Developing Problems with Other Dogs?

    • Gold Top Dog

    Developing Problems with Other Dogs?

    I left Rafe with my boyfriend's parents and their two labs (his mom is a veterinarian, so I felt safe leaving him there) a little while back.  I was only for about 5 days.  The first morning before we left for our flight (I was in the shower), his mom took all three dogs out to potty and was giving all three treats when they came back in.  She said that Rafe had eaten his and then looked at Mystic (the older lab), and just went after her, apparently without warning.  She said that Mystic tried to get away and finally just rolled over, then she got ahold of Rafe and pulled him away.  As soon as she got a hold on him he was fine again, not even trying to go after Mystic.  The poor dog ended up having to get a few stitches on her head.  :(  I was worried about leaving him with them for all the time we'd be gone, but his mom said it would be fine and she'd just keep them separated whenever they were fed anything and whenever she couldn't supervise, so I agreed to go along with the trip and leave him there.  A couple days later he went after their other dog, Mia (who is only about 3 years old), but this time they couldn't figure out what the problem was.  His dad was there at that time and immediately grabbed him and pinned him on the floor.  Again, he snapped out of it after someone got a hold of him. 

    I can understand the first time with Mystic, because he is a HIGHLY food motivated dog and he just isn't used to living and sharing with other dogs.  I have no clue what might have happened the second time, though.  AND, he's stayed in the same house, with the same dogs, quite a few times before...BUT I had always been there with him.  He's never been in a dog fight before (at least since I've had him).  Even in class he's been attacked by other dogs before and doesn't really respond to them. 

     Any ideas?  I'm kind of concerned about this because I am really considering getting a puppy this summer, but I don't want it to be a huge problem.  This isn't a definite yet, but its a good possibility (depends on the pups in the litter, etc.).         

    • Gold Top Dog

    No ideas?  lol!  I've kind of thought that it may be him trying to figure out his place in that "pack."  Kind of like, since I was gone, he was trying to figure out who the leader was.  I don't know, that probably sounds really dumb, but its the only thing I can think of.  He meets new dogs all the time and never has a problem.  It's really frustrating because I can usually figure out why he's doing something, but this really has me bumfuzzled.

    • Gold Top Dog

     I agree - I think that the first time, it is resource guarding. The 2nd time, could have been resource guarding that your parents just didn't notice what the resource was. There's always a reason - but we sometimes fail to see what that is.

    The other thing is that he's just trying to figure out his place in the food chain.

    One more thing to consider is if he's having any medical problems - eye sight, hearing, etc. He could have been startled and that is why he attacked.

    As far as adding a puppy goes - most dogs are pretty tolerant of puppies and puppies automatically defer to the older dog. So, if you're going to get another dog, then a puppy is the way to go.

    Dakota is a resource guarder and not used to sharing her space and such. I added Neiko as a pup and it was rough at first. She put him in his place and he took all of her corrections and learned the boundaries. Now there are no problems between those 2.
     

    • Gold Top Dog

    How old is Rafe? 

    • Gold Top Dog

    Ok, that was kind of what I was thinking.  I doubt its any medical thing, because he's always fine with other dogs when I'm around.  I let him run around and play with other dogs all the time, and I've never had a problem before. 

    Is there any way I can teach him that it's not ok to resource guard?  He doesn't with people, obviously, but I mean with dogs...  I'm willing to try any suggestions.  :)  I just don't want the pup to be hurt if he does have a problem with him.

     Rafe is just a little over a year (we think).  He was from the humane society here, so their guess was 6 months at the time I adopted him.