Help!

[ciara]

Hello, i am new to the “dogclub” site and think it is a very helpful site for dog owners. Although it is very hepful it doesnt give me an answer for the problem for my 2 westies.
My 2 westies “Sasha” and “Molly” are 2 sisters and are both one year old. We have only had the dogs for acouple of months now and have found out that one is very dominant over the other, Molly will always be the follower while Sasha is the leader. Anyway we have washed the dogs 3 times since we’ve had them and every time after they get washed they fight with eachother.
The first time was the worst they fought until blood was drew and had to be physically seperated from eachother Molly had the worst cuts.
The second time we washed them we didnt put them together until it was night so we seperated them, one outside and one inside once we put them together everything was okay. But their was a few growls so my dad took the hose and wet the one who was causing the fighting (Sasha). Everything was okay except the growls but once Sasha got wet it all stopped and the day after everything was back to normal. Since then everytime we think a fight is going to happened we would lift the hose but not wet the dog/dogs but jus lift it so the dogs could see it and once they did nothing more would come of it their tails would go down and they would walked seperate ways.
The third time we washed them we did the same as the second we seperated them and once we put them together again we watched them very closly. There was no growling no nothing. The next day was very different Molly was acting very scared and timid Sasha was normal. This continued and it is now the 3rd day.
Mollys  behaviour is very different everytime we call the dogs Molly doesnt come near the door when Sasha is there but once Sasha isnt she would come over but would be very weary. Molly also crys alot now and she never used to cry at all. Another thing we have noticed is she is not eating too well either and if we give Sasha attenation and Molly comes over to us Sasha darts her head to Molly and stares at her untill Molly walks away, leaving Sasha to get all the attenation. Molly also puts stones into her bowl of food which is quite strange she lifts and kicks the stones into the bowl with the food. We feed them on dry food. Today we noticed that Molly has a cut under her eye we do not know how this happened.
It would be very helpful if you could get back to us as soon as you can we would be very thankful
Many thanks Ciara :help:

[*Lassie*]

It is a bad idea to get two female pups from the same litter, they have now reached puberty and as they are both the same age,  may both want  the position as  the top bitch. This does not always happen, depends on the temperament of the bitches and how closely they are matched.  When male dogs fight it’s often like human males all noise and bluster but bitches will fight to the death. Once there is conflict between them it is near impossible to stop, it won’t be the bath that causes the fights and it will get worse. If  they can’t be kept separate then I would look to re-home Molly before she is seriously  hurt.
Sorry 🙁

[ciara]

thank you for the reply, i would hope re-homing would be the last resort. We have tried seperating them but they seem to miss eachother Molly starts crying if put into the kennel alone while Sasha is outside alone. We have changed there diet to dry food with abit of meat mixed though it and it has seemed to work as Molly is eating again. They dont fight as bad as the 1st fight but still scabble but once shouted at they stop

[SuzAndTheDiva]

I disagree – bathing dogs can and does make them scrap seen it happen SO many times – cos they dont smell the same – some dogs have real issues with this, and also something as silly as bathing the wrong dog first can do it – i groom two male dogs one is definately higher in the pecking order ( as is common with dogs living in a pack) andif i bath the other one first i can guarentee all hell will break loose after.

Oe of my friends dogs gets put on her back after a bath by the other dogs everytime – she is a low ranking dog on the whole who sadly forgets her place and it seems when shes recieved special attention one of the other bitches feels the need to remind her of her ‘place’ so to speak.

Its complicated and you need someone whos way more into dog behaviour than me to explain it all  – i can only give you my experiences and tell you your dogs are not the only ones who react this way after grooming.

[Val]

Sue and Lassie are right bathed dogs do not smell the same and they do fight bitches can fight until one is dead bathed or not.
Baathing also makes boys more sexy fixed or not LOL
I have to ask why your family took on these sisters in the first place was it because they were already fighting?
Breeders do not keep little sisters as it’s not good to have girls with no pack order, rescues do not home young litter sister to gether eitherlook to the breed !! these dogs are terriers they can fight with the best of them, it also makes for a misrable life for the under dog.
I would think of finding a home for one of them the top dog may always be a top dog whether it’s her sister or not
There is no easy answer to this question
Val

[ciara]

thank you all for the advice, the funny thing is when split up Molly crys for Sasha Olly wants to be back with Sasha again?lol. We got the sisters from a person my uncle was working for he didnt want them no more so he gave them to him and my uncle gave them to us. Molly seems to be happy enough to be the second dog we have got very attached to them both and could not split them up. but we will see how it goes, thanks again for the replies. :happy:
Ciara

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