I Got this urgent plea for help from a multi-pug owner and I turned it over to Allison Denlea (AD) of paws4positivetraining.com, to whom I often go for advice. Her excellent comments are embedded in the original message for all to learn from. —Tracie

AD: Tracie - interbitch aggression can be one of the most difficult to fix, especially now that the 'puppy' is 2 years of age. If it's owner guarding and coddling - then the owner needs to fix her behavior, and the dogs will change theirs.

The problem:

About two months ago the mother pug started barking frantically any time we picked her up when the daughter pug is around.

AD: Why are they picking her up?

Or, if she comes to sit on my lap and sees the daughter pug close by she barks frantically, which has recently escalated into physical fights.

AD: Why didn't they stop this the instant it started?

The last time the mother's teeth actually got STUCK in the daughter's forehead, and my husband got bit as he tried to stop the fight.

AD: Ouch

I cannot see that the daughter pug is doing anything to the mother pug, just looking at her.

AD: Well maybe the daughter is saying with a challenging stare - bring it on Mom. OR the Mother is misreading the daughter's stare.

The rest of the time they are cuddled up together! I do think there are some "dominant female" issues in play here. I'm sure both think they should be dominant.

AD: That would be the case. They are both beta = "wanna be's". If one was truly dominant, there would be no issues, the other would submit. If both are truly dominant, this can possibly escalate into a fight 'til death scenario.

The questions:

Do you have any suggestions for making this scenario work? Is there anything I can DO???
For example, today I very deliberately picked up the mother pug and then stepped over a baby gated separated area and reassured her while she went frantic on me.

AD: By "reassuring" her, she was actually egging on the very behavior she doesn't want. How about a quick effective KNOCK IT OFF correction? And further, why would the owner set the dog up to fail? Nothing was gained by this deliberately picking her up - other than the dog a) went ballistic; b) the owner reassured; c) after all said and done - dog was rewarded for bad behavior.

I had to remove her completely from the view of the female for a moment before she would calm down even a little. After a while she did calm down and I reentered the area with a distracting, "Let's get a treat!" which took her mind off of the daughter pug. Does this scenario sound like it could work over time?

AD: Nope - wouldn't work 5 minutes for me.

At this point I am afraid to sit in my own family room for fear of being in the middle of a dog fight.

AD: Then those dogs should be dragging a leash so that any problems can be quickly and effectively dealt with. If the dogs know down/stay that's what they should be placed in. There could be owner guarding too - so it means that the owner is not being effective as the leader.