Cujo and the 3 Puppies

[Yorkieprobs]

Hello! Hope you all are having better weather than we are. Where's Spring hiding?

I've posted here previously, and thankfully the situation with my pup is much improved. However, my mothers dog, henceforth known as Cujo, started to attack my cats and I had enough and got my critters the heck out of harms way. Unfortunately, on the day we were moving (what luck), Cujo got ahold of one of my cats. His wound was so serious the vet, who knows Cujo all too well, bluntly told me to get my cats out of there because Cujo will eventually kill one of them. Unfortunately, Mum didn't take the vets or my own concerns seriously. In her words, I was being "dramatic" and she was angry at the vet for "trying to scare me." Sigh. The important thing is my boys are safe and happy.

We left a year ago and in that time she has added three puppies to her household. The first is a Yorkie male and honestly, Cujo is pretty ok with him. At least, she only attacks him rarely now. Possibly, because he's a Yorkie too. But, she's the same around my dog and he's a Chihuahua. The previous Chi mum adopted she had to rehome a few months later because they were going to kill one another. It could be that he's a smart boy and gives Cujo a wide berth. But, it's probably because she now has better faces to chew on. The other pups are a 6 month male MinPin and his 8 week old sister. She's his biological sister, just different litters. They both walk on eggshells around Cujo, but it doesn't matter. She will attack them for minding their own business on the other side of the room.

The older MinPin has been to the vet many times for infected wounds. He has bite marks in various stages of healing everytime I see him. The baby MinPin's first introduction into her new home and mum was being attacked by Cujo. What really scares me is how Cujo goes for the head, neck, and belly. The vet told my mother that Cujo doesn't want other dogs around and that she will seriously maim or injure them if she can. She just got angry and said that she didn't like the way the vet talked down to her. But, my aunt was also there and said that the vet was just being honest and didn't yell or talk down to anyone. Honestly, with what I've seen the vet sounds reasonable. I dearly love my mother, but she either doesn't or doesn't want to take Cujo's aggressions seriously.

On top of her attacks on animals, Cujo has bitten almost everyone she has contact with. She's bit my mothers husband in the face. Bit my mother's hand and arms. Bit the vet. Bit me. Bit my aunts. Bit the neighbor. Nearly bit my little cousins and the neighbor girl. Her groomer is one of the few people she hasn't bitten, but I'm not sure if I believe that. She probably muzzles and is just afraid to tell mum. Otherwise she's a Cujo-whisperer and needs to share her secrets. lol

My vet said Cujo attacking the cats is her prey drive and she definitely has a strong one. The neighbor that she bit is a dog trainer and works with rescues. She said a dog that attacks without warning has a few screws loose. I've been around dogs (little dogs, big dogs, the so-called "aggressive" breeds) my whole life and have never seen one go from 0-10 like Cujo does. Usually there's a tell or some kind of escalation. She just goes from being sweet and calm to killer. Unfortunately, she was purchased at a sale from a byb, so we have no information about parents or sibling temperament. My mother's vet thinks its territorial and jealousy. She might not want other animals around. I don't know what to think. When I took care of her as a puppy, she was so good. She learned potty training and commands quickly, wanted to please, had a very calm, sweet temperament, and would even sleep with my cats. And for as much as I call her Cujo, I really care about her and can't imagine, whatever's going on, that she enjoys it. And while its not my household or my problem, I love animals and my mum and don't want either hurt.

Alright, before this gets any longer than it already is, does anyone have any suggestions, tips, ideas, training, anything, no matter how blunt, to help an extremely aggressive dog? I greatly appreciate any and all responses and anyone taking the time to read this post. Thank you!

Tldr; mothers very aggressive Yorkie is putting holes in her other dogs and sometimes, people too. No warning. Sweet and calm, then Cujo. Anyway to stop her from potentially killing the other dogs or getting my mum sued by a neighbor?

[KairaPup]

You need a behaviorist and it should have happened yesterday- the dog clearly needs some serious help, far beyond what anyone on the internet can do.

[Yorkieprobs]

Sorry for being stupid here, but a quick Google search tells me that a dog trainer and dog behaviorist are very different. I will definitely suggest one (politely) to mum, thank you. Hopefully she will work with one for the sake of her other dogs. Cujo is her "golden child" though and I worry she will be offended or uncooperative with someone telling her what to do with her dog. After an attack, Cujo returns or remains on the bed with mum and the other dog hides in another room for a time. So, behavior could be the problem. She kicked two dogs and two cats out of the house with her aggression, maybe she thinks she can do the same with these guys? Mum worked with me on her food aggression and it improved, maybe, hopefully, she'll work with someone else. Or at least I can say I've tried.

Thank you very much for your suggestion. A final question, there's a few behaviorist so in our area. Do they need to have any liscence or accreditation that we should be aware of? Or is there a directory out there to list ones, maybe specializing in very aggressive behavior? Apologies for my ignorance.

[Yorkieprobs]

Originally Posted by KairaPup

You need a behaviorist and it should have happened yesterday- the dog clearly needs some serious help, far beyond what anyone on the internet can do.

Sorry for being stupid here, but a quick Google search tells me that a dog trainer and dog behaviorist are very different. I will definitely suggest one (politely) to mum, thank you. Hopefully she will work with one for the sake of her other dogs. Cujo is her "golden child" though and I worry she will be offended or uncooperative with someone telling her what to do with her dog. After an attack, Cujo returns or remains on the bed with mum and the other dog hides in another room for a time. So, behavior could be the problem. She kicked two dogs and two cats out of the house with her aggression, maybe she thinks she can do the same with these guys? Mum worked with me on her food aggression and it improved, maybe, hopefully, she'll work with someone else. Or at least I can say I've tried.

Thank you for your suggestion. A final question, there's a few behaviorist so in our area. Do they need to have any liscence or accreditation that we should be aware of? Or is there a directory out there to list ones, maybe specializing in very aggressive behavior? Apologies for my ignorance.

[gemy]

I will be very blunt here and apologize in advance for any hurt feelings. Would either you or your Mom accept this behaviour from a 100+ lb dog? If not why accept it with this Yorkie? It is very serious behaviour issues which I am sure that you know.

There is some sort of behaviourist accreditation a google search will find out same.

In the meantime your Mom should seriously considering tethering to her all the time when her Cujo is out of the playpen or crate. This way her behaviour can be controlled - corrected rewarded etc.

In terms of your comment if a dog continually goes from 0 to bite with no warning this is a high red sign that there maybe something mis-wired with in her brain. How ever I do not know what early and how much early obedience training she received. Doubtfull much as most Yorkie owners don t pay any attention to training.

Your Mom needs to act now before there is someone who reports her dog to the Animal Control in the area.

[gemy]

And just so you know I had a dear lass who is now departed who bit from fear ie a a fear biter. 2 behaviourist assessments agreed that this was likely hard wired and no amount of training will make her dependable. But of course you have to train - you just can never ever trust her around in this case humans. She thankfully did not try to bite our other animals in house or our humans in house. If she had I would have PTS. I will never accept a dog that bites humans or other animals for any reason. Sounds harsh? Nope it is my responsibility as a dog owner to train a responsible dog. If they can't be trained and literally bite the hand that feeds them.... well if all training fails then sorry darling but it is my duty to PTS,

[Yorkieprobs]

@gemy, thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm so sorry about your girl. Thankfully she met someone who could meet her needs and do what's needed for both owner, family, and dog.

No worries about being blunt. You're preaching to the choir! I don't have a Yorkie, but a Chihuahua and had a GSD (bless his soul) and just like there would be zero tolerance for my GSD if he displayed food guarding or any unwanted aggressive behavior (his job was to protect us so, we were a-ok with him chasing someone that may do us harm out of the house, which he did twice, but not family or friends), there's zero tolerance for my Chi to do the same. He might be "my baby" but, he's a dog. Full stop.

Unfortunately, my mother is very different. And I doubt she will change even if Cujo kills one of her other dogs. And I don't ever see her PTS, even if sued and ordered to. She's very head-in-the-sand to how serious Cujo's aggressions are. I'm just hoping because she worked with me on Cujo's food aggression, we might be able to work something out to save Cujo, her other dogs, and herself. Preferably with a behaviorist or trainer. She doesn't crate, playpen, or otherwise restrict her dogs unless a fenced in yard counts. Though, to be fair, I only crated the GSD and playpened the Chi for puppy training and for highway road travel. The Chi is now strapped in the seatbelt with one of the hookups for dogs, like a harness. But, only because he's very good with car travel and people really respond to him as well as he to them. He's a real people dog.

However, if one or both dogs ever needed training and a crate was suggested, their butts would be in one. When mum was trying to work through the aggression between Cujo and her rehomed Chi, the vet recommended crating, and she did try. But, "it wasn't fair on Cujo" and "she was unhappy", but her Chi was alright with it and Mum would send her in there to keep them separate. Meanwhile Cujo was on the bed, getting full attention.

Now, my mum is an absolute sweetheart and a I love her dearly. I'm only "dogging" (sorry) on her so much because it's so frustrating for family to see a trainwreck coming, but not be able to stop it. Especially with someone so close to our hearts standing directly in its path.

Hoping it's not that Cujo is wired wrong and instead it's a training / behavior issue. I fear you're right and it may be part of it. Unfortunately, if it is, I don't see the situation improving. Mum will not take the steps required. But, I'm learning more about behaviorists thanks to you both in this thread and the forums and will politely show my research to mum to try and get her to, at the very least, talk to someone. Fingers crossed!