vet and provide a receipt.

[Mymnnarry]

I am all for a spay/abort in this situation

Oh and FWIW, both my SPAYED females got in a NASTY knock down drag out fight. They have also grown up together. It is the nature of the beast they are Pit Bulls bred to fight it is in their genes if you feel you cannot maintain having two DA dogs in your house I would suggest rehoming both.