My girls had a very bad fight last night

Me and OH had just settled down for night in front of the telly, glass of wine in hand when Jessie jumped up with rabbit ear in mouth. She parked herself in the middle and dropped the chew. Everything was very calm, then Bella put her two paws up and went to pick up the chew. Jessie moved slightly, not to grab the chew but just move. Bella then went crazy and started to attack Jessie. Jessie then went flying into Bella and it was awful. Hubby tried to get into the middle of them and got himself bit. They both tumbled onto the floor and I managed to grab Bella's collar and dragged her away and shouted to hubby to do the same with Jessie. It wasn't easy because they were both trying to get to each other. I'm so shocked by this. Both are lovely dogs and until last night inseparable and good friends. If one cried the other would be there worried. Now Jessie is ignoring Bella and won't interact with her. Bella has always displayed food aggression when the cats are around but never with Jessie and never on this scale. Has anyone else experienced this with cavaliers? I need to deal with this but not sure how.


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I experienced fighting with my first two Cavaliers, both boys. They got on well up until they were about five or six, and then we had several spells of sometimes quite vicious fighting for a couple of years, but not over treats or food. I don't really know what set it off but Barney had a bad back and although he was a lovely gentle, trustworthy dog, we think that very bad back pain may possibly have been the trigger. I usually managed to separate them without any damage to myself, but once they started a fight in the kitchen and I chucked jug of water over them, my husband got in the way and ended up soaked and furious!

It's scary and very upsetting when this sort of thing happens, so you have my sympathy, but I can't really over any advice apart from try to avoid any situations where they might have further issues over "desirables", and just let them come around in their own good time. My two got on fine together after they'd calmed down, until whatever it was started them off again.

Rosemary

I think its only "normal" for besties (best friends) to have a tiff every now and then. My first approach would be to avoid it if at all possible, have extra favorite chews/toys watch them more carefully for signs of something starting... It might be a good idea to keep an eye on them very carefully for a few days anyway perhaps Jessie isn't feeling well??????? Is there any other changes in her? It would explain her grumpy mood.
Or maybe one is not getting enough exercise, Fletcher is always a little more of a bratty boy when we cannot get out and walk like we normally do. Or even perhaps they just need a little break from each other..I love my children dearly however a nice Mommy time out every once in awhile is great. Try spending some time with them separately too.

Overall I would not spend too much time worrying about it, especially since this was the first time ever. Just watch them I'm sure it will amount to nothing.

We all think that cavaliers are such sweet and gentle dogs, but I have seen mine go at it with a fury I never thought possible from them. Madison is typically the aggressor in my house and it really didn't start until she was about 5 years old. It is always related to food and high quality chew toys. I just cannot have them in my house anymore. Even if I have one of them for each dog - doesn't work. One of them (usually Madison) will want one that another has and a war will break out. And these little 15 pound dogs are hard to separate when they are in the throes of an all out battle. If I'm lucky, it's only two that are fighting because I can usually pick one up and stop the fighting, but sometimes, a third one will start to engage with the other two. If I'm home alone, a fight with three is hard to break up. We haven't had one in a really long time because I feed them in separate places now, and don't give them high quality chews anymore. I've learned my lesson - it's just not worth it. Once separated, they do seem to get over the fighting pretty quickly and become bosom buddies again. They don't seem to harbor resentment (at least mine don't). Maybe Jessie got hurt and that's why she's ignoring Bella. Just a thought.

Sometimes Gracie has enough of Lady and will snap at her and it can get a bit aggressive. Lady is really rambunctious and also takes Gracie's food right out of her mouth. Usually Gracie just puts up with it but who can blame her for getting upset every now and then. When I'm home and they're getting rough I can just yell "no" and they will break apart. During the day when I go to work I keep Lady in the kitchen and Gracie gets the rest of the apartment, that way I know they have their own space and Lady wont be all in Gracie's face.

When you think about dog behavior just remember they are dogs first breed second! And that just means that yes, cavaliers are great gentle, loving dogs and get along well with all others but they are a dog and might have bad behavior too. I think it best you keep your dogs seperate when they have high value treat items (like the rabbit ear) to avoid a future fight.

Thank you all for your input. It's interesting that those of you who've experienced this, your dogs have been older as are J&B. I think I was just shocked at the aggression in both of them and neither was going to back down, as the point was made they are dogs first, then breed. They are never left together with these chews unsupervised. The next morning after this incident Jessie was sat in the garden and Bella had got up late. Bella trotted out to Jessie with her tail wagging and liked her face. Jessie was still in a huff and turned away walking off. They are back to normal now Just one more thing....really laughed at the water being chucked over husband...think I will bear that in mind if need to take action again.


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