dog housemate aggression

[minkysmom]

Ugh, just when I thought every dog in the house was doing good! The situation - I am keeping my daughter's unspayed bassett-lab 11-month old and have been waiting 3 weeks for her to go out of heat so I could eventually get her spayed. My own dog, Minky, 3 1/2 yr old neuter male pit bull X lab, has been getting along with her so well. They play greta together in the yard, lots of tug and running and fetching sticks and Mink would even slow down so that Mercedes the bassett, could catch up with her little short legs. He seemed very tolerant of her - she was always nipping and biting his ears and hanging onto his jowls and then suddenly one day - BAM! - he flattened her right at my feet when I was making sandwiches in the kitchen. He didn't hurt her, he just gnarled and barked all over her. So I separated them and figured that food was the trigger. Then they were back together again and they were totally fine. Until I walked in the door from work one evening (my son was supervising the dogs, and they had been peacefully co-existing for several hours with him) and - BAM! Again the Mink flattened poor Mercedes at the door at my feet! (again, he didn't even bite her, he just got all ferocious and she screamed and bellied up.)
So now I am thinking about something Kevin said somewhere on his site about dogs becoming junkies for our attention and getting upset when another dog or other creature gets in between them and their "fix". And I realise that I have spent 3 years Obsessing over this dog, my Minky, My Pit bull, and I haven't been giving him enough SPACE to be uncomplicatedly on his own.
So, my partial fix is to put him away in his own room - the kitchen, where he has his crate - when I am home working on illustration work. (I used to let him lie at my feet, all day long, with breaks for outdoor stuff) Later I will take him for his 2 mile walk with push and tug, and then separate again. I think this will help. I am a compulsive worrier and it must a relief for Minky to be somewhat removed from that energy.

Anyway, I hope to hear from other NDT folk with insights and suggestions.

[Sang]

Sounds like you've got it handled. Breaking Minky's owner addiction will be your biggest challenge, which of course really means breaking your "addiction" to him. Giving him plenty of time alone will be really good for both him and for you.

You can also put Minky outside in a crate, or on a short tie out as well. There's something really therapeutic for dogs to have that time alone away from you like that.

Right now Minky's purpose in life is your attention. So when the source of that power is disrupted, Minky feels unsettled and will then follow the path of least resistance, ie Mercedes. Once you get Minky really up to speed on what the REAL group purpose is, which is to bite the thing you want him to bite, then he won't be so in need of your attention to feel fulfilled.

Hope that helps.

[minkysmom]

say, thanks that helped to know I was on the right track with that, Sang. I remember Kevin B saying something about if we give the dog too much attention, it's too much input, and destabilizes the dog.... or something. Yeah, that. (He said it better).

[litehorse]

I know this is way out of date but I'm new and was reading through the previous posts and this one really hit home. This is a serious problem I am having with two of my dogs.
I have five and they all get along very well most of the time, but the two big males, both neutered, are the problem. I have been having such a time trying to figure out what is going on. This discussion really helped me see some things. I was letting Boss, the aggressive half-lab, half-rott, "claim" me. He has been with me constantly for 3 months now. At first he was fine and I had even let down my guard a bit. He had been with his owner, my son, but had to come live with me because my son could no longer keep him. He is aggressive toward Shiloh, my aussie mix. There had been periodic times when Boss was aggressive with Shiloh before, so I kept an eye on them. Then about 3 weeks ago it happened again. These are very serious fights. I have to really work to get them separated and blood is usually involved. I'm very concerned and have been totally baffled, but I am going to try what Minkysmom is doing and see what happens.

[Margot]

It seems no one else wants to say this but please keep these dogs apart at all times. Please especially NEVER leave them alone together. Not if you want to give your daughter back her dog in one piece.

Count yourself lucky that Minky is warning you with these displays, usually there is no warning.

That these dogs are predisposed to unbridled agression is not fiction.

So that you know that I am not making ill informed generalizations. I have experienced 4 bully attacks causing severe blood loss or death in my circle of friends and family. I was thankfully never there but saw the aftermaths. In all these cases the owner said: but he is such a sweet dog… I never thought he would do something like that. In three of these cases the bully was off lead. I can still see a friend and his dog before me, both covered in deep lacerations with hundreds and hundreds of stitches between them, my flat mate had had to save his dog from an attacking English Bull Terrier who was off lead on the beach. I also remember the devastation of a friend who’s bully had killed his mothers small dog. Had been living happily together for years. That bully used to sleep on my lap. It was some time ago and I had no idea about the nature of these dogs at the time. I just thought it really odd that it was always the same breed that was doing the attacking.