I have four dogs, an 8 year old castrated golden retriever boy Jasper, a seven year old entire irish setter Jessie, a 3 year old entire irish setter boy (Rueben) and the daughter of the last two, Katy. She is 20 months.

The problem is that little Katy keeps picking fights with her Dad Rueben and I don't know how I should be handling it. So far I have always been there when it happens and been able to grab them to stop them actually fighting. Im afraid to let them fight in case one of them gets hurt. Katy has always been grumpy with her Dad, growling if he lays with her when she accepts the other two doing it but he has always ignored it. Now he is starting to retaliate. If she is laying with me and he approaches she has a go at him and just now he wasn't even in the same room as her but she started eyeballing him with her tail up which started him off growling. Perhaps it was because he was near me and I am a resource that she is trying to be in charge of. She has never said a cross word to her Mum or my goldie.

I'm ashamed to say that Katy is rather spoilt. I have always been very soft with her because she is such a pet and was the tiniest girl in the litter. She sleeps on the bed with me whereas Rueben sleeps in his crate but they are both allowed on the sofa. She is trained in basic obedience and listens when I say "Oy!"

Do you have any suggestions as to how I can handle the problem? I would be very grateful for your advice.

Now he is starting to retaliate.

Time to keep them separated...

Some dogs just can't be kept together, granted it is usually male+male combination but some females can be very dominant.

If her father is retaliating then it is definitely time to keep them apart, especially when you are not home! If they decide to start a fight when you aren't there or even in the shower you could end up with a dead dog.

Has she been spayed? That may help curb some of her aggression but it is not a guarantee.