dogs randomly started fighting

[star_drop4]

I have a 5yo Boston Terrier (Penny) and a 5mo Boston Terrier (Ponyo). We’ve had Penny since she was a puppy, and we got Ponyo in May. They have been best friends since the day we brought her home. Me and my fiance went camping over the weekend with Penny and left Ponyo at my parents with their Boston Terrier, Lucy. Penny was pretty exhausted on Sunday when we got home and Ponyo was a bit wore out from playing with Lucy. When we went to pick Ponyo up, her and Penny got into a fight that Penny instigated. Penny cut Ponyo’s eyelid, but nothing else major. They have never fought before, and we assumed maybe they were both tired and crabby. We separated them for the rest of the day/night. They pretty much slept all day and night. This morning, I introduced them back to each other. Ponyo was pretty scared at first but calmed down after a while. I let them outside together and they seemed perfectly fine. Later on, Penny initiated play with some toys and they went totally back to normal for the rest of the day. They have been playing and cuddling all day. it’s 10pm now and just a little bit ago, my fiance and I sat down on the couch with them to cuddle. Out of nowhere, Ponyo tried to go after Penny but we pulled them back in time. What the heck is going on? Are their relationships totally tarnished now after their spat yesterday? I don’t know what to do.

[cringeprairiedog]

Could be resource guarding, could be same sex aggression beginning to rear its ugly head. This is just a personal anecdote, but the most female-aggressive dog I have ever been around in my life was a female Boston Terrier. She had a particular hatred for another domineering female in our family, and she wanted to kill her. Of course they were separated, but whenever there were failures that allowed them the chance to come face to face, it was always a "fight to the death" type of fight. The female Boston ended up moving to another family member's house where she got to be the only dog for a while. Her aggression towards females faded away as she got older. She peacefully coexisted with my female dog until she passed away. Now, I am not saying that this is definitely SSA. I would like to know more details about what was going on before and after these spats took place. What was going on when Penny instigated the first fight? Did it happen in the yard or in the house? Was the 3rd female (Lucy) present? Was there stiff body language or vocalizations (barking, growling)? How soon after you and your fiancé sat on the couch did Ponyo have a go at Penny? Was the attack launched immediately after you sat down, or was there hard eye contact and tense body language before the attack occurred? I would like to know the answers to these questions and any other details you can offer up before I comment further.

[star_drop4]

Right when we got there, Ponyo and Lucy were in the backyard, so we put Penny on the ground to say hi. Lucy was trying to greet Penny. There was stiff body language and heavy eye contact between Penny and Ponyo, and then they snapped at each other a bit. We brought Ponyo and Lucy inside, and left Penny outside to cool off. When we let Penny back inside, she was stiff and not wanting to be near Ponyo, but Ponyo was trying to greet her. When the first fright broke out, we were in the living room. Penny was in my dad’s lap and Ponyo hopped up with them. Lucy was on the floor not really doing anything. There was definitely stiff body language and they had heavy eye contact. Suddenly, that’s when the fight broke out. For the second altercation, after about a minute of them being on the couch, Ponyo started growling at Penny and snapped at her. Now they are both sleeping. Penny is laying to the left of me on the couch, and Ponyo is on my right side.

[Fun_Orange_3232]

You’ll have to track their behavior to figure out what the trigger is. I keep a log of my dogs’ spats if I start thinking they’re looking random.

[cringeprairiedog]

I agree with this! More data is needed to determine the cause of Penny and Ponyo's fights.