Dog aggression anxiety !@?!~!

[Swimmer]

Our Sussix Spaniel, Nellie, is 5 years old and has a hair trigger aggressive response to other dogs that is becoming a huge source of anxitey for us. We've spent many hours training her and she's a generally well behaved dog. But circumstances have evolved to where we are spending our weekly couples therapy hour discussing Nellie! We are even considering finding her another home - which would break our hearts. It's had to live with an animal that we can't trust -- even though she's a great dog 98% of the time.

Our concern is NOT about attacking people. It's just other dogs that she goes after -- and they can be 3 times her size. She has no brain about it. It looks like a hard wired insinctual response -- even psychotic. She switches into a different creature.

She first joined us as a puppy when we had 2 Labs. She seemed to get along with them okay -- she especially liked romping with the high energy field dog. However, she was a shocking embarassment in the local obedience class, when she kept doing her surprise (alarmingly vicious!!) attacks on the other dogs in the class. We had to drop out of the class because of it. We figured she got enough socialzing with our dogs at home. We did obedience training with her ourselves. She's okay walking at the park, under close direction.

Now, sad twists have taken our 2 Labs and Nellie is now the only dog in the house. Three times recently she's charged an "intruder" dog and attacked with her teeth! Once, my husband was bit when breaking up a fight -- and he knew better than to do that! It was so shocking a alarming, he just forgot himself. What if it had been a child? Our daughter is just 4 years old.

We have a wire "hidden" fence, that works to keep Nellie in, but random dogs do wander in, on rare occasions. Another concern.

We have been working with Nellie a lot and she has shown a great deal of improvement.

So... last week we bought a 7 week old Lab puppy. We introduced Nellie and the puppy with great control and caution. They played together pretty sweetly. However, the first evening we were relaxing together, without leashes on them, Nellie attacked the puppy. It was so frightening. We didn't see it start, but the puppy was shreaking and Nellie had her head in her mouth. My husband broke it up. The puppy's eye was bleeding. We rushed to the Vet emergency clinic and were told she was very lucky. Another minute and the puppy could have lost the eye or worse.

We now spend every minute worrying about where the two dogs are. We have bought kennels and have wired off sections in the yard-- so they never have contact. We are wondering if we can keep this up until the puppy is big enough to fend for herself --- and THEN what? They are both females. What will THAT fight look like?

We are so tierd of this problem of Nellie's. But it is hard to let her go. She has been with us 5 years. She is the last of our original pack.

The fact that she got on so well with those 2 (male) Labs before gives me hope. But we wonder if we are nuts to keep her around that long.

Thanks to anyone with the patience to read this. How do these dogs, "pets" get to us and put us through so much?

The Sussix Spaniel is a rare breed and I can't find anything about on aggression with them, specifically. Any comments, suggestions or help is appreciated.

Has anyone had to introduce 2 dogs when one has an aggression problem?

Thanks,

Nancy
nancy@crowedesign.com

[fuzzdomestic]

I hate to say it, but if your dog is dog aggressive, you're probably not going to be able to keep two dogs. Sorry if I seem rude, but why did you get a new dog when you knew yours was dog aggressive and liable to bite if you tried to break up a fight? Find a trainer you like that has had experience with dog aggressive dogs. She doesn't sound like she's got horrible dog aggression, so they should be able to help you teach her not to go after other dogs. She probably will never play nicely or allow other dogs in the house with you, but you will be able to walk past other dogs without her trying to go after them. I'd suggest giving the Lab back to the breeder, she's still young and will easily find a new home. You will either need to get a real fence or be out with her while she is outside or else you will always run the chance that a small dog will wonder in and get itself killed. If the aggression gets any worse she may go straight through the electric fence if she wants after another dog. Where did you get her in the first place? If she is from a reputable breeder, they should be able to tell you about any aggression issues in the breed or their particular line.

[LORALEE]

Hi,
I JUST STARTED VIEWING TONIGHT, NEW MEMBER, AND STARTED READING AND THAT IS JUST AWFUL ABOUT THE DOGS, YOUR MAIN CONCERN SHOULD BE YOUR CHILD, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT COULD HAPPEN, I MYSELF WAS BIT IN THE FOOT, AND IT WAS AN AWFUL SITUATION I WAS ON 12 ANTBIOTICS A DAY THAT MADE ME VERY SICK.
AND THIS SUMMER MY FRIENDS BROTHER-IN-LAWS DOG ATTACKED HIS NIECE AND NEARLY RIPPED OFF HER FACE, JUST OUT OF THE BLUE.SHE HAS HAD TWO RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERIES AND A NICE SCAR ACROSS HER FACE, AND EXPENSIVE MEDICAL BILLS. I GUESS WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY IS THAT YOUR CHILD, WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED, YOU COULD NEVER FORGIVE YOURSELF. IT WILL BE VERY HARD TO GET RID OF THE DOG BUT THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THAT MUST BE DONE, IT SURE SHOWS YOU HAVE TRIED, YOU DIDNT GIVE UP RIGHT AWAY.LOOKS LIKE THERE IS NOTHING WORKING.
I HOPE ALL WORKS WELL FOR YOU AND YOUR DECISION IS EASY
TAKE CARE
LORI

[Henschke007]

Our Sussix Spaniel, Nellie, is 5 years old and has a hair trigger aggressive response to other dogs that is becoming a huge source of anxitey for us. We've spent many hours training her and she's a generally well behaved dog. But circumstances have evolved to where we are spending our weekly couples therapy hour discussing Nellie! We are even considering finding her another home - which would break our hearts. It's had to live with an animal that we can't trust -- even though she's a great dog 98% of the time.

Our concern is NOT about attacking people. It's just other dogs that she goes after -- and they can be 3 times her size. She has no brain about it. It looks like a hard wired insinctual response -- even psychotic. She switches into a different creature.

She first joined us as a puppy when we had 2 Labs. She seemed to get along with them okay -- she especially liked romping with the high energy field dog. However, she was a shocking embarassment in the local obedience class, when she kept doing her surprise (alarmingly vicious!!) attacks on the other dogs in the class. We had to drop out of the class because of it. We figured she got enough socialzing with our dogs at home. We did obedience training with her ourselves. She's okay walking at the park, under close direction.

Now, sad twists have taken our 2 Labs and Nellie is now the only dog in the house. Three times recently she's charged an "intruder" dog and attacked with her teeth! Once, my husband was bit when breaking up a fight -- and he knew better than to do that! It was so shocking a alarming, he just forgot himself. What if it had been a child? Our daughter is just 4 years old.

We have a wire "hidden" fence, that works to keep Nellie in, but random dogs do wander in, on rare occasions. Another concern.

We have been working with Nellie a lot and she has shown a great deal of improvement.

So... last week we bought a 7 week old Lab puppy. We introduced Nellie and the puppy with great control and caution. They played together pretty sweetly. However, the first evening we were relaxing together, without leashes on them, Nellie attacked the puppy. It was so frightening. We didn't see it start, but the puppy was shreaking and Nellie had her head in her mouth. My husband broke it up. The puppy's eye was bleeding. We rushed to the Vet emergency clinic and were told she was very lucky. Another minute and the puppy could have lost the eye or worse.

We now spend every minute worrying about where the two dogs are. We have bought kennels and have wired off sections in the yard-- so they never have contact. We are wondering if we can keep this up until the puppy is big enough to fend for herself --- and THEN what? They are both females. What will THAT fight look like?

We are so tierd of this problem of Nellie's. But it is hard to let her go. She has been with us 5 years. She is the last of our original pack.

The fact that she got on so well with those 2 (male) Labs before gives me hope. But we wonder if we are nuts to keep her around that long.

Thanks to anyone with the patience to read this. How do these dogs, "pets" get to us and put us through so much?

The Sussix Spaniel is a rare breed and I can't find anything about on aggression with them, specifically. Any comments, suggestions or help is appreciated.

Has anyone had to introduce 2 dogs when one has an aggression problem?

Thanks,

Nancy
nancy@crowedesign.com
Any breed of dog can be dog aggressive. I'm not going to chastise you for getting a puppy - I can kind of understand where you're coming from...but you've done it a bit backwards. Keeping them separated is not the way to go as the tension is only going to continue to build up in your Sussex and if she gets a chance to go at the puppy it could be potentially dangerous - even resulting in death.

I strongly recommend you putting the puppy into someone else's care for the moment - maybe a friend or family member could take it for the moment and then focus on fixing up the dog aggression issue.

What you need to do is get an experienced dog trainer. Someone who can come to your house and see your dog in its own environment. They will see how you're treating your dog (is it too high in the pack?) and be able to guide/train you on what to do. The next thing they should do is start by introducing dogs (in a controlled manner) to de-sensitise your dog. This will most likely take a number of visits. If all goes well then you will have a calm dog on your hands and then you can go about introducing the lab puppy...but only once you know that all is ok - and this needs to occur off your property.

Good luck.