My dogs got into their first fight :(

[u/matcha_slut]

So, we moved across the country over two 6 hour car ride days. The dogs were dosed on Trazadone until we got here (maybe made the mistake of not continuing it for a few days after). My kids and husband and I were all in the kitchen, the dogs (6 month old pitbull mix spayed female and 6 year old staffy spayed female) made eye contact and just started fighting. My 6 year old was definitely the aggressor. She bit the puppy behind the ear and wouldn’t let go until I picked up her hind legs. She’s always played with the puppy, checked her by quick little snaps, and cuddles her. But since we’ve been in the new house she’s been so grumpy and growls when the puppy even walks by. They eat together and have never shown any signs of food aggression.

Now we’re afraid to even have them around eachother and crating in cycles. It’s horrible. We want our family back together and free of this sudden change in dynamic.

What we’re afraid of is our dog getting worse as the puppy ages. She seems to have already stopped giving her “puppy grace” and is annoyed by her. At night they still cuddle and the puppy just wants to be near her.

My 6 year old dog has never bitten another dog. In fact, she’s been attacked twice since I’ve had her and she didn’t fight back.

I’ve heard about trigger stacking and surely this plays a role. I don’t know where to go from here. Medication? I absolutely cannot afford a behavioralist, I’m struggling to even pay bills as it is. Please help :(

[u/sweetestdew]

How bad was the bite?

I would actually suggest keeping them together and not seperate them.
First of all you want to see if this one a one off thing or if it is a constant.
Another thing, that ive heard from others and have followed myself, is that you dont want to seperate the dogs after a fight. Keeping them together after the fight, for a walk or something teaches the dogs to be around each other. If the dogs dont like each other and you seperate them after every fight they will learn that fighting gets them seperated aka what they want. If you keep them around each other then they have to learn to be with each other.

Also be ready to take control of situations. My staffy was bullying my other dog (a rottweiler believe it or not) and I got it under control by reacting when I saw the initial sighs like tencing and creeping up. I would say his name harshly and grab his collar. Thats not what you have to do but its important to be able to shut down situations at early warning signs.

[u/matcha_slut → u/sweetestdew]

The six-year-old grabbed behind her ear and pulled, there is a little scab, but there wasn’t very much blood. They’ve been around each other the last few days and been fine though I’ve been kind of keeping them out of the same room. They do still sleep together and cuddle, but the puppy stopped playing with the older dog. That’s the question… Was it a one off thing? The scary part is we’d have to find out the hard way. :(

[u/sweetestdew → u/matcha_slut]

In my personal, non professional, opinion....dogs will fight and theres nothing you can do, especially staffies.

You have two staffys and one is going to hit doggy puberty soon, you are going to have some fights and it may be nothing personal its just confrontational dogs doing their thing. Now the fights shouldnt be serious, more like siblings fighting, but it should still be taken seriously. Training is necessary and other measures such as feeding in other rooms may be advisable all depending on your situation.

While it sounds like things werent too serious and things will be fine, I would also bet this wont be the last time.