# Dogs Fighting



## Snuggys Mom (May 14, 2006)

I spent last night in the emergency room. 

My daughter's dog attacked my dog and I tried to break it up.I got a deep puncture wound on the inside of my arm and a deep cut onthe outside that required seven stitches. 

My daughter's dog is jealous of us and attacks my dog whenever he getsour attention. I want to rehome her, but my daughter (11) hascried non-stop since this happened, begging me not to give her dogaway. 

I'm so torn. I don't know what to do. I know thedog didn't hurt me intentionally, but there's no excuse for herunprovoked, aggressive behavior. 

My daughter will never forgive me if I give the dog away.

It's not fair to rehome my dog, either. He's a wonderful,sweet dog and has done nothing wrong, but I worry about his safety. 

This is so hard. I don't know what to do.

Laura


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## Nadezhda (May 14, 2006)

My opinion:

If your daughters dog is too agressive, it needs to berehomed. Your daughter is 11, she'll get over it!What happens if she's the one in the middle of two big dogsfighting! An adult is one thing, a child isanother. You'll need to explain it carefully to her, so sheunderstands that it is a logical decision. I wouldn't expecther to take it very well.

Or you could try to get a dog trainer/specialist to try to modify ortrain the behaviour out. A different option, but likelyexpensive.


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## Cinnabun (May 14, 2006)

*Actually some kids wont ever get over it, mymom was the middle child in her family, and in her family its a SIN tobe the middle child so she got beat, and all that aeful stuff. and mymom LOVES animals. even when she had the nicest animal her mom eithermade her kill them, or give them away. and my mom still hasnt gottenover that. she told me this one time, when she had found baby mice andshe wanted to keep them. but once her mom found out, she made her throwthem in a fire. and so my mom took a stick to stab them so that theywouldn't suffer during that. 

what i do with my dog when we are dogwatching my neighbors dog, is thatwe still give her the attention. and when she ignors Lulu (the neighbordog) then she gets reworded with a Cookie (treat) or with some kisses.and my dog is VERY dog aggressive towards other dogs if she hadnt knowthem when they were pups. and this summer i'll be adopting a RetiredGreyhound racer. but i feel that i can train my dog to accept the otherdog. 

during the night how do they sleep? when Lulu is over and she'sspending the night, she sleeps in my room with the door closed that wayshe has a place she feels safe at. 

another what kind of dogs are they? my dog right now is a Springer andLulu is a Moodle (Maltese Poodle) so since my dog is an outside dog,she will spend her WHOLE day outside theres no way she will come in.only at around 930ish-10 will she come in. and that works out great.and when we arent home and they both are. Lulu is in my room with thedoor closed. 

so when you arent home to watch them, put them in sperate rooms. youcould even make it fair the dog who has been there the longest will getfree roam of the house, when the other one is in another room. 


Nadezhda wrote: *


> My opinion:
> 
> If your daughters dog is too agressive, it needs to berehomed. Your daughter is 11, she'll get over it!What happens if she's the one in the middle of two big dogsfighting! An adult is one thing, a child isanother. You'll need to explain it carefully to her, so sheunderstands that it is a logical decision. I wouldn't expecther to take it very well.
> 
> Or you could try to get a dog trainer/specialist to try to modify ortrain the behaviour out. A different option, but likelyexpensive.


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## KatyG (May 14, 2006)

Sorry to hear you got hurt. I hope you are ok. 

I think really you need to think about rehoming the aggressivedog. Perhaps in a single dog household with owners withexperience ofcorrecting aggressive behaviour. Iknow it is hard but you need to remember that this could happen againand it could be worse next time.


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## KatyG (May 14, 2006)

It is better for the dogs own welfare.If you can't correct its jealousy and aggression then there is apossibility it could do this to someone outside of your family, I'm notsure about the US law but if that happens here then the animal is putdown, is it the same? That would undoubtedly be moredistressing to your daughter. 

Explain it to her that you are giving the dog the best chance to have a good life.


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## Cinnabun (May 14, 2006)

here it depends on how bad the bite is, and if the person wants to press charges agasint the dog owners. 

i've been bitten and given 4 sticthes on my upper lip by my dog. itdidnt hurt at all, but i was crying because i thought that my parnetswere gonna kill her, and by this time i was still getting over puttingmy other dog to sleep. and i didnt want that to happen again. so i wascrying non stop. and my parnets gave my dog another chance because ofme. and that night, i woke up to my dog sleeping on my bed (when shenormally sleeps with my parnets) and my arm was around her. i don'tremember her coming in on my bed to sleep with me. she felt that bad ofwhat she did. and now my dog and i are closer than ever. 

but mainly because she knew she did bad was when it happend i slappedher in the face, and yelled BAD GIRL at her. i then turned my back onher and then noticed that i was bleeding. and when we came back from ERmy mom than hit her in her theigh. 

just so you guys know we don't abuse her. or hit her. that was the _*only*_ time that we did.


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## naturestee (May 14, 2006)

:shock::shock::shock:

I hope you're okay!

Would you be able to get the help of a professional dog trainer or an"animal therapist" like one that works with TTouch? Someonelike that may be able to help. They may be able to observeAlly's dog and tell you how likely it is to train her to be lessaggressive.

If that won't work, I think you seriously need to look at rehoming thedog. Some dogs just don't function well with other dogsaround. They need to be the only dog in a home.It's best for them and safest for you and the other dog. Theother thing that concerns me is _what if Ally tried to break up afight?_ Whether the dog meant to or not, you wereseriously injured and you're an adult. Ally is younger andsmaller, she could be hurt worse. I don't know her at all,but I know that many kids her age do not look before theyleap. I'm worried about your family getting hurt.

I know it's hard. James still misses his childhood dog thatwas rehomed. But if the dog can't be trained to behave withother dogs, he might be dangerous.


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## ruka (May 14, 2006)

This sounds like it happens often. As an animalbehavior major, I believe this is a territorial issue. If your daughteris willing to train her dog to be a better canine citizen, let her doso, but training can be pricey. In this case, you might have to doone-on-one training for the safety of everyone. If training does notwork, you should rehome the dog to someone who has no other dogs orpets. In the meantime, the dogs should be separated.

Good luck and get well soon.


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## Snuggys Mom (May 14, 2006)

Thanks for your replies, everyone. 

The dogs live, sleep, eat, and play togetherand the only timethere is a problem is if Callie thinks Casey is getting specialattention from one of us. 

Callie is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and Casey is a large breed mixed (shelter) dog. 

What's funny is how shredded I got when neither of them has a scratchon them. I checked Casey out and saw a blood stain on hisfur, then realized it must have been MY blood because there is noevidence of a wound anywhere on him. 

I found a Chesapeake Bay Retriever rescue group that may be able tohelp me rehome Callie. Keep your fingers crossed forus. 

I feel like it's the only option.

Laura


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## m.e. (May 15, 2006)

Well, it soundslike you may be inadvertently challenging Callie's dominance in thissituation, and if so, her reaction is to be expected. She may not bethe alpha dog in all situations, but she could be in this area(attention from people), and "special attention" can translate toinsubordination in her eyes. 

It would therefore be her job to put the beta dog (Casey) back in herplace. Humans that upend the heirarchy can unwittingly create tensionin the situation between alpha and beta dogs (I say beta, because ifCasey were an omega dog, he'd likely just submit without a fight).

Dogs that fight for dominant positions don't usually hurt each other,the goal is posturing, not injury. And yes, unfortunately theysometimes get so involved in the dispute that aggression getsredirected to anyone that interferes. 

I would definitely recommend talking to a dog behaviorist beforerehoming Callie, because it may be as simple as a misunderstandingbetween what she expects (I am alpha) and what you want (to showaffection towards _both_ dogs).


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## Snuggys Mom (May 15, 2006)

You know, now that I look back, I think Callie thought she was protecting me. 

I had just walked her, and it was Casey's turn. I had him onthe leash in front of our house and he was pulling, so I was correctinghim. I didn't know I'd left the gate open. Calliemust have heard us, came running out and nailed him. 

She's definitely the Alpha dog and thinks of Ally and I as herpossessions. Whenever Casey comes near Ally, Callie nailshim. She never acts that way when my husband is around, so Iguess she sees him as our pack leader.

Knowing how fiercely loyal she is makes it so much harder to rehomeher. I cried myself to sleep last night again. 

Kevin and Ally think we should rehome Casey instead and keep Callie as an only dog. 

I don't think any amount of training will change Callie's behavior.


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## m.e. (May 15, 2006)

Just wanted to add something, because I feel like my first post was "all business".

If you're not comfortable having Callie in your home, or you'reconcered for the safety of your daughter, I'll just echo previousposters who have said you need to do what *you *feel is best foryour family.

I was not, by any means, trying to suggest you shouldn't re-homeCallie. I was just offering one point of view, but there is nothingwrong with admitting that maybe Callie isn't the right dog for yourhome. Nothing wrong with her, nothing wrong with you, just an issue ofincompatability.

I've been through the same thing myself, and I did end up rehoming mydog. I felt so, so guilty about it. But it was the right thing to do.

Best of luck as you make this tough decision :heart:

**edit*

Oops, looks like we posted at the same time 
*


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