Kingdom of Pets

Posted by merryone
Oct 1, 2007

We adopted our "Abby", a pit-bull/boxer/beagle mix, from the North Shore Animal League in New York at 12 weeks old in February '07. After a quarantine period, we introduced her to her 'sisters': 15 year old Lucy, a dobie-mix, and 7 year old Carolina, a LARGE bloodhound/shepherd mix. At one point, during supervised play with Cara, she was nipped by Cara hard enough to draw blood (very small wound but there none-the-less).

Since around this time, there have been ten to twelve separate attacks on 'close-quarters' dogs; that is, dogs she has spent more than a day or two with. Including her housemates! These attacks are extremely vicious; she grabs hold of the neck or ear, clamps down and won't let go, shaking her head. She has attacked Lucy three times; Lucy is VERY submissive and these fights are relatively easy to break up. But her attacks on Cara seem to be to the death. Cara has always been very much the Alpha dog and it seems Abby wants the title. The oddest thing is that they play together in a harmonious manner most other times.

There are NO issues when she plays at the dog park...she is very good with all the other dogs there, although I've stopped taking her lately due to her unpredictability. She is walked several times daily, and spends some time on a dog run outside but primarily she's inside. My husband, son and I are home almost all the time. She was spayed before we adopted her.

If I'm watching very carefully, I can see the signs that she's about to go on the attack: she makes eye contact with the other dog, narrows her eyes, her body stiffens and BAM! If I'm nearby I can distract and isolate her, and I've been using the methods to reestablish Alpha dog human status (she had been allowed up on the furniture and beds) but I'm so afraid she'll have to go if I can't train her aggressiveness out of her!

There are NO food issues; I can feed all three of them in the same room with no problem. I can take her food or bones away with nary a growl. Abby loves people and cats and most other dogs. She is not shy, and we completed a basic obedience course two months ago. We need to reinforce the training as currently she seems to obey only when she feels like it. She is very people-oriented and loves to be petted by anyone. She's good with children, but tends to jump up on them if off her lead, not in an aggressive manner from in a play stance.

ANY suggestions would be most welcome!

Posted by ncolby
Oct 1, 2007

Hi There,

I was reading your post and I am wondering if you can clarify something. You say that they play together well, can eat together and that Abby plays well at the dog park. What exactly goes on immediately prior to the attacks between your dogs? Is there a common factor that you can think of which is consistant with all these incidents?

Posted by merryone
Oct 2, 2007

Trouble is, there doesn't seem to be a specific trigger for Abby's attacks, although sometimes Abby could be interpreted as being in a 'position of power'. That is, Abby is either elevated in height (on the sofa or bed, which we no longer allow) or getting human attention. Other times I can't find a trigger - they need no more than to be in the same room at the same height, making eye contact. No true consistency to the trigger(s) in other words.

Oddly, they can be outside on the dog run at the same time with no aggression. We have two 30' leads on a trolley system. Abby goes into the puppy play stance, with rear end elevated and a sparkle in her eye, and Cara responds in kind and they're fine, with Abby darting and dashing around Cara, who circles and hops to catch her. Weird, eh?

Posted by ncolby
Oct 3, 2007

Hi merryone,

No, not so strange....at least not to me. I have the same situation going on with my Bloodhound (12 Months) and My St. Bernard (15 Months). They play nicely outside, but in the house, car etc they get in to fights that could be potentially ugly. I think it's because they are vying for "Alpha" position as well as our attention. Your right to establish yourself as the Alpha. We have been working on this as well and it's starting to work for us.

I know this sounds silly, but I just watched an episode of the "dog whisperer", and it was the same situation as yours. A third dog (rescue) was brought in to the house and started attacking both other dogs. The episode was called "three's a crowd" if you'de like to look into watching it. Anyway, the whisperer isolated the third dog and waited until he was calm before leashing and allowing him to join the other two, who were outside laying together calmly. After he leashed the aggressive dog, he began walking him out to the others and, at the first sign of aggression (Dog's ears went back and he hesitated), he gave him a quick correction by making a noise and lightly jerking his collar. It was a long episode and hard to verbally describe, but basically he established himself as the Alpha, read the dog's body language and re-introduced him into the pack by supervising his actions.

The bonus "dog whispering" section of sitstayfetch has helped me to identify signs of aggression in my dogs and correct the potential bad behavior before it occurs. I know this advice is probably not as helpful as you would like, but keep posting and I am sure others will have some insight as well.

Posted by merryone
Oct 3, 2007

The Dog Whisperer technique sounds like what I've been trying to accomplish, by having Abby on a leash inside the house when the two Alphas are together. I do notice the signs more now - especially the narrowing of the eyes and the stillness of the tail. I've been using a "HAH" or "UH-UH" sound although not using a slight jerk; will have to incorporate that.

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who has experienced this! Thanks for your pointers (pun intended!).

Posted by merryone
Oct 5, 2007

By the way - anybody with iTunes can download free episodes of National Geographic's "The Dog Whisperer"...addresses many behavioral problems!

Domination attacks