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Beagles/female sibling beagle fights

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Expert: - 1/12/2012


Question
I have a 9 yr old female beagle my best friend has my beagle's sister we got them at the same time now 4 yrs later my best friend passed away and I inherited her dog.  They were fine for 4 weeks but now they had a horrible fight and I don't know how to get past it. I have separated them but don't know what to do to get them back together. Please advise.

Answer
Hi, sorry for the delay and so sorry to hear about your best friend...It sounds like the beagles are trying to establish dominance in their newly formed pack. Be aware that being sisters means nothing to them, dogs do not remember these things like people do. Your female just knows she was the boss and now there is an interloper in her domain. I have a feeling because of the circumstances they were not introduced slowly and on neutral ground either.

You will need to give me more details about the fights, or has it only been one? If it has only been one time what was happening at the time? was it about food or attention from one of you? Who would you say instigated it? You will need to give me more details to try and help figure this out..

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Have4Paws

Expertise

I am happy to answer BEAGLE BREED SPECIFIC behavioral questions. Please DO NOT ask CRATE TRAINING OR MEDICAL questions! I am not a vet nor an expert in the use of crates.

Experience

I currently have one beagle, a male age 5, an 12 month old Pit Bull, and a 8 year old min. poodle. I have had to let go of three of my dogs, 2 beagles and 1 whippet/rat terrier mix in the past 5 years, most recently my whippet mix. The two beagles lived to 15 and the whippet mix to 13.5, it has been hard to say goodbye to them. I have done rescue work on and off for years as well as fund-raising for the local animal shelter. I worked for a dog magazine in the past (Southern California Dog Magazine). Being a psychotherapist has encouraged me to do in depth studying of animal behavior as well. I have worked with many people to help curb undesirable behaviors in their dogs (or them!) or to form good behaviors. My life is devoted to and surrounded by my dogs........The picture you see here is Zeppelin but we also call him the "miracle dog". He was hit by a car April 2010 while out with the dog walker and had very serious injuries... 4 surgeries and $17,000 later my boy is whole again and back to loving life. He is so special to me and he weathered a lot of pain and trauma yet is still the sweet boy he always was! I also work to stop Breed Specific Legislation and help to get pit bulls adopted.

Organizations
HSUS, PETA, SPCA DONT SHOP...ADOPT!!

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Dog Fancy

Education/Credentials
I am a Marriage and Family Therapist licensed in the state of CA and am also credentialed as a Certified Addiction Treatment Specialist

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Honored by the Agoura Animal Shelter for my volunteer work.

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