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Originally Posted by Cha Cha  Moka and Mylee have always been the best of friends and snuggled together. They are 7 and 5. Two months ago Mylee got sick and was at the vet's for 2 weeks. She's doing very well, gaining weight, but still appears fragile, and her personality has never really seemed the same. Since her return home the agression has been building. More and more moments of the posturing, and challenging stares, and now it has lead to full on attacks. Moka is generally the agressor, but last night Mylee clearly challenged Moka and before I could stop it they had ahold of each other's nose and wouldn't let go. It was as bad as it sounds.  Mylee took a bite to the leg (no blood or broken skin but she is limping) and my husband took a bite to the finger. Moka has a small tear on her lip. I'm scheduling an appointment for Moka to check her out, but I don't think they'll find anything. She is a picture of good health. It just feels like Moka is targeting Mylee because she is "weak." I wouldn't consider either of them dominant or alpha dogs. They both submit to me quite easily. I consider myself good at knowing dogs in general, behavior, training, etc., but this is waaaaay out of my league. I am devastated by this new development. Can anyone offer any advice? How do I deal with this. |
This will happen frequently in a "pack"....when one is determined to be "sick, weak, or ill", the rest of the group will often jump the weaker one.....nature's way of assuring "survivial of the fittest." This is also why some pups will not ever display sickness or pain living in a home with mone that one pet, and even sometimes when interacting with the owners. When I have a baby that is feeling out of sorts, I watch that dog very closely around the rest of the group.....in the past, there has been a couple of instances where one attacked the pup that was not 100%, and as I was running to the fight, 3 more of the others run to the fight and jumped right in on the pup that was down. If I had not been within 10 feet of this terrible encounter, they would have killed poor Rosie. From that day on, I keep my dogs isolated when one does not feel 100%.
If one had to go to the vet for several days, when I brought that baby home, I think I would bathe that dog, or do what I could to get the "vet smell" off the dog.....as well as keeping that dog separated for an additional couple of days, and back to as near normal as possible. Spray perfume on a towel, heat the towel in a dryer, then rub the dog all over with the warm, perfumed towel. That will dispell "vet office"smell. If you then throw the towel on the floor or in a dog bed, or couch, EVERYONE will rub around on the warm towel, everyone will smell the same, and peace will hopefully reign again!