It really breaks any dog owner's heart when two of his dogs do not get along. Dogs struggles may be simple "discussions" between dogs without any bites involved but likely, they have the potential to escalate to ferocious struggles that can in some cases even turn fatal.

Here are some interesting facts:

-The causes of struggles between dogs can be various but the most common seems to be dominance related.

-The most severe struggles surprisingly appear to happen between two female dogs.

-Male and female dog combination seem the most likely to get along

-And surprisingly again, it seems that most struggles occur in the presence of the owner.

The typical dog struggle occurs when one dog perceives the other dog as a threat either because the other dog invaded his space, ate food first, got petted first, entered a door first or got a hang of his favorite toy first.

Aging is another common cause of struggles in multi-dog homes, this occurs when you own an elderly dog and a younger dog. A struggle is picked up when the younger dog starts challenging the elder's dog position in order to try to change the pack order. This occurs especially when the older dog starts exhibiting signs of aging, weakness or sickness.

In nature these dominance struggles are pretty common as they help determine the position of the pack. It surely hurts for the owner to see their loving dogs suddenly turn aggressive towards each other especially when the struggle turns bloody.

It is vital that the owner uses extreme caution when separating two struggling dogs. Even though the owner may blindly trust it's two dogs, the dogs may exhibit redirected aggression and mistakenly strike him/her. It's a shame when this happens because the owner in truth had only good intentions to protect the pets.

In order to avoid this for future reference the owner can separate the dogs by spraying them with a hose, or by tossing a blanket over them to confuse them and hopefully stop the fight. A loud noise may also startle them for a few seconds.

In order to lessen the chance of future struggles there are some things that can be done, however, struggles may reoccur if dogs are not monitored and/or they are not stopped before they progress to ferocious biting.

The owner must try to identify which of the two dogs is "boss". He/she can tell by seeing which dog gets in and out the door first, which one has the most wanted toy, wants to get pet first or sleeps in the best place. When dogs know where they belong in their rank then everything goes peacefully.

Struggles pick up when the alpha dog feels that another dog is a threat to his social status. The alpha dog therefore, makes continuously sure that the pack order is maintained and checks that everyone keeps its place.

Higher in this rank then there is you, the owner aka "the real alpha" and you are the one that needs to show that no fights are tolerated in your household. When your dog begins to show signs of an imminent struggle (growling, barking, aggressive posture) you will exercise your authority by saying in a firm mean voice "Stop it" or "Leave it " or whatever wording works best for you.It must be clear to your dogs that struggling will not be allowed and you mean business.

You can start out by having the dog that picks up struggles on a leash so a quick snap accompanied by your wording will take place. Repeat several times and then try as safely as possible without the leash.

Be prepared with a water hose or blanket if the struggle gets off hand. After several attempts the message should be clear and the "alpha dog" should understand that even though he may be dominant he will still have to deal with your dominance first.

However, it is best to keep the struggling dogs separated for a while,especially if you are not able to monitor in order to avoid injuries. Next, once you have successfully identified the alpha dog of your pack, then start treating him just as what he is, thus the dominant dog.

I know we all would wish to treat all dogs as equal but this is unfortunately not how their world goes.Treating the dog as the dominant dog will help re-order the pack position and your other dog should understand that he/she is on the lower end of the ladder. You can accomplish this by feeding the alpha dog first, petting him first and taking him out for walks first (remember to show your superiority to him by walking out the door first).

However, in some cases dogs may never get perfectly along as before. At this point you may think about obedience training,contacting a dog behaviorist, keeping them in separated areas permanently or giving one up.

Even though this last solution may seem a bit extreme and heart breaking, if you are unable to permanently keep them separated, it is the best solution to grant your dog's well-being and safety. After all, in the wild these dogs would leave the pack and wander around until they are accepted in another pack.