Chloe and Rose went at it...

[Ritz459]

Figured they would sooner or later with the way they act around each other bit it still scared the crap out of me. I'm just glad I was outside with them and able to break it up or it could have turned out badly.

I was outside brushing Chloe trying to get some of her fuzz off, while she was occupied chewing on a bone. (One bright spot in all of this was that Chloe was 1.) letting me brush her and 2.) was letting me brush her while chewing on a bone! She's gotten better with her resource guarding and her don't-touch-my-back-legs apprehension.) Blackie and Rose were just lounging around being old dogs.
Rose decides that Chloe's bone looked interesting so she came over and layed down about three feet away from Chloe while looking for any signs of weakness. (Rose waits until the dog chewing on the thing she wants is distracted, then she slips in, takes the bone, and leaves - she does this all of the time with Blackie.) Chloe, being the dumb dog she is, was distracted by a moth fluttering in the grass so she took her eyes and head away from the bone to snap and paw at the moth. Rose crawled over, grabbed the bone, and backed away before Chloe even knew what had happened. Still no problem.
After the moth was gone, Chloe went back to her bone....to find it gone and Rose chewing on it a couple of feet away. Chloe laid down and kept looking at Rose, but I suppose since I'm used to the way Rose does things, I didn't think anything of it. I also didn't think Chloe would be stupid enough to try to take the bone back. I was wrong.
Chloe reached her head in to take the bone/chew on it as well (unsure what she was trying to do as she wasn't being growly, but very cautious and hesitant) and Rose went after her. At first I just heard the snarl and I saw Chloe back up so I thought that would be the end of it and was just going to let Rose tell Chloe off. But Rose didn't stop there, she chased Chloe down and attacked her.
By this time I was trying to get in between them and to stop Chloe from getting hurt (because while she was growling as well, she was clearly not fighting back). This was a twist of events as normally it is a dog going after Rose that I'm trying to beat off, not Rose going after another dog. Calling Rose off wasn't working (has worked in the past), so I tried to boot her off....didn't work. By this time Blackie was coming over wondering what all of the fuss was about and I didn't want him getting into it as well, as he will attack any dog that is a "threat" towards Rose. So then I had to worry about three dogs.
I eventually just took the shedding blade I was holding and smacked Rose across the neck with it. After a couple of wacks she let up enough that I was able to step in between them and grab them both. I put Rose in a sit stay, backed Blackie up (he's such a good boy!), and kept Chloe sitting down and after a few seconds of Chloe still wide eyed and panicy everything calmed down. Rose and Chloe were fine, Blackie went back to his nap, and I was left shaking.

After I had calmed down I made sure to give Rosie lots of pets and I told her I was sorry for kicking her and hitting her, but I didn't want her to hurt the dumb dog. I was almost in tears that I had to physically beat my precious old baby dog to get her off of my dumb puppy. I don't think I've ever laid on hand on Rose before until today and I still feel horrible about it. Thank God dogs are forgiving.

Nobody was hurt and, needless to say, all bones were picked up. Rose and Chloe have had their disagreements before, but it had never been that severe; normally just a flash of teeth and a growl and a calm command from me would get Rose to calm down and Chloe to back off.

Please remind me to never own two female dogs in the same household ever again, or at least when both female dogs have issues. I put up with enough of this crap when our neighbor's Malamute Loupie lived with us (only then it was me defending Rose) and I don't want it to start up again now.

[Swiftwind]

Sounds like it was all a bit of a fiasco! Luckily it stopped when it did, though... otherwise who knows what might have happened. Harley and Abby get a bit 'iffy' around each other from time to time, and it usually happens over a good bone.

[IceyBlueSibes]

Yikes! I'd probably do the same as you... My guys will get into "snarfs" every now and then. But it normally stops and we don't fuss much if it's just a snap or growl. We tell um "Alright guys, chill out" and everyone goes back to their business. If it ever escalates more than that, we obviously put a stop to it. Most of the time it's over a bone. I think the last time any of the guys got into it it was about a year ago, and over a stuffed toy between Kelso and Ike. With Kelso, he's mean with toys so we've got to watch him like clockwork if he has one.

It's hard to break up a fight when you're the only person around. I think you did the right thing to keep Chloe from getting hurt. I think I'd rather have the thought in my mind of giving my dogs a couple kicks to get them off, rather than having a large vet bill and wondering "What if... " Y'know? I know it's just one of those things where you can't help but feel bad, though.

A majority of the time, I grab my guys by the hind quarters and pull them up. It breaks their leverage... however it doesn't help if I pull the wrong one. Cause I've got to make sure I grab the one who is carrying on because I've had to break them up and once I got ahold of the one, the other just went for them again. But a lot of times I've had another person there when it happens. My dad freaks out and says we're getting rid of all the dogs when it happens lol We tell him just to calm down, no one was hurt and it's done and over with. I got lots of practice at doggie day care with scuffles though. I've carried two dogs out by the back of the neck one time because they wouldn't stop going after eachother and no one came in fast enough to help me. They finally got in when I was half way to the gate and they took the other one.

I remember one time that reminds me a lot of Blackie, because of the fact he's protective of Rose. There were two labs by the name of Kiwi and... shoot, I forget the other ones name! Anywho, Kiwi was a chocolate lab, and the other a yellow lab. Kiwi was a BIG boy, but super sweet. One day, one of the other dogs ended up going after the yellow lab and had him pinned to the ground. I ran over to him trying to get the dog off, and Kiwi came running over at the same time and lit into the dog like "THAT'S MY BROTHER YOU'RE BEATING UP ON!!" So, it got the dog off the other, and I told Kiwi "NO! Stop it!" and he backed off. But I just thought it was so cute (well, not sure if that's the word for it lol) how loyal dogs can be towards eachother sometimes.

[Ritz459]

Originally Posted by IceyBlueSibes

A majority of the time, I grab my guys by the hind quarters and pull them up. It breaks their leverage... however it doesn't help if I pull the wrong one.

That is what I would have liked to have done, but with three dogs and only one person....wasn't going to happen. I also have a feeling that if I had gotten Rose off of Chloe without being able to get in between them Chloe would have lit into Rose.
Chloe was still real defensive for a few seconds after I was able to get Rose off of her and when Blackie came up for a sniff Chloe growled and snapped at him which made him stand up really big...that was when I had him get back.

Phew. I guess life is never dull when you live with a dog aggressive dog, a dog fear aggressive dog, and a barrier reactive dog that has no manners.

Blackie's gotten into his fair share of fights because other dogs take after Rose. Blackie actually isn't that bad of a boy around other strange dogs (a lot of posturing, but it doesn't escalate past that) unless he feels he needs to defend us or Rose. It gets worse if the kids are around or the dog is misbehaving.

[k9hullio_sam]

That is so scary! It is hard when it is both your own dogs, because you love them both and you don't want either to get hurt. I know exactly how you feel, something similar happened between Mattie and Joyful the other day, but it didn't end quite as nicely.

I had Mattie all worked up playing with the hose, and throwing the water buckets at her (well...the water that was in the water buckets LOL), and when all the water was done, Mattie still wanted to play, and was standing by a water bucket just begging for me to throw it for her. Joyful wanted part of the fun too, and jack russel as she is....goes over to Mattie and starts jumping on her, and biting her neck and legs and stuff. Usually Mattie ignores her, but this time snapped at her. Joy yelped and ran, but we didn't think anything of it because sometimes Joy yelps for no reason. Matties prey drive kicked in, and she chased her down and started shaking her! :-O It was sooo scary. Luckily my instructor knew to pick up her back legs and she let go and was back to normal. It was like a lightswitch...she was a different dog for those few minutes (though it was probably only one minute, it seems like forever!). Joy got away with a whole in her skin in her abdomen (which they had to open up and see if Mattie punctured her anywhere) and lots and lots of bruising. Unfortunetely, she has forgotten about it and is back to her normal self around Mattie so they aren't allowed to play together, especially without supervision untill Joy learns some more manners.

[Ritz459]

I had Mattie all worked up playing with the hose, and throwing the water buckets at her (well...the water that was in the water buckets LOL), and when all the water was done, Mattie still wanted to play, and was standing by a water bucket just begging for me to throw it for her. Joyful wanted part of the fun too, and jack russel as she is....goes over to Mattie and starts jumping on her, and biting her neck and legs and stuff. Usually Mattie ignores her, but this time snapped at her. Joy yelped and ran, but we didn't think anything of it because sometimes Joy yelps for no reason. Matties prey drive kicked in, and she chased her down and started shaking her! :-O It was sooo scary. Luckily my instructor knew to pick up her back legs and she let go and was back to normal. It was like a lightswitch...she was a different dog for those few minutes (though it was probably only one minute, it seems like forever!). Joy got away with a whole in her skin in her abdomen (which they had to open up and see if Mattie punctured her anywhere) and lots and lots of bruising. Unfortunetely, she has forgotten about it and is back to her normal self around Mattie so they aren't allowed to play together, especially without supervision untill Joy learns some more manners.

Now that would be scary! At least Chloe has a lot of fur (harder to make skin contact) and is the same size as Rose. I can't imagine what would have happened had Chloe been a small dog and Rose's prey drive kicked in on top of her being ticked off.

[Dangels]

Wow, that sounds scary.... but I think you did the right thing in the situation that you were in.

A majority of the time, I grab my guys by the hind quarters and pull them up. It breaks their leverage...

That is the best way to break up dog fights, if at all possible. There have been a couple times when my mom's Great Danes will get into fights, and that's usually the only way that we can break them up when they get into it, with them being such large dogs. Luckly, i'm never had to hit or kick my dogs during fights.... but you still did what you thought needed to be done at the time, and it's better than letting things get too out of hand. Another thing that you might want to try should they ever get into a spat again, would be to spray them with a water hose. It doesn't hurt them at all, but that will usually get dogs to stop fighting. Just a thought, if you happen to have a hose laying around at the time.

Best of luck!

[Doglover1988]

Sounds scary. 99% of the time I am alone when my dogs fight so I have to break it up myself. I will pick up the dog that is smaller by the hindquarters and hold them up over my head (that is if the other dog is still trying to go after them) Usually though with just me yelling "stop it" they will stop. I have only had to break up about 5 fights like that. I have 4 females in my house (5 right now) Everyone pretty much gets along unless there is the odd bone or toy left out.

[Ritz459]

Originally Posted by Doglover1988

I will pick up the dog that is smaller by the hindquarters and hold them up over my head (that is if the other dog is still trying to go after them) Usually though with just me yelling "stop it" they will stop.

One advantage of having smallish dogs. Chloe's started to get big enough now that I can pick her up, but just barely.

A Saint Bernard was in at work today that had been MUTILATED by another dog. That dog was 140lbs and the side of its face looked like raw hamburger, and its left leg and paw was all chewed up as well. The poor thing leaned up against me and it got blood all over my scrubs. Poor thing was so knocked out by the pain killers and its face was so swollen. If that was what it looked like cleaned up I would have hated to see it when it first came in.

Compared to that, Rose and Chloe's scuffle was nothing. I feel fortunate now that they really didn't go after each other.

[Doglover1988]

Originally Posted by Ritz459

One advantage of having smallish dogs. Chloe's started to get big enough now that I can pick her up, but just barely.

A Saint Bernard was in at work today that had been MUTILATED by another dog. That dog was 140lbs and the side of its face looked like raw hamburger, and its left leg and paw was all chewed up as well. The poor thing leaned up against me and it got blood all over my scrubs. Poor thing was so knocked out by the pain killers and its face was so swollen. If that was what it looked like cleaned up I would have hated to see it when it first came in.

Compared to that, Rose and Chloe's scuffle was nothing. I feel fortunate now that they really didn't go after each other.

How much does Chloe weigh? Lucy is pretty heavy for me to lift but I can and do carry her around a lot. She likes it. lol She is 33 pounds I think. I hold her on my waist like a person would hold a child. Especially if I am bringing her back in from her kennel and have no leash on hand. Her and Gabby got in a fight and I heaved her up and wrapped her around my shoulders. Lucy is the only dog I have that isn't food aggressive to some extent and Gabby the largest dog is the most food aggressive. I have to be creative in feeding them. I don't mind having 4 girls in the house it's just a lot more work.

[Ritz459]

Originally Posted by Doglover1988

How much does Chloe weigh?

I last weighed Chloe a couple of months ago and she was exactly 42 pounds. She's probably more around 45-50 now as she's gotten a tad bit bigger. I'm taking her in for all of her shots next month so we'll see then. I can lift her up and hold her in my arms, but it is very awkward. I do still consider her small, I suppose, because I bathe Blackie and Rose on the floor in at the groomers, but I lift Chloe up into the tub.

Lucy is the only dog I have that isn't food aggressive to some extent and Gabby the largest dog is the most food aggressive. I have to be creative in feeding them.

Loupie was extremly food aggressive which made feeding times interesting here too. We'd have to kennel the dogs when we fed them and make sure all of the food was gone before letting them loose again or there would be a fight. I think the one time Blackie and Loupie went at it was when my younger sister (she was around four or so then) gave Blackie a table scrap and Loupie wanted it.

I don't mind having 4 girls in the house it's just a lot more work.

So true. And I may be getting yet another female dog if my friend is still going out ot state for college. Whoohoo. lol I love my girls, but they can be bitches at times.