How to manage two young puppies fighting constantly?
Managing two young puppies from different litters means dealing with rough play, food guarding, and constant wrestling that requires non-stop supervision. This leaves owners utterly drained, unable to go about their daily routines, and overwhelmed by conflicting advice.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1keeping them in separate rooms most of the time
- 2having the puppy sleep in the owner's room
- 3getting up early to go potty, eat, train, and play without the other dog present
- 4Crating the puppies in separate rooms
- 5Feeding and socializing them separately
- 6Hiring a dog trainer for professional advice
- 7Considering rehoming one of the puppies or returning it to the breeder
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’m feeling very overwhelmed and spend all my time reading so much conflicting information.”source ↗
“One of the pups is tiny, clearly the runt and was not thriving with the breeder, hence rash decision to also bring him home. He will not leave his brother alone, constant fighting/wrestling. I cannot go about my day as I’m having to supervise the fighting.”source ↗
“I’m not sure if this is going to pass and I’m utterly drained.”source ↗
“Also, we have another puppy just two weeks older than her from a different litter, unfortunately my mother brought her home because she missed having a dog around despite my puppy being here — they get along okay sometimes, but they play quite rough most of the time, and my puppy gets quite protective of her food and often lashes out if the other gets too close.”source ↗
“But because of this other puppy, it gets difficult to manage mine because they always go for each other, and it’s becoming difficult to manage.”source ↗
“I spoke to the breeder and asked that he help me re-home one of the pups and honestly it made me feel so guilty.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3How to feed kittens and adult cats together without separating them
- 2Should I keep taking my friendly-reactive dog to group classes?
- 2How to play with multiple pets without one hogging all the toys
- 8How to divide attention between multiple young children
- 14How to handle an extremely intense, high-energy puppy?
- 4How to handle a hyperaroused rescue puppy with kids