Here's my "story" that I have written several times......this particular reply was in response to someone having a Fila Braserio (sp?!) and a Rottweiler bitch, close in age, from unknown backgrounds in her house together.
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Places where you're going to see problems:
In your presence
Passing through small doorways or thresholds
Near food
Any prized toy
Basically it comes down to alpha's rights to territory, prized possessions, your attention, best/first food, and best sleeping spots.
I thought we could work through the issues with Froli and Devon. Devon was 5 at the time, Froli 4. We've raised them since they were 7 and 8.5 wks respectively. Both are very well bred and socialized dogs. We did NOT know about the bitch aggression in Devon's dam when we bought Devon.
The first fight happened one night when I wasn't home. Hubby was on the PC (laptop) and Devon (older female, VERY alpha) was the floor at his feet. Froli decided to jump on the couch, thus jumping over Devon. Devon did not accept Froli being in a higher place (and thus a "better" more dominant position) and snapped. She caught Froli's ear and George had to literally pry Devon off. I walked in the door at 11:30p (having just spent 20hrs in the ED on rotation for school) and there was my happy dog, ear hanging off her head. Off to the emergency vet, $300 to fix the ear, plus antibiotics. She now has some white streaks.
They tried a few more really nasty go-rounds in the house with me home, in the time frame when I thought I could solve this. I had to pick up a stool and bash them over the heads so hard that they were stunned to break it up. At that point, they were permanently separated. I knew if they got together again, it could be the death of one of them, and who would want to see their two beloved dogs kill each other?? So we did the crate separation thing.
As I said, it worked well for 18 months. Then I got a call at work (I'm a paramedic, working 24h shifts). Hubby had been out running with Froli, and Bort & Dev were in the backyard. He forgot they were there and took Froli in through the back gait. The fight was on, Devon attacked. Devon had no collar on, as we don't leave collars on the dogs around the house, and she was continuously attacking and rebiting Froli - showing true aggression, not just a defensive "buzz off" display.
Froli, through all of this, listened to George and when he told her platz, she did. Devon would attack her head, George would peel Devon off, and then Devon would go for Froli's back end.......all with Froli maintaining her platz. George spent almost a half hour trying to break up this fight, and finally ended up putting his arm in Devon's mouth as she came in at Froli yet again. He finally threw the exhausted Devon (it was a hot May night) to the ground, dragged Froli out the gait and into the house via the front door. I got the phone call.
There is nothing more horrifying than walking into your own house and finding your husband literally standing there in an undershirt, which should be white and is COMPLETELY red with blood. His blood, Froli's blood.......completely red. His arms were bitten and swollen, and there were some serious lacerations on his fingers. I had my partner (we took the ambulance over) clean up hubby (b/c he's more familiar with people than dogs) and I attended to the girls. Devon seemed to not have a scratch. Froli had multiple puncture wounds on her head and legs, and again, the same ear was half torn off.
I loaded Froli and George into the car and took off for emergency medicine..........Froli to the Emerg Vet and George to the ER. They didn't clean out some of his wounds well enough, and didn't xray his hand. The fingers got infected and there was a fracture, so now the fracture has infection in it. He was at risk for losing fingers, was rushed into Boston for emergency hand surgery and then had to have IV antibiotics for a MONTH, given ever eight hours!! Do you know how disruptive that is to your life??
The mental stress/strain of this horrifying fight has left a lasting impression. Knowing the background and genetic make up of the dogs is tantamount. I do again have a multi-bitch household, and I am ever on the alert for signs of trouble. However, the two girls that I have now are very different than the two that I had before, in both their backgrounds and temperaments (Vikka is 1000% different than Devon was).
You have a dog with a very sketchy background, poor genetics at best and a breed trait to being dominant and strong willed. Brought in as an adult where a bitch is already resident, I truly feel that you have set yourself up for disaster. I don't wish for you to ever have to go through what we went through. The horror of it all, of looking at your sweet faced dog and knowing that your arm is all messed up due to her is gut wrenching. The aggression was not directed at George and Devon has no people issues. However, in her blind rage to kill Froli, she did inflict serious damage on George (who also did not break the fight up in an ideal way).
My dogs were well bred, well trained, and well raised. I never thought it would happen to us, and it did. You've got a dog carrying baggage who comes to the household in less than ideal circumstances.
PLEASE place one of the dogs, ASAP. The heartbreak of the fights, the damage done, the cost inflicted.........is not worth it. Having to live your life constantly on guard sucks and I would wish it upon no one.
The hospital bills for the emergency hand surgery, and 3 days admittance were $25,000. The month of IV antibiotics given every 8 hours was another $3500. We're very lucky, our health insurance covered everything, but I'll tell you.......it's not cheap to put people or dogs back together.
We do not have outside pens/kennels, everyone lives in the house, and crates are used as appropriate for age and events. Part of the problem of living the "keep them separated" lifestyle is vacations...........do you have anyone that you completely trust to keep the dogs apart? If the dogs ever got in a fight while you were gone, and someone else got injured...........you're liable and I'd hate to see those bills.
Here is a link to an excellent article on inter-dog dominance aggression:
http://petplace.netscape.com/articl....asp?artID=1971