Stamp the mutt will be 13 yrs next month, he's in pretty good shape for his age except the cataracts, heart murmur, arthritis, cysts/tumors (we will not do surgery at his age) and hearing loss. He's pretty happy and pain seems to be minimal. I've had him since about 6 weeks when he was abandoned, he's a mellow, lazy happy dog as long as your not late at feeding time, then he'll stare a hole in your head until you feed him.
Gracie is a border collie, she will be 2 in February. She is obsessive in everything she does and doesn't stop moving except to sleep.
We have a very small house and 5 fenced acres, outside they get along fine with very few conflicts that are always easily settled. Inside Gracie guards everything from Stamp, things like the kids socks, my shoe under the couch, that he as never shown any interest in. A few nights ago she was growling like mad every time he moved, he was in another room behind a closed door. Sometimes she seems to just get mad at him for existing. He never reacts, even the few times she's charged him he backs off. I'm not sure if he can hear her growls, unless they are face to face he doesn't seem to know she's upset.
I think some of it is tied to hunger and with the recent drop in temperature, I've increased her food and she has improved some, but it's hard to predict, sometimes she'll wolf down large amounts of food other times she'll just nibble and run off and leave her bowl full.
Gracie is good with the kids and the cats, but occasionally just goes nuts around dogs. She gets extra training when we board her and we've done some private training that has helped a lot with her manners with people. She did go nuts on one of the trainers mellow labs and they made some progress but it doesn't seem to carry over at home.
Anyone have any ideas for possible triggers or solutions? I wish I knew why she get so mad at him.