My yorkie randomly attacks toy poodle,
 

My 2 yr. old yorkie, Pippi and my 12 yr. old toy poodle are buddies most of the time, and then out of the blue with no provocation Pippi attacks Yogi and won't let go, she draws blood but I can't not get her to let go. There does not seem to be any reason for it so she always gets Yogi kinda in arm(leg) pit and leg and then poor Yogi limps around for a couple of weeks. I now muzzle Pippi most of the time which I hate to do but...any suggestions?

I would get a behaviorist involved ASAP. There are dogs also that will attack the older, weaker and sick. Having a muzzle on all the time is certainly not a great way to live.

Hi Stretch,

Welcome to YorkieTalk. I love your dogs' names.

This sounds serious. Has Pippi had this "out of the blue" behavior for a long time? What is the gender of your poodle? Have both been spayed/neutered?

What advice did your vet offer?

I'm sure this is scary. Thank you for staying on top of it. --KatysMom

I got Pippi when she was 5 months old and I have no real proof that she was mistreated before I got her but I don't believe she had ever really been outside before and I do know that she spent most of her time in a kennel. She loves being outside, took me longer than usual to train her because she was so excited outside that she wouldn't want to waste time with her business. haha but it did happen and that's all good and she first attacked Yogi when she was 1 year old. Pippi is spayed but Yogi isn't. They are the best of friends all the time and then all of a sudden Pippi just attacks her. I know sometimes it has been jealousy so I make sure I give them the same attention at the same time but other times, it's just random, like if I let them both out at the same time, I think Pippi gets so excited so bites Yogi??? Otherwise they can both eat of the same dish, sleep on my bed together, sit together at the window, so I don't know what to do. The vet thinks she'll outgrow it because she has no health problems and never attacks my other BIG dog and my cats or my grandkids. Any suggestions that I can try, I welcome.

Hi Stretch,

Thank you for the additional and helpful information.

I am not a vet and your household is not my household, but I disagree in a major way with any vet whose response to aggressive behavior is to let her "grow out of it."

Perhaps approach your vet to ask for a referral to a specialist? If your vet is dismissive of this request, then perhaps seek out a different vet.

An article in Psychology Today, "Aggression Between Dogs in the Same Household" by Stanley Coren, PhD, DSc, FRSC (22 April 2014) refers to a study by researchers at Tufts University Commings School of Veterinary Medicine. In that study, a majority of the aggressors were those most recently brought into the household, also a majority were female. (See paragraph 4 in the article.)

Most if not all points made by the author in the piece seem relevant to your situation. Of particular interest, "Aggression may not be their only problem, since 50 percent of the pairs of dogs involved in conflicts had at least one member with noticeable separation anxiety, and 30 percent had phobias, fearfulness, or other forms of anxiety."

Author believes aggression is "treatable using behavior techniques," and offers up several approaches/steps. (See the paragraphs toward the end of the article.)

Finally, the article provides a link to a second in the same journal by the same author (click here) that has subtitle, "Using punishment during training predicts aggression toward people."

VCA has an article online by Debra Horwitz, DVM, DACVB and Gary Landsberg, DVM, DACVB, DECAWBM, "Dog Behavior Problems -- Aggression -- Sibling Rivalry -- Diagnosis" (? n.d.).

Hope this information is helpful to you. --KatysMom