How to Prevent two Jack Russell Terriers from Fighting?

Q: What can you do to prevent two female Jack Russell Terriers from fighting?
Sometimes our 3 female Jack Russell Terriers fight over stuff, people, or space. Mostly it's a two dog fight but sometimes it's 3. The dogs are 3-4 years old, 2-3 years and 8 months old.
Is there anything we can do to stop them from fighting and drawing blood on their beautiful coats and faces? How do people stop them from fighting?

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Answers and Views:

Answer by JERILYN D
Unfortunately, any time you get dogs of the same sex together they want to fight for dominance unless one is clearly the alpha. And if they're fighting seriously enough to draw blood, then you have a pretty serious problem. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

Answer by Fran
If you ever need to break up a terrier scrap, never go near necks or teeth.
The best way to separate them is to firmly grab the rear legs of the one winning and lift swiftly and remove with a solid swing to the side and a guttural deep voiced bellow to knock it off.
Don’t pick them up, swing them bodily to the side and away from you the other dog.

Then stand between them solidly and walk calmly into the offender's space making him or her give way to your bodily presence. This way you are creating distance between the dogs fast.
If the terrier looks like it is thinking about coming back for a second go, don’t stare at it in the eyes or yell just continue marching forward calmly using your legs and body to herd it where you want it to go, a commanding ‘this way’ will usually get the dog de-escalated and following your lead.

The one that has been scragged will likely be shaking and licking itself and aiming not to get into a second scrap.

No dog can hang on and keep fighting when it loses rear traction, it’s what men who work terriers do if their dogs get into a scrap when they are over-excited about a rat or some other quarry.
Most say it very rarely happens because working dogs are generally very obedient and well trained.

Ideally, you will never be in this situation, but if you are, this works.
DO NOT FLAP, SCREECH, YELL, GET YOUR HANDS NEAR NECKS OR TEETH OR TRY AND PICK DOGS UP INTO YOUR ARMS. All of the above escalates things and lead to you getting hurt.

Answer by Beano
One of the dogs is the instigator, it could be a look, growl or even a hip bump. It is your job to see the "tell" b-4 the fight. What you should do is, if one of the three is submissive then make that dog your 2nd in command. Don't always feed the "alpha" of the three first, That would be a mistake, feed the calm dog first. I don't know why some people think you always feed "alpha" first. You want a calm home, when the dogs are playing nice all is fine but once the "instigator" starts you need to "re-direct" her energy immediately. If you miss the tell and a fight starts separate the dogs and MAKE them lay down till calmness has been restored.

• Who is to blame for a dog fight if my dog is on a leash?
• How to Recognize and Break Up a Dog Fight
• Stop Dog Fighting!

The main reason why these dogs are fighting; is not because you have 3 females, it's because they have pent up energy that must be released. JT's are known for their high energy, it's your job to drain this energy daily. My 2 males dogs (ESS and Chow/mix) take 2 walks daily 45 minutes each plus the ESS is on a treadmill for 20 minutes daily.

It's a lot of work but the peace in the house is worth it all. Plus my g/f and I make the time and it helps our health. It's win, win if you work had in draining that energy. Good Luck

Answer by Fran
I have two male Jack Russels. My oldest leads the younger one in etiquette. He is a very well trained polite dog of six years my little un is 8 months.
My advice, start obedience training with each dog separately and do at least ten mins every day, one at a time. They need to listen to YOU FIRST & FOREMOST.
Once they are doing what you ask when you ask and paying attention start extending the obedience to walks where they do the stuff side by side and get a treat for correct behaviour. No treats for failure just silence and try again. Eventually, they get it and will work side by side for you.

Take away ALL their resources, toys, food, beds, everything and YOU decide who gets what and when.
The first sign of fighting over a resource REMOVE ALL OF THEM until they are on good behaviour again, then return it.
YOU are their most important resource if they are fighting over sitting near you or climbing on you, both get kicked off the sofa and sent to separate corners. Until they can both behave remove yourself as a resource and don’t allow any climbing on you or preferential treatment.

I don’t allow any ALPHA type anything, though I do feed both dogs separately so they are not eyeing each others food (dogs eat better alone) and I allow my older dog to quietly correct the younger if the youngster is being a pain in the neck and I don’t intervene then because my older dog is a gentle and firm dog and he stays on the right side of correcting the little one, so he can be trusted to judge what is needed to keep the titch polite.

If I even see resource guarding or posturing from both or sense an escalation, they get told to knock it off and sent to separate corners and have their stuff taken off them until they can behave. They don’t get attention until they are both behaving properly either.

I never separate dogs in different rooms because I think it escalates anxiety and tension in all dogs to have that happen. ON the first strike they stay in the room with me, with me in charge of their behaviour and where they are allowed to lie down, separate corners. If they still carry on being nuisances, they get put outside in their run to cool off, where they have no resources, except one kennel full of straw and each other for warmth and company. They soon settle down and start behaving nicely to each other because their only resource for warmth is each other. They see being put outside as less than ideal, so this gets them both back to good behaviour fast.

I think the main thing with keeping the peace with dogs is being an observant, consistent, peacekeeping force of calm and firmness. Dogs do not OWN anything except your fairness. You OWN the resources, the space, the sofa, the beds, the kennel, the home and the food and all that is plenty to use to get their behaviour in the right direction.

Ultimately you have to teach dogs that they have to earn STUFF by behaving reasonably.

Lastly, NO DOG that is not getting enough proper exercise will EVER be able to be well behaved. This is KEY.

That is particularly true of high energy dogs like terriers and working breeds. They NEED exercise and runs and outside time like they need food and air and it keeps their nervous energy calm and at a baseline that you can work with to ask them to do simple things for you.
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