Aggression Towards Other Pets

[padfoot]

I haven't posted about this on here as I haven't been on much lately and it's been quite an upsetting situation in our house with the dogs.

Ollie has always been a bit possessive of things and people, and has a problem with resource guarding. We've tried to limit the episodes by not allowing him to have chews and toys unless he is in his crate and so on. But inevitably situations arise that we can't predict.

He has a particular problem with our other cocker Toby...he sometimes attacks him for no apparent reason. Toby put up with this at first and shrank off, but now he understandably retaliates and we have dogfights in our house   Ollie is insanely jealous of Toby and Toby can't even come over for a hug sometimes without Ollie snarling.
Ollie then began having a go at our setter Millie now and then which obviously upset her. He would begin by trying to make her play and when she wouldn't respond, he would get too rough until he ended up really hurting her.
Twice my 4 yr old was nipped when he was in the way and Ollie suddenly went for one of the other dogs. This was pretty scary so we are now having to keep Ollie completely seperate from the children at all times while the other dogs are around unless we are actually holding either Ollie or the children.

Today he has attacked our cavalier Trixie. She found a piece of rawhide bone behind the sofa which we didn't know was there...the first we knew about it was when we heard her screeching and crying in pain and found Ollie attacking her. She is a nervous dog and she was very upset afterwards, although not seriously hurt.

He also spends a lot of his time chasing and trying to eat the cats....he was fine with cats when he arrived here, so why he has started doing this is beyond us  

I've got some details of behaviourists and we are in contact with the rescue Ollie came from, but I was just wondering if anyone else on here had gone through anything similar with dogs and if they found a solution?

Ollie is incidentally brilliant with people and does not guard things from us or the children.

[Magic Star]

Sorry to hear this Kelly!  Must be a nightmare to live with.  I can't really suggest anything other than could it be an age/hormonal thing?  I'm sure you may have thought of this already though.   Its strange though that hes attacking the bitches too, I always thought that oposite sexe's don't fight except for perhaps a warning growl or snarl

Hope you find a solution to this situation soon  

[bluesmum]

Hi Kelly,

I dont think I've posted on here about Bailey having the same problem either, but for a while he was an absolute nightmare! He is also possesive so no chews at all in this house or poor Blue gets it!

I dont want to go into the full extent of Baileys behaviour but believe me Kelly he was really hard work.

I contacted someone from TTouch and have had amazing results, you wouldn't believe the difference in him Kelly he is so much calmer and happier, it's the best money I've ever spent  

Things arnt totally solved here and I'm still working with him and wont give up on him,  I'm so much happier with how things are here and so is Blue

I'd recommend TTouch to anybody, I wasn't into all this massage thing but after seeing the results and after just a week there was a huge difference!

HTH Kelly, I know what a worrying time you must be going through.

[padfoot]

Thankyou both...Penny has given me some TTouch contacts, I will definitely give that a try now I've read it did help with Bailey.
I know what you mean Emma, I've never known a dog to attack my bitches before so it's come as a shock. But I don't believe Ollie is "nasty", I think it might be a mixture of age and hormones as you say, as well as the fact that he seems a naturally jealous dog.
Sometimes I wish I could talk to him, he is such a sweet dog when it's just him and us, it breaks my heart that he won't get along with the others because it means he has less time with us is he has to be seperated from them  

[PennyB]

I contacted someone from TTouch and have had amazing results, you wouldn't believe the difference in him Kelly he is so much calmer and happier, it's the best money I've ever spent 

Things arnt totally solved here and I'm still working with him and wont give up on him,  I'm so much happier with how things are here and so is Blue

I'd recommend TTouch to anybody, I wasn't into all this massage thing but after seeing the results and after just a week there was a huge difference!

HTH Kelly, I know what a worrying time you must be going through.

Glad someone else has had good results with TTouch (am always recommending it so its good to get feedback).

Kelly have contacted my TTouch/rescue friend re the contact I gave you, plus there's one a little closer but she isn't as highly qualified as the one I originally sent you (have asked re her as well).

Wilf is going through this challenging phase as well but he knows he can't try it on with madam Ruby so makes his presence felt outside the house (have had to apologise to sooooo many people, and most thankfully see that he's just exerting himself on their poor dog because of his age). I know with him he's just going through that phase and can avoid most situations.

Good luck with it all

[Silver Surfer (indiesnan)]

I'm so sorry to hear this Kelly, it must be awful for you, trying to keep the peace.
Like Emma says it is possible he is hormonal, and trying to make his presence felt.

Wasn't Ollie a rescue dog?   maybe that has something to do with his behavour.







 

[tobycat]

Hi Kelly

So very sorry to hear about your problems.

Sasha was a lot like you have described Ollie. She was very possesive with her toys and especially her chews. She also used to regularly attack Scully for no apparent reason at all although she was fine with the cats. She also used to attack several other dogs on the island too to the point where the vet advised me to only take her out with a muzzle on. It was heartbreaking.

I lost Sasha at the age of almost 3. She had a huge amount of health problems - epilepsy, spinal problems and a neurological problem. However she also suffered from rage syndrome which didn't respond to any treatments either a behaviourist or the vet could give.

I am not suggesting Ollie has any of the problems Sash had but it may be worth considering a trip to the vet to be sure there's no medical underlying cause to his recent problems. We believe (rightly or wrongly   ) that the neurological problem that Sash had was partly or wholy responsible for her behaviour.

I hope you resolve this soon. Having two fighting dogs in one house is a nightmare that I couldn't wish on anyone. Let us know how you get on and pm me anytime you want to talk    

[*Jay*]

I do sympathise Kelly as I've been having the same problems with Vegas for a while now. I've got him on a flower remedy from a holistic pet supply store which definitely seems to help. I'm also going to have to contact a behaviourist in the next couple of weeks.  Its difficult to pinpoint excatly what makes Vegas turn but it can be if hes on the sofa with a toy and one of the dogs walk past, he will jump off snarling and pin them to the ground but won't actually bite. If given things like rawhide chews, he won't eat them, instead he chooses to sit in his bed and guard them and then none of the dogs can get past him. So they are a no-no now  I really hope you can get it sorted soon - it is so tiring sometimes    Like Ollie, his temperament with people hasn't changed - he's still a cuddle monster

Can someone pm me some links to TTouch - I'm at the stage where I'll give anything a go.

[Pammy]

here you go Gill

http://www.ttouchtteam.co.uk/

[PennyB]

Gill TTouch is really good so worth a try. When I saw friends male cockers going through adolescence they were an absolute nightmare, really over the top loutish behaviour (and prayed mine wouldn't do the same). They would often jump on other dogs and behave as you describe, but in time they all went through this and were fine without any intervention (and are quite calm now). Wilf (neutered at 8 months) does this but he's not as bad as my friends dogs were, still unacceptable but I just work on the recall so he comes back before he starts (its only with dogs he feels who are less confident than him such as a poor collie who he pinned down the other week and I had to drag him off). However I see him behaving the same with 2 of his contemporaries, but they can be rougher than him so its not a problem (and I realise that he just wants to be like this with everyone but is sometimes picking on the wrong ones). Personally I don't think he knows how to behave with other dogs at the moment.

I must admit having worked with my dog trainer on 1-2-1s with Ruby and her moods has helped dealing with Wilf in understanding what I'm dealing with.

[Mary P]

Hi Kelly,
As Penny knows, after an initial good start, Jack our second rescue has been challenging Tia a lot. They always have bloody fights if it goes that far, and I was getting very worried about it.
I'm glad to say that over the past couple of weeks (since the school hols - more people around for attention) things have been lots better, and he is getting starting to get the hang of everything too. He came to us apparently not trained at all - even wee's in the house and no commands that he understood. He's responding well at the moment to us, and is calmer with Tia.
I am going to book up training asap as I want our situation to continue to improve.
Penny has been extremely helpful and patient with my moans and worries, so thanks Penny for that.
Fighting dogs really get you down Kelly, and I do sympathise with you and hope that the TTouch will change things for you.
Happy New Year,
 

[PennyB]

Hi Kelly, my TTouch friend says this about the person I suggested to you: 'Marie is great and very sympathetic - she would be the ideal person to see'

[suki1964]

Hi Kelly,
As Penny knows, after an initial good start, Jack our second rescue has been challenging Tia a lot. They always have bloody fights if it goes that far, and I was getting very worried about it.
I'm glad to say that over the past couple of weeks (since the school hols - more people around for attention) things have been lots better, and he is getting starting to get the hang of everything too. He came to us apparently not trained at all - even wee's in the house and no commands that he understood. He's responding well at the moment to us, and is calmer with Tia.
I am going to book up training asap as I want our situation to continue to improve.
Penny has been extremely helpful and patient with my moans and worries, so thanks Penny for that.
Fighting dogs really get you down Kelly, and I do sympathise with you and hope that the TTouch will change things for you.
Happy New Year,

Having met Jack and Tia on Monday, I have to say you are doing a marvelous job with him and hes a very lucky boy to have you as his new mum

[padfoot]

I have contacted Marie Miller   Hoping she can help us now...had a horrible episode earlier where he attacked Millie's foot and left her with a cut on her paw   She is okay now but it wasn't nice.

[kookie]

Its difficult to pinpoint excatly what makes Vegas turn but it can be if hes on the sofa with a toy and one of the dogs walk past, he will jump off snarling and pin them to the ground but won't actually bite. If given things like rawhide chews, he won't eat them, instead he chooses to sit in his bed and guard them and then none of the dogs can get past him. So they are a no-no now  I really hope you can get it sorted soon - it is so tiring sometimes    Like Ollie, his temperament with people hasn't changed - he's still a cuddle monster

Can someone pm me some links to TTouch - I'm at the stage where I'll give anything a go.

Cleo is just like this too.
Likes to guard things. Only supervised chews and things in our house too.