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Old 04-05-2010, 09:10 PM
 
Location: Manhattan, Ks
1,280 posts, read 6,968,102 times
Reputation: 1813

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Easter Sunday my dog teamed up with my parents' dog to attack my fiance's shih tzu. My dog, Ellie had gone after the shih tzu, Sophie on a previous occasion. They usually get along extremely well, and I honestly thought it was a freak occurence. I did not witness either one, but it took 2 grown men to pull my aussie mix off of Sophie the first time and Sophie spent the night at the vet's and has 3 drain tubes in her from this last attack. My fiance and I are beside ourselves.

I cannot see any way out of rehoming at least one of our babies. Sophie is such a sensitive girl. Even if we get to the point where we can trust Ellie 100% not to do anything, I'm convinced that Sophie will always be afraid to be near her. That's not fair to her.

I've thought about contacting the nearest behaviorist, but I just can't risk another attack. I could never forgive myself if Ellie once again hurt or heaven forbid killed Sophie.

I'm proud of the way my fiance's handling the situation. He's offering to re-home Sophie, because he knows how much Ellie means to me. But I can't help thinking how unfair it is to punish the victim. Not that Ellie is a criminal or something...I don't know my mind is just a jumble right now.

We live in very tight quarters. I thought about just trying to keep them separate all the time, but again what kind of quality of life would I be providing if I did that? One of them would virtually be in jail all the time.

 
Old 04-05-2010, 09:23 PM
 
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
9,352 posts, read 19,973,152 times
Reputation: 11621
oh man .... tough situation...... i wish i had something wise to post.....

let me sleep on it and see if anything comes to mind......
 
Old 04-05-2010, 09:37 PM
 
Location: West Virginia
13,914 posts, read 39,159,498 times
Reputation: 10244
Take turns Crateing them! Have these girls been spayed?
 
Old 04-05-2010, 09:42 PM
 
Location: Manhattan, Ks
1,280 posts, read 6,968,102 times
Reputation: 1813
Yes, they were both obtained from shelters. They would have been spayed regardless.
 
Old 04-05-2010, 09:42 PM
 
Location: On the west side of the Tetons
1,353 posts, read 2,425,525 times
Reputation: 2626
I feel bad for everyone involved. What a heartbreaking situation .
 
Old 04-05-2010, 09:44 PM
 
Location: West Virginia
13,914 posts, read 39,159,498 times
Reputation: 10244
humm Sometimes spaying helps...guess not in this case.
 
Old 04-05-2010, 09:47 PM
 
Location: Manhattan, Ks
1,280 posts, read 6,968,102 times
Reputation: 1813
I wish it were that easy. I really wish I knew what triggered the attacks so I could know how to avoid them, but they seem random. And there's such a size difference that poor little Sophie is in real danger. Ellie is such a doll with me and has never been aggressive towards people, but she's never been good with other dogs. I probably should never have adopted her, but she saw me and I saw her when I worked at the shelter and it was all over.
 
Old 04-05-2010, 09:50 PM
 
Location: West Virginia
13,914 posts, read 39,159,498 times
Reputation: 10244
Thats the bad part...always the smaller dog that suffers...or gets killed! Might be nothing Triggering it tho...just 2 domiate females. You just might have to choose between them. Do you have a clue to their History??
BTW YOU said that you brought the 1 dog home cause SHE took to You!! Does these attachs happen when the Other dog gets close to You?
 
Old 04-05-2010, 09:53 PM
 
4,796 posts, read 22,861,097 times
Reputation: 5046
Do you think you can be confident that rehoming Sophie will resolve the situation? If Ellie has aggressive tendencies, is there a chance that she may be so in other circumstances in the future?

If Ellie ends up being the one to go, I strongly urge you to take her to a shelter that has behavioral assessments, where they can adequately determine if it is safe to put her in another home. It would be a real tragedy if a family adopted her unaware of her past, and she had a relapse.

I'm not telling you what to do here, I know its a real tough situation. And I agree, trying to keep them separate at all times would be a poor quality of life for them, and for you. I'm just asking a few questions about what might happen next, whatever decision you make.
 
Old 04-05-2010, 10:01 PM
 
Location: Manhattan, Ks
1,280 posts, read 6,968,102 times
Reputation: 1813
I know of a good aussie rescue not too far from here. If we decided to re-home Ellie I'd talk to them first, with full disclosure of her history of course. I'd only feel safe with her as an only dog. She and my pug get along well now, but I did have to work with them a lot. She never injured him though, and he always provoked it. Sophie is about as submissive as you can get.

Just to be clear, I believe 100% that she would never harm a human being. If I had any doubts about that she would be euthanized rather than rehomed.
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