Dog Fights...

[Giselle]

Maddie 9 year old female collie/Keshond X - very dedicated companion to my wife, loves to play, and very possessive. Visitors coming to the house can be noisy at times. We never had a problem with her taking to visitors.

We scold Maddie telling her bad. But she doesn't listen to anything we say anymore, almost like she is in a world of her own?.. When she is outside
and we tell her to come in and she won't come in, you have to physically go out and grab her by the collar to get her in the house. She doesn't listen to us anymore. Healthwise, she is very overweight (she is on a diet) She had a spell with vommitting and diarreha, but that seems to have subsided. Right now, her urine is extremely yellow but her poop seems to be fine and she hasn't vommitted in awhile.


We have spent more quality time with Maddie, trying to walk her, just being with her. But everytime the other dogs come around a dog fight ensues.
Luckily the other dogs don't fight "that much" just enough to protect themselves and back off.

Now, the older dog Max stays in the basement because he is scared he is going to get attacked.

The dog fight are always in the morning (once we get up) and in the evening. Never during the day...which is odd.

My wife and I are at wits end. We are wondering what we can do?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Dave

Hi Dave, welcome to PT. It sounds like Maddie has some possession and leadership issues. Above, in a quote of your post, I highlighted all the red flags.
1) Maddie is possessive. If you know that, don't coddle her. Spending quality time with her is alright, but be sure you aren't coddling her after or before fights. That is the best way to get a possessive dog to strike out at another dog.
2) Maddie doesn't believe you or your wife are leaders. Thus, she takes it upon herself to fulfill that role. She SHOULD listen to you. It doesn't matter that she used to listen to you and she's not anymore, she should still be listening to you right now. If she won't, you should work on basic obedience again and imply Nothing In Life Is Free (http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm).
3) I highlighted the last bit about your other dog being fearful because, to me, it sounds like he notices a lack of leadership as well.

Interesting thing about the attacks being in the morning and night. Do they usually occur as you're feeding them? If Maddie is indeed possessive and it tends to happen around mealtimes, you need to crate or otherwise isolate Maddie during meal times and keep a vigilant eye out for any attack behaviors. Also, HOW do you feed?

Hope that helps! My dogs fought a lot when I first brought them home, too, but it's up to you to nip it in the bud as a strong leader. It gets easier over time, too

[dyet]

Hi!

Thanks for the suggestions and replies, i truly appreciate it. So we are getting a behaviorist to come into our home next week and see what they can help us with our problem.

I talked to the behaviorist already and he mentioned that he could help out with the problem and he assured me that, with a commitment from us, you will notice improvements right away.

So my wife and I are glad there is a solution!

I will most definitely let you know how we make out!

Thanks again!

Dave