how to get two female puppies to get along?

[beautybelle]

I have a 16 week old female rott named Belle. She is a sweet-heart, very calm. My sister has a female min pin. Roxy that is around the same age. They are always supervised when around eachother. I would like to have these dogs get along. But everytime they are around each other they will fight. Belle just wants to play, she will go up to Roxy and just smell her, but Roxy will bear her teeth and go for a bite, that's when Belle will want to retaliate and the dogs are then seperated. I'm guessing that because Roxy is so small that she is scared of Belle. We were hoping that because they are puppies that now would be the time for them to get used to each other. My question is, is there anything that me and my sister could do to have these two girls get along? Or is it a hopeless cause and we should just always keep the dogs seperated. Any advice is extremely appreciated :)

[brunie's mom]

If they are fighting at this age already...I would just keep them seperated.
You do not want your pup to start getting aggressive with other dogs.
Everytime she starts to retaliate...she is thinking she better get that dog, before she get's me....not a good thing for a pup to learn.

Your pup should be ONLY meeting friendly, nice dogs. You want all of her meetings and encounters with other dogs to be good.

Take them for walks together...leashed and walked by each owner...and that will be positive....but I would not be allowing them to interact in the home or yard together...because one day, damage could be done.

Gina

[goforit]

Generally speaking, two females will get along better than two males, but I think your puppies are trying to establish dominance. Who will be alpha dog? I think you are right about Roxy feeling threatened due to her size but dogs are pack animals so someone always gets to be the leader. I brought a 10 pound Rottweiler home to a 6 pound Yorkie. For the first three days my Yorkie Nicky nipped Emma's ears every time Emma approached to play. On the third day Emma turned around and gave Nicky a nip on the nose. That was the last time he every grabbed her ears. But sometimes they do have their squabbles over things. That's when we know who alpha dog is because Emma turns over on her back in the submissive position and Nicky walks away. The thing is that I knew Nicky would be alpha just under me from past relationships with other dogs. So when I went to pick out my new puppy, I stayed there for a long time watching the puppies interact. Emma's two sisters were constantly duking it out with each other, nips and all. Emma tried to get into the play, but would back off when it got too rough. That's when I knew she was the one for me.
So, if your sister and you each have only one dog, and live apart, they probably both think they are alpha dogs under you and her. Some of the questions are how often do you get together, and where. If this were my situation, I would keep taking them out together on leads, than walking them closer and closer until each feels safe. The reality is that if they are keep seperated as puppies, they will never get along later in life. What about their reaction to other dogs? Maybe try them both out that way first. As someone suggested, they both need to have positive experiences with other dogs.

[beautybelle]

I'm sorry I didn't mention that my sister also has a male min pin probably about 7 months old and another older male large dog (not sure what type of breed he was a rescue). The dogs see eachother once a week sometimes more. Mostly when we go over to my sisters. Over there Belle mostly plays with the male min pin. Perfectly fine no problems. They have a great time. Roxy (the female min pin) just trys to keep up when Belle and the male are running around playing with eachother. Belle doesn't even really bother with Roxy because she's having a ball with the male min pin. The older dog just sleeps and wants to be left alone. I guess it is just when my sister brings the female alone here to my house that the two females end up having to be seperated. I know that socialization is really important. Belle is always calm around other dogs. Not aggressive at all. Thank you for your advice I will try your suggestions. If it doesn't work I'm afraid that the two female just won't be able to be around each other alone.

[wilma06]

Roxy is the problem here. Everytime Belle is brought into the same room as Roxy give Roxy a treat and prasie her she will start associating Belle with the rewards ans she will get used to the size difference

[AngelBunny]

Originally Posted by goforit

Generally speaking, two females will get along better than two males....

This hasn't been my experience in Rottie ownership, stretching more than two decades.

[spidey]

Generally speaking, two females will get along better than two males

Bitch-bitch aggression is FAR worse than dog-dog aggression. I have owned two males who had to be kept separate 100% of the time and I would STILL rather have two males who didn't get along than two females.