Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 2/26/2009

Question
QUESTION: My two male dauschunds got into a fight the other day and would have probably hurt each other severely if my husband hadn't seperated them.  The cause of this fight was the female that also lives in our house is in heat and I gues one wants to be the alpha male.  What can I do to get the males to quit fighting/  One of them growls when the other one is around and we put them in seperate places.  When the female is not in heat, the dogs all get along.  how long will this fighting scenario go on?

ANSWER: First of all, are these male dog's neutered? If not then they need to be as soon as possible. Secondly, the female needs to be spayed unless she is champion show stock for breeding.

Male dogs can kill each other over a bitch in heat. A female dog is in heat for 21 days but the fighting can go on before the actual heat and for days after she stops but is still swollen. Males fight for breeding dominance and yes, alpha position.

If you think separating them is going to stop this, it won't. They will find a way to breed her and severely injure each other.
You need to get the males neutered first because if you get her spayed and she still smells like she is in esterus (because she will for a while) then they can 'rape' her and injure her inside very seriously.

So please make an appointment for these males right away.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Should I get the other males fixed also?  We wanted to breed the female with one of the males, so what can we do?

Answer
Breeding two dogs that live together doesn't work well very often. Usually you would need to take the female to a male somewhere else.

As I said, if this dog isn't of show stock and a high quality breeding line, then all you are doing is contributing to the dog population, especially if they are not papered. There is no money in breeding dogs if that's your goal. After buying the correct food for the bitch, the chance of having a c-section (hundreds of dollars), vaccinations for the puppies at 6 weeks old, paying the stud fee, etc, you don't make a penny.

So yes, get all the males neutered. If you insist on breeding her, then find a GOOD stud that is papered and has a good line behind him.
That is how you continue the breed with good puppies.