Male dog attacked younger female dog

katiebelle

I have two dogs , male aged 2 and female aged 9 months . Female puppy has been with us 5 months. She was introduced slowly to the male because she was quite puny when she got her and she has a few physical problems , eyes and paw. ( although she was well cared for by the breeder chipped vaccinated and so on ) When I did introduce her he seemed delighted. They got on well played together all the time. When I had to removed her while she was in heat she really pinned for him too.

Yesterday they were in the garden and I went out to top up the water bowls. I was standing at the back door the little female was next to me with the the male was at the other side. Suddenly out of the blue he flew at the puppy and attacked her. It was pretty vicious . When I shouted at him he stopped. He is generally pretty obedient. I have no idea why he did this and more worryingly I don't know if he has done this before. I would hate to think of the puppy being at the end of this on a regular basis.

He is getting grumpier generally I think . My son is dog mad and plays with them both for hours. Both dogs love it but the male has actually growled at my son on a few occasions and actually snapped at him once. This is all new. My son does not tease the dogs in anyway . He adores them both.

Male dog is fine with other dogs we meet on walks and such and seems fine with puppy today. ( although I am a scared of leaving him alone with her.)
Female is being fixed soon as I don't want puppies so will be away from male for a while. Maybe this is a good thing?? She will never be as big as him and I am worried about her now. He has been the perfect pet up to this too.
Oh I have also noticed they dont sleep curled up together any longer. They sleep on their own beds. Just the heat maybe ???

ppink

Sounds to me like you have had a couple of good warnings there and you should strongly consider getting someone good in to have a look at what exactly is going on.
Where did you introduce the female dog?
Male and female does not mean they will get on. I have 2 dogs that hate the sight of each other..male and female.

Have you had the male dog checked by the vet to make sure it is not somethign wrong with him healthwise that is making him cross?

katiebelle

Yes had the male at the vet after he snapped my son. Vet gave him a clean bill of health. I introduced them at home just in the living room . Should I not have done that?? The thing is they seemed to be getting on really well.

Who should I call to get them to look into this ?? I am happy to try anything. I really don't want to get rid of either of them as they are part of the family. They are both in out of the sun at the moment and all is calm. Male prefers the garden though while female rathers the house. That's fine now but he will be indoors way more in the winter months.

Winston79

katiebelle wrote: »

I introduced them at home just in the living room . Should I not have done that?? The thing is they seemed to be getting on really well.

A new dog coming into a home with a dog/dogs already living there should really be introduced in a neutral place, start off with 2 people walking them a few feet apart and then end up with one person walking them at either side. Introducing a new dog to a family dog on "their turf" can cause problems.

In the beginning our 2 dogs would snap over food and toys, but after some training and a bit of time they ended up fine.

You could look at taking them to a trainer if you feel there's a danger, but don't give up, time and hard work pays off in the end

katiebelle

Winston79 wrote: »

A new dog coming into a home with a dog/dogs already living there should really be introduced in a neutral place, start off with 2 people walking them a few feet apart and then end up with one person walking them at either side. Introducing a new dog to a family dog on "their turf" can cause problems.

In the beginning our 2 dogs would snap over food and toys, but after some training and a bit of time they ended up fine.

You could look at taking them to a trainer if you feel there's a danger, but don't give up, time and hard work pays off in the end

Oh I see. I did not know that. I did pick up the basics for things like toilet training and obedience but obviously need more info. We did not have problems with food or toys in fact he has a very fav toy but lets her play with it. They are both quite playful dogs and are even playing together now as I speak. I think I will get a trainer in and see what they say.

Just to add the neighbor has two mid sized mongrels . They are fed and watered but never walked or left in the house and the garden is cemented over. These dogs never see a human beyond the few mins to take to put food out. They are very bored frustrated dogs and go bananas if any of us go into our own garden. They sound pretty vicious and I am glad we have a sturdy high fence. Lately my male has taken to reacting to these dogs and barks back at the fence when they start. Could it be related to his behaviour changes in any way ??

ppink

Maybe your male dog thinks he is being invaded from all angles, with dogs barking next door and a new dog arriving out of the blue into his living room:)

I agree with Winston about introducing on neutral ground. It is what has worked for me and kind of makes sense once you think about it. A lot of these things though it is learning by experience.

Where abouts are you based and maybe someone could recommend a good behaviourist/trainer to help you out?
the main thing is you have spotted it and can now get the help to deal with it. Just be careful until then with your son and the female dog.

katiebelle

Thanks ppink. I think this may be the answer. The male is a lovely little dog and I really want him to be happier about his situation. I have the name of a good trainer I think . My son has two collies and they work with a brilliant trainer. Lovely dogs but just needed to learn how to listen. They are different dogs now.
I suppose I had thought trainers did obedience and things like that only did not think about bringing one in for a problem like this. I just rang him there and we are seeing him tomorrow.

A big part of getting the female was to get some company for the male as he seemed a bit forlorn when my son and I could not play with him. He is a tiny bit possessive of me. If I pet or play with the female sometimes he bounds in between us putting his head under my hand. He was never aggressive towards her though. I don't mind putting in the work once I know what to do.

katiebelle

Should have said my OTHER son has two collies, not the son that lives with me. My older son has his own place and does visit with the collies . There are no problems between the 4 dogs when he does.

ppink

just be sure that this guy is able to analyse behaviour as opposed to train. as you know you can train the pants off them but that may not deal with the behaviour issue you have. i dont know if all trainers are able to analyse behaviour.
Best of luck anyway. hopefully you can get some answers tomorrow. let us know how you get on:)

katiebelle

Thanks again ppink , I will make sure I find out if he is able to analyse behaviour.
Thats really good information. Thanks for all your help