We invest a lot of time and resources in training our dogs to ensure that they will be on their best behavior at all times. The last thing you want is to have an unruly dog wreaking havoc inside your home because they will prove nearly impossible to rein in.
It’s even harder to manage your household if you have two out-of-control dogs who are constantly fighting one another.
Dealing with a dogfight can be a nightmarish ordeal because you can never predict how the animals involved will react to your intervention.
The problems that stem from two dogs fighting don’t end when you manage to break up the chaotic scene in front of you. Once all that is over, you still have to worry about restoring peace and order inside your household.
Reintroducing dogs after a fight is a task that is way easier said than done. You may think that reestablishing bonds between dogs following a fight can be done quickly, but that is often not the case for most pets.
The tips included in this article should help you renew the friendship between your two pet dogs. Check them out and use them to sort through the messy situation you’re dealing with inside your household.
Can You Reintroduce Dogs after a Fight?
A single household serving as the home for more than one dog is not a rarity whatsoever as many loving pet parents want to care for as many animals as they can.
Most of the time, two or more dogs living together under one roof is not an issue as they can get along just fine.
Unfortunately, fights breaking out among your dogs is also a possibility and it’s tough to figure out what to do in the aftermath of that incident.
Remember that you don’t have to choose between your dogs even if they get into a fight. No matter how bloody or unpleasant the encounter between your two pets was, reconciliation remains a possibility sometime in the future.
Believe that the effort you put into training your dogs will pay off and they can still be friends once things finally settle down. You may even be surprised by how well your dogs get along after the reintroduction because it may seem that there was no issue in the first place.
The underlying issue that caused the fight in the first place will affect how easy or difficult it will be to reintroduce your pet dogs to each other.
You must do something about that matter before you proceed with any other step or else any attempt at reconciliation will inevitably fail. It’s true that reintroducing dogs who just fought is possible, but pulling that feat off is not the easiest thing to do.
When Should You Reintroduce Dogs After A Fight?
Now that we know that reintroducing dogs after a fight is an option, we have to figure out the right timing for that. To pin down the answer to that question, you must first consider two important factors that are related to the fight.
First off, you have to understand the reason why your dogs fought so you can prevent that kind of encounter in the future. The other factor you must keep in mind is the current condition of your dogs.
Reintroducing dogs just one day after they fought is possible if the issue is related to another dog who was in your neighborhood.
Male dogs competing for the attention of a female dog in heat may scrap with each other because of their desire to mate, but they may get along again after the female leaves.
Dogs who just started to live with each other will need more time and you have to treat the reintroduction like the initial socialization so it will take a few days.
Accounting for the current condition of your dogs before reintroducing them is important because they may not be in shape for that. Reintroducing dogs who just fought is an option if they only sustained minor wounds from the encounter.
Taking a different approach will be necessary if the dogs were badly wounded from the fight since you must allow them to recover first. Give your dogs three to four more days to cool down after they recover before reintroducing them.
How Should You Reintroduce Dogs After A Fight?
Reintroducing your dogs after a fight is a task that requires thought and preparation because things can easily go wrong if you don’t handle the process correctly.
For the purposes of this article, we’re assuming that both of your dogs have recovered from their wounds, meaning they are physically ready for the reintroduction process.
Like we said earlier, giving your dogs some time to cool down is important if they sustained some significant wounds so keep them in separate rooms for three to four days.
Once the waiting period is over, you can leash up your two dogs and take them to a neutral location such as a park. If possible, ask another person to take control of one of your dogs while you grab the leash for the other.
You can now start walking your dogs toward each other, but don’t let them get too close. Stop at a distance where they can sniff one another and just maintain that distance.
Check your dogs to see if they are displaying any signs of aggression and be ready to cut the reintroduction short if they do.
Hopefully, your dogs will not react adversely to one another so you can start bringing them closer. Give them a chance to sniff each other so they can reconcile and just keep doing that until they can relax.
Conclusion
Dealing with the aftermath of your dogs fighting can be incredibly stressful and it can be difficult to understand what you need to do next. Just remember that reintroducing your dogs following a fight is always an option and the tips we’ve highlighted here should lead to a good outcome. A fight between two dogs does not have to spell the end of their relationship because bouncing back is possible and things can still go back to the way they were.
