help and advice needed, quite urgent.

hi guys well as most of you know i have lexus (19 month rottie girl, unneutered) and rocco (4 year old staffie boy, neutered). neither of them are particularly great with other dogs but are great people dogs and are both good dogs. over the last few days i have had a couple of incients with them that have left me a bit worried. over the weekend we took down a big hedge and old fence beween our garden and the neighbours to put up a more secure fence, while the fence was down my sister accidentlay let the dogs out and they chased next door's cat into their house and then when we got them out rocco got into a fight with their springer spaniel, my hubby luckily got there in time to split it up before the other dog was hurt and grabbed rocco but he turned and growled as he grabbed him but then lay on his back as soon as he seen my hubby, this over they were put in the house and the fence finished. yesterday when a friend that we have staying came home he let both dogs out for the toilet and then brought them in whilst he went upstairs to shower, he heard abig crash and canme downstairs to find the hamster cage lying on the floor and lexus grabbing the hamster in her mouth, she killed it but didn't eat it and took it into her crate, she would not come out of the crate to let him get it but would also not allow him into the crate to get it, he said she didn't growl at him only at rocco but she was using her head and body to block the door to the crate and push him away, when we got in she came out the crate to see us and we were able to get the dead hamster no problem. then this morning when they were both out the back they attacked each other and started fighting over a tiny piece of wood but stopped as soon as they were shouted at. i am at a bit of a loss as to what to do, i really love both dogs and dont want to get rid of any of them but need to sort this out urgently because i have children and there are always other kids around and in both cases if there had been any kids around i dont know what would have happened. please please help with some advice about what is the best thing to do.
sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for advice.
jodie

It almost sounds as if by taking down what they perceived as the boundary line to their territory and replacing it with a new one, (in effect a new boundary line altogether) you have given them a new territory, one which they feel they need to re-establish and defend against neighboring pets. The behaviour you describe happening between them seems to be like competing for the dominant position of which neither one of "them" should have. Both breeds are known for strong prey drive especially when it comes to small animals and is pretty hard to change once they figure out they have it. The incident with the hamster, which I assume Lexus was fine with before?, is another signal that the balance in the household has been upset. Rocco growling at your hubby doesn't seem intentional as his attitude changed the moment he saw who it was that was grabbing him. He was simoly caught up in the moment, not that the moment was a good one but not to confuse his growl for human aggression. Having lived with rotts for a long time, I would be more concerned with her prey drive more than his. Personally I would go back to basics for a bit of controlling their food and making them work for it as well as any treats, toys, playtime with you, etc. Re-assert the pack order and see if things change over the next week or so.

thanks for that, we have decided to rehome lexus our rottie, she has a new home too go to, so that we can focus our energies on rocco. we are going to try aversion therapy when he goes to fence barking and growling at fence to try to stop this but not sure if will work especially if dog nxt door is growling at other side!

going to break my heart to give rottie up but she is going to a great home with a woman who is home all day, she will be spoilt! rocco will pine for a bit for her but sure he will get back to normal fairly quickly.

Sounds like a good choice as long as this woman is well experienced with rotties in particular. I would never pass on a rott that started to show some of the signs of animal aggression. Been down that road personally, in fact, that's how I got my 1st rotty girl. Unbeknown to me this girl had a 2 year history and a thick file with the local dog warden of animal aggression. I had her for several years before she just became too much work for me on my own with 2 kids and a new baby plus 5 other rotts and a pitbull. Unfortunately the person I gave her to had her slip the collar a year later and after attacking a small poodle someone slipped her some poison meat. Still love the breed but can be so much work if you get one with strong prey drive.