We got a dog in December, Paris, about 3 years old, we rescued her from a shelter (she weighed 22 lbs, now she's a healthy 33, and she had heartworms, which we've treated). Best guess on her breed is a pit bull terrier/ black lab mix from what vet says. We got her from a shelter that didn't do any behavior testing before adopting her out, and we learned the hard way she was food aggressive when she attacked our other dog, Honey, who's about 2 years old, 56 lbs, a golden retriever mix, who is also a rescue dog. We didn't know what to do, and the fighting was kind of sporadic at first, so we did what we were told to do, which was separate them while they're eating (which is when all the fights occured at first). Honey usually comes out on top of the fights, but they've both incurred some injuries (including some that required stitches). It's never Honey who instigates these fights, it's always Paris, and recently it hasn't just been feeding times. This morning Paris attacked Honey when we went to let them out. We're at our wits end about this dog, and we're thinking we might have to give her back to the shelter, it's just not fair to Honey. We've got them separated now because Paris has stitches she needs to recover from, but the best advice we've gotten on how to help stop the aggression is "get Paris fixed" (she has an appointment for when she's recovered from the stitches, we couldn't do it earlier because of her weight and the heartworm, Honey is spayed). But I've been reading up on it and it doesn't seem like getting Paris spayed would change her behavior much. We can't put them together anymore, as soon as Paris sees Honey she starts growling and gets rigid. Does anyone have any suggestions for us? Paris is a very sweet dog normally, she's very friendly around all types of people, and she's OK with every other dog she's met besides Honey. Is it a territorial thing? I love both my dogs very much and would hate to have to get rid of Paris, but it's not fair to have to keep her isolated from freely roaming the house, and it's not fair to Honey to allow her to keep getting attacked.
Afterthought- I'm not sure if this means much, but if Paris goes outside with Honey she'll follow her around and pee right where Honey has peed. She also stares at Honey alot, and "herds" her around the house. Honey has acted very submissive, but Paris doesn't know when to back off. At the shelter we were told Paris had been living on a farm, basically fending for herself for at least a year, and had a litter of pups somewhere along the line. Honey was abused, probably by children, and also had to spend some time fending for herself on the streets.
Paris seems to be very dominant towards Honey. You could discipline her (Paris, and the correct way I might add) to show her that you are the boss, and you are the one in charge in the household, not her.
Actually, I wouldn't be seeking advice on the internet. You need one-on-one help from a trainer or behaviorist. Aggressions are sneaky things and it takes a professional to be able to tell exactly what type of aggression you are dealing with. You've mentioned several things that indicates it could be two or three types of aggressions (or a combo). What type will determine what solution you will need.
Talk to your vet and get the name of an animal behaviorist in your area. Or, look for a trainer who deals with aggressions. I prefer a mostly positive trainer for these issues.
Your situation is very serious, and I strongly urge you not to continue your search for answers via the internet. You'll need someone trained to observe the dogs and look for sublte body language cues to decide what route needs to be taken. There's also a lot of bad advice out ther on-line about how to deal with aggression.
My sister adopted two dogs. She adopted a 5 year old beagle/german shepherd mix. Then she also adopted a 15 month old rottweiler/pitbull/german shepher/beagle mix. Her dogs are father and pup so they are related.
The older dog is very aggressive, he bites and growls if you try to put his collar on or pet him in the wrong way, he won't go on a leash. He snaps at his puppy and bites him a lot of the time. My sister doesn't think she will be able to keep him. She can't get him to stop.
The younger pup she actually brought up here to our home with our akita. Keep in mind her dog is full size and only about 30lbs and our akita is only 5 months old and 60lbs. Well my sister was feeding her pup a bone and Kiba happened to walk over near her dog around that time and her little dog started biting and growling at Kiba and he snapped in to action and put her dog in its place. Her dog backed down really quickly due to the fact kiba was only hitting him with his paws and hurting him.
Kiba is the gentlest akita I have ever seen or been around, he is a puppy so that may be why but he shows no aggression towards other dogs unless they do so to him. Normally he backs down if a dog gets in his face. If anyone has any advice on socializing our two dogs I would appreciate it as well. I don't mean to hijack this post but I have similar concerns and if anyone has any input on it I would appreciate it.
If Kiba really wanted to he could have snapped her dog in two with the size difference but he didn't. I just don't want kiba killing her dog when they get older because they can't get along. How do I socialize the dogs so they get along and don't hurt one another.
As agilityk9trainer said, agression is not something that can be cured over the internet.
Even the most experienced trainer or behaviorist would have to see the interaction in person before offering any suggestions.
What may work for one dog might not work for another. In the meantime while trying various internet suggestions, the dog(s) or a human could be seriously injured.
I will make a comment on the Akita. At 5 months, Kiba has not come into s*exual maturity yet. Especially since you are not planning on neutering him anytime soon, don't let your gaurd down. As he matures, he most likely won't tolerate other dogs as well as he does now. He's still a baby and he's not concerned about territory and females yet. The more dogs he's around now, the better his chances are of getting along when he's older. I just wouldn't assume that he will always be this way.
One more note... when my Akita was about 7 months old, she was attacked by my brother-in-laws dog. She was young and confused and didn't fight back. Now, if she sees him, I have no doubt that she would k*ill him. He just cowars in the corner and wants no trouble with her, but she has never forgotten that incident and will go after him for no reason. She has gotten along with every other dog she has met. So, my point is... dogs have good memories and once they have a problem with a dog it is likely that there will be more problems in the future.
From the details of your message, it sounds like Paris is definately trying to establish herself as dominant to Honey. Since you say Honey usually wins, it also sounds like Honey is not willing to give up that position. I will not offer any advice except to say, if you really want to keep both dogs, and are willing to work hard at it, seek professional help. Otherwise, it might be a better idea to seek a more compatible companion for Honey. I'm sure there are plenty of other good dogs she would get along great with.
I AM HOPING SOMEONE MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP ME WITH MY DOG ONYX, HE IS 3YRS OLD AND IS A ROTWEILER/BORDER COLLIE MIX. ABOUT A YEAR AFTER I BOUGHT HIM I HAD A BABY, WE TRIED TO KEEP EVERYTHING THE SAME WITH HIM BUT YOU KNOW HOW IT IS BABIES TAKE UP ALOT OF TIME,MY SON IS NOW 2 AND HE LOVES ONYX SOO MUCH BUT IT SEEMS LIKE ONYX DONT WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH MY SON, ONYX IS GETTING VERY GREEDY, ANY TIME FOOD IS SITTING AROUND OR MY SON HAS FOOD IN HIS HANDS ONYX TRIES TO TAKE IT, HE HAS ALSO BEEN GROWLING AT HIM WHENEVER MY SON GOES NEAR HIM, ALSO HE HAS BITTEN 3 OF MY YOUNGER NEICES AGES 3,6,AND 10 WHILE THEY WERE PLAYING WITH ONE ANOTHER, NOT BAD BUT JUST ENOUGH TO LEAVE A MARK, IM AFRAID HE MIGHT GET MORE AGGRESIVE AND EVENTUALLY REALLY HURT SOMEONE, CAN ANYONE PLEASE GIVE ME ANY SUGGESTIONS, I DONT WANT TO GET RID OF HIM BECAUSE HE WAS A VERY CALM AND SWEET DOG, I JUST WANT HIM BACK TO THE WAY HE WAS BEFORE... THANKSMANDI81782@AOL.COM
Personally, if it was my dog and it bit children in my family, it would be dead already, I'd have shot it myself on the spot. There is no way I'd take to risk of any children being harmed or killed by such a dog. NEVER take such a dog to the pound. It's not fair to dump such a problem on unsuspecting people looking for a pet. I suppose you could look into breed rescues in your area, maybe he could be placed in a home with no possible contact w/children. Of course there's the risk he'll maul someone anyway. In my opinion, a dog like that is a ticking time bomb, and should be disposed of. There are too many good dogs dying every day to waste time on a bad one.
