Dog attacks

[pomtzu]

I find it very upsetting to read of the recent dog attacks upon PT dogs - 3 in just this past week.

First it was Glacier - 2 of hers attacking and killing another pack member.
Then it was dab_20 - her neighbor's dog attacking and mauling one of her dogs.
And now Mooshi - one of hers attacking and injuring another of hers.

And all of these were unprovoked attacks!

I love dogs, but could never keep dogs together in the same household if they did not get along. In my way of thinking, they should be there for each other as friends, and as good company for one another, a break if you will, from their humans. IMO, it's more work and futility to have to constantly watch them, or keep them separated, or crate rotate them. I want my dogs to be fun for me, as well as each other. How can this be when you can't leave them alone with each other for a single minute, without the fear that one could maul or kill the other? An occasional disagreement between fursibs is natural and to be expected - tussles have happened between my fur kids, past and present. But they were never out for the kill, and they would walk away from it in a couple of seconds, issue forgotten, and off playing or sleeping together.

Of course this is just MHO. I really would like to hear how other dog, or even non-dog owners, feel about this subject.

[kaycountrygal]

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU. Before we adopted Annie, a stray, I had to see how she got along with LilGirl. If Annie had shown one tiny bit of meanness toward her or Luke (or if LilGirl had not liked Annie), believe me, Annie would not be here. Annie was and is so sweet with both LilGirl and Luke and they get along great.

Personally I could not stand the pressure of always being on watch for trouble breaking out with the dogs. I have two dogs and cat for fun and enjoyment--not stress and heartache.

I am sorry for those of you who have had dog attacks recently. I am sure it was very upsetting for you and hurtful for your dog that was attacked, if not killed. ... Kay in NC

[Freedom]

It is so very sad. But I think, if you've had both dogs for some time, and then something happens, you just make things work, keeping them separated. As long as you don't travel and have some one else have to come in, it works.

I have a friend with 5 dogs, and 2 of them must be apart. She's been doing this for years now, and the dogs actually KNOW the routine. If the one in the kitchen doesn't get moved to the living room at the right time: Bark, bark, BARK!

[Taz_Zoee]

Some people have the ability to keep the dogs separate. I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong) but Isabel (Husky_mom) has two Huskies that cannot be together. She still has both of them (as far as I know) but just keeps them apart. She is able to do this. Other people may not have the set up to be able to keep them apart. I couldn't at my house.

I think it is very sad, and very scary, reading about the recent attacks. Each one brought tears to my eyes. Glaciers and Mooshi's because it was their own dogs that attacked another of their own. And dab_20 because poor Sammy was minding his own business when he was attacked.
When I hear dogs fight I instantly get tears in my eyes. Once at my moms we were outside and I heard dogs fighting over at my brothers. Come to find out their puppies had been playing and Abby got her mouth caught on Jakes collar. She wouldn't let my brother or SIL get near her to help. My niece had to come out and get them. I was practically crying just from the sound.

My heart aches for the people who had to go through this. Especially Glacier who not only lost the dog that was attacked, but the two that attacked as well.

I honestly don't know what I would do if my two turned on each other. And I hope to never find out.

[sana]

***Phew!***
in my house lives, ONLY one dog, One Down, who doesn't usually fight with other dogs as he hasn't spent much time with other dogs.
In my other home..my German Shepherd lives alone and cannot fight with another dog, but, don't worry, she has lots to explore in that home She isn't alone or doesn't get bored or anything, she guards our home and with that, she enjoys running around the home, so my pets are away from fighting with each other or the street dogs

Sorry to hear about the other PT dogs and their deaths and fight... Prayers for their owners and hopefully everything will be settled soon, extremely soon.

[sasvermont]

I agree with many of the posting folks. My household cannot tolerate two animals trying to kill each other .... and/or anything similar. Re-homing is an option for cats, for sure. Dogs, I am not sure it works quite as easily. I know that when taking my sweet dog to the dog park, there are dogs she hates to be around for some reason. I don't speak dog and will never know. I keep her away from those dogs.

Each person has their own level of tolerance when it comes to rearranging their life to accommodate their animals. I for one, would never feel safe, keeping dogs apart, knowing that some day I might slip up and someone would get hurt. I would also worry about the liability of owning a dog that bites. How long before a person takes the wrong step and is bitten.

Mother nature dictates the urge to dominate/kill/eliminate the other. We, as humans, kill each other during war and crimes. Dogs/cats etc. do the same. It is part of nature. Survival of the fittest. King of the hill. Whatever you want to call it.

All that said, I have owned a cat (Bengal) and had to re-home him because he had it in for one of my female Aby cats. He was fine at first then became obsessed with Miley, the Aby. He attacked her one day while I was at work and cause a great deal of damage to Miley. I kept them apart until I found just the right home for him. He is now with another Bengal, male (and was a kitten), and two dogs. He is doing just fine and living happily ever after.

I have never had to re-ome a dog, but suspect there are homes/people out there who would want only one dog and would keep the dog away from other animals.

I feel so sorry for the folks having to deal with situations like this, knowing how frustrating it can be for all involved.

I have been lucky that my three cats and the dog respect each other just enough to make it through an occasional spat or confrontation, and no one gets hurt.

[Glacier]

I've never owned a single dog, even as a child we always had at least two, usually three. Stuart and I started with three Siberians and a GSD. I keep a pack; a pack of a difficult breed; huskies aren't the easiest dog to keep one at a time!

We have been as high as 26 dogs. In a group of 26 people, there will be a couple I don't like! Same goes for the dogs. Not every dog gets along with every other dog. If I had two or three dogs, I would expect they would get along without issue. I have one female who has her own pen and is not allowed near other dogs. Kayleigh has mellowed with age and actually tolerated Bandit, as long as no food was around. She was starved by her first owner and it's left her with lifelong issues.

Over the last 12 years there have been a number of fights. Most of them end with a loud "KNOCK THAT OFF". Serious injuries are very rare; they usually go for the ears, tail and back legs when they fight, not areas that would be fatal if bitten. We've never had an intent to kill fight before. 99% of the time within a few hours the dogs are buddies are again. I can almost always identify a trigger that started the disagreement..."he took my bone; I am still the boss of you; stop bugging me you little punk; we need some exercise". I can also usually see a fight coming and prevent it. The dogs rarely go straight into a fight. There's almost always some posturing, growling, grumpiness first.

The reason I have so few female dogs is that their fights tend to be much, much more serious. Girls are 100 times harder than males to keep in a pack. They will fight til they kill each other and they never forgive. I keep my girls apart all the time when unsupervised. The males move on pretty quickly. My pack is aging. With Mac and Ozzy gone, only Tehya is under 10 years old. Everyone else is in double digit ages. Any kind of disagreement has become increasingly rare as they age...they just don't care that much anymore about the things that used to trigger fights

I don't tether my dogs, ever. Most sled dogs are kept chained all the time. The injuries, fights, ect would be non-existent if I chained. That's a large part of why most sled dogs are chained..it's an easy way to keep a large number of dogs. It would also change everything about my yard and my dogs' lives.

All of my dogs, except two, are rescues. Most spent more than a year in our local shelter. Prolonged confinement causes serious issues in even the most well-balanced dog. Add that to abuse, hunger, lack of socialization, etc and you're bound to have some issues.

What happened to Bandit was not normal behavior. Mac & Ozzy hunted him; they meant to kill him. There was no fight; there was no warning; Bandit had no chance to defend himself; he was dead in seconds and Mac & Ozzy stopped immediately. I've had people tell me that it happened because Bandit was an old dog and starting to show his age; that Mac and Ozzy were culling the weak from their pack. I don't believe that. Even wolves rarely do that; they usually leave the sick, old and injured behind, but don't kill them through a fight. Mac & Ozzy had lived peacefully for many years with dogs that were older and much sicker than Bandit. I believe there was something genetically wrong with them(they were littermates). We had issues with them from day one, although nothing like this. Genetics combined with a truly crappy start in life made them dangerous dogs. I will never know what triggered them that night; I will never understand it, but I hope they are free of their demons wherever they are now.

[Asiel]

I have to agree that I could never live with dogs who sought to fight each other to the point of harming or killing each other. If all my dogs couldn't live in harmony then I would have to do some shuffling around to see who would be getting rehomed. That said dogs that are used to starting fights with other dogs might not be too adoptable, no one wants to take in a dangerous dog so I would have to make sure it goes to a one dog family only. Living in a home where you have to be on guard 24/7 would be too much for me.

[luvofallhorses]

I live with a Dog aggressive dog, Buster who hates Rudy. I would never give up on him because he doesn't like Rudy.. he never has since the day we brought Rudy home and it's fine we manage his DA. Some dogs do not need dog friends, period. His best friend was Jenny (RIP) my rottie mix unless there was food involved.

Some dogs don't need dog friends, period. If you are going to own a certain breed that is prone to DA, don't get that dog if you absolutely won't step up and never leave them unsupervised and may have to keep them seperated forever.

To me, it's not a problem if I have to seperate my dogs forever.. they are our companions, they don't have to get along. Especially since I plan owning an APBT in the future, I won't expect that dog to get along with the dogs. That's years away though.

Rudy & Dixie love each other but are always strictly supervised.. someone is always home and they are never leave alone together when we are gone.

You can't live in a dream world that your dogs will always get along, they are animals.. they fight and they will. I don't care if Buster is Dog aggressive.. we manage it and move on. There have never been any real serious fights that he almost killed Rudy or anything, but we never let our guard down because he hates him.

My dogs are never left unsupervised no matter if we go to the store for 15 minutes, they are never left alone together.. it's too much of a risk to trust your dog that is Dog aggressive to be fine for 15 minutes when you can come home to a dead dog.. not worth it to me.

It's called being a responsible dog owner, you should never leave your dogs unsupervised no matter what the breed.. anything can happen.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Although I don't have dogs, I too wouldn't be able to live with dogs that didn't get along and could potentially hurt/kill each other. I actually had to rehome one of my cats,Cirrus, because he and Storm would fight daily and over time the fights got worse. I had to do something before they really hurt each other and since Storm was there first Cirrus had to go.

Cirrus also started trying to attack Sky who is the mellowist cat in the world. He only seemed to like Sunny. I found out later that all of his siblings were doing the same thing. They all were alpha cats. They needed to be only cats or in a place with a lot of room so they could be away from the other cats. Cirrus was adopted by a wonderful lady and he had a much better life with her than he could've had with me. Now both he and Sunny have been reunited again because they're both up at the Rainbow Bridge.

[happylabs]

I have always said I would never keep a dog that I was afraid of or was afraid would hurt someone or something. I wouldn't be able to handle the stress of it. My dogs have always gotten along. We have had two and three dogs together at one point. They were all Labs though and I think Labs are better natured for the most part.

I hope this isn't the sign of the times with all of these agressive dogs.

[sasvermont]

Each one of us needs to do what works for us. We are all not the same when it comes to the tolerance of misbehaving animals. I hope that each person is good to the animals and does what is best for all involved. I try to do it all with a balance that works for me. One shoe size does not fit us all.

We all love our animals and do the best we can.

Love to all

[pomtzu]

Each one of us needs to do what works for us. We are all not the same when it comes to the tolerance of misbehaving animals. I hope that each person is good to the animals and does what is best for all involved. I try to do it all with a balance that works for me. One shoe size does not fit us all.

We all love our animals and do the best we can.

Love to all

Thank you - this is basically what I was just getting ready to say.

I thank everyone for their post and expressing their views. Obviously there is no right or wrong - no black or white. We are all as individual as the situations with our dogs. What works for one, won't necessarily work for another. If you have the time and ability and resources to keep dueling dogs separate, then that's what's right for you. If you choose to rehome an offending dog, then again, that's right for you. I think the point here is, that we want to do the best thing for our beloved dogs, and this is as it should be. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to know if a presently placid dog will take a bad turn in the future. If it does happen, then I pray that we have the wisdom to do what is best for all involved, whether it be: keep separated, or rehome, or euthanize.

[cassiesmom]

I find it very upsetting to read of the recent dog attacks upon PT dogs - 3 in just this past week.

First it was Glacier - 2 of hers attacking and killing another pack member.
Then it was dab_20 - her neighbor's dog attacking and mauling one of her dogs.
And now Mooshi - one of hers attacking and injuring another of hers.

I sobbed when I heard the news about all three of Glacier's dogs. I am praying for Glacier, dab_20, Mooshi, their families and their dogs. I don't know what causes things like this to happen but each one made me very sad.

[Cataholic]

I have only had one dog at a time. But, I do have a multiple cat household. I have, over time, had CA issues. It is far easier to say, "I couldn't rehome, separate, live with, etc.," whatever your problem might be as long as you haven't yet actually experienced it. Sometimes these things creep up on you, and your heart can be torn as to what to do. I chose to keep two cats separated. I never thought to rehome the aggressor (Monte). The cat he tormented is now at RB, and he is better, but still targets Daks- the most gentle cat you could meet. Daks is much hardier than my RB Georgie, but I still holler from time to time.

My friend's dog killed their cat recently. That just set panic into my heart. I don't crate Jasper, and I don't think he has the agression in him at all. He is, thus far, too timid to eat in front of some of my bossy cats. But, wow, what would I do if that changed? I can't say.

Good thoughts and lots of prayers to those that go through this.