Help! Sudden rise in aggression between our dogs

[Bjarnum]

We have 2 Spaniel cross Bichon bitches both spayed. They are now 5 years old and until the past month lived in harmony. Now they suddenly fly at each other without warning. No food or toys present. This behaviour is getting more frequent and is very disturbing. It has reached the point where we are frightened to leave them unsupervised. Any insight or suggestions very welcome

Read up about littermate syndrome. Sounds like your two dogs are the same age and possibly from the same litter (although that doesn’t actually matter).

Two bitches together can be a bad idea. Once they’ve started fighting I’d rehome one.

We had this with our two dogs, and it was pretty awful. They were opposite sex and not from the same litter.

It meant we had to separate them pretty much constantly which was hard work, and I was scared of them being around toddler DS in case they did it near him. They would draw blood from each other. I'm sorry to say it only ended when one passed away (from an unrelated illness).

I think unfortunately once it starts it won't stop because one is always on edge and it doesn't take much to set them off.

Dogs don’t have to be actual littermates to develop littermate syndrome. Sounds like it’s that. They need to be kept apart or you face having to rehome one.

I had 3 bitches all different ages and 2 different breeds who lived happily for 4 years together

I can home one day to a blood bath and one dog nearly killed.

I will never own multiple dogs again , because I would have to keep them separate when left alone which is too much hassle and stress.

Be very careful , it was horrendous what I came home to

I would never leave these dogs alone together again.

Thank you for all your input - lots for us to think about