helpppp

my name is brittney, and i have a problem, i own a pomeranian, and a schiperke.  the pomeranian is a male 3 yr old, and the schiperke is a female 1 year old. about 5 mopnths ago the schiperke began to attack the pomeranian on a weekly basis, and it started giving my pom seizures. please if you have any advice for me reply to this or by email it will be greatly appreciated.

more details please. Are you sure the dog isn't detecting signs of an impending seizure and attacking out of fear?  what are you giving for the seizures?

I was wondering the same thing.  My trainers dog had a seizure not too long ago and one of her other dogs went after him because of it.  Has your pom been to the vet for the seizures? 

the pom has been to the vet, and they wont start him on the medication becasuse there not consecutive enough, they told me if he isa having more than 1 in a month, than they would start him! hes had two soo far, and the attacking usually happens because of a toy or bone that the pom wants and the schiperke has. i hired a dog trainer for a month thinking it was an issue she could help me resolve, but it didnt help with that.

Sounds to me like toy aggression on the part of the schipperke.  My pom came to me with a bit of toy and food aggression.  I knew I had to change some things or we would have problems.  He only gets toys and food in his ex pen and the other dogs only get them when he is in there because I can not trust him NOT to start a fight.  I would suggest only allowing toys or bones when supervised or separated.  My pom is much better now.  However, he is always crated away from the other dogs when we aren't home and he is always supervised when toys and bones are involved.

I'm sure someone will be along with much better advice, but this is a start if this is even the problem.  Good luck.

thank you, that does make alot of sense. it hurts because everyone around me just says well your gonna have to get rid of her, and it is too hard for me to think of doing that! i should keep her away from the pom while im not around too, but if i take away her toys and only allow them in the crate i am afraid she will chew my house apart because she also has a problem with chewing on everything, even like the corners of my new couches, blanket, wooden doors, ect.

Do you have an exercise pen?  I found mine to be a life saver when I first got my pom.  It is large enough for him to have toys, water, a bed, etc. and he can't get to anything else of value to me.  When he wasn't being supervised, in he went.  So, chewing wouldn't be a problem if one is in an expen. and the other is loose in the house or in another room or something.

Hi and welcome brittney -- we need way way more information.

1.  Are both or either of these dogs altered?  (spayed/neutered?)

2.  We need to know more about the aggression -- were you present when the female attacked the male?  What were the circumstances? 

That's an in-depth question -- because everything about the dogs placement in a room may be germaine -- was one up on the furniture and the other not?  HAD you just been petting one or the other and maybe the dog got down and the other dog attacked? 

Were food or toys involved? Were they inside or out?  Finding what sets the one dog off is pretty critical. 

3.  "weekly basis" -- this is **VERY** strange.  Dogs don't say "Ok, it's Monday, time to attack the little guy!"  did you record times/dates? 

4.  "started giving my pom seizures" -- Why do you say this?  did one or both dogs behavior change?  Was the pom injured (did the schip bite the neck/head area and shake the little guy?)

Have you had the pom to the vet for a thorough exam?  Did the vet feel the pom had been injured in the neck or do they think it's stress that has triggered the seizures? 

5.  How often is the pom seizing?  Is it any time he's near the schip? 

6.  What steps are you taking to keep them separated or to prevent further attacks? 

7.  Do you crate these dogs when you are gone? 

do yo u think she might take that as being punished? because the other dog has free reign and she doesnt, and also the fact that i kennel potty trained her? so she may thi8nk that i am punishing and get upset with me?

i dont really understand? was your one dog attacking the other?  my female is the one attacking the male? i did send her in for training for a month but it didnt help the situation? ive had people tell me to get rid of her, but i love her, and i feel like there is a way i can help but i just dont know how? i think she gets angry and attacks him because of toys or bones?

**Moderator Note**

Your two threads have been merged. Please try to find the one area best for your post rather than double posting, in future. Thanks and welcome!

ok so the pom has been to the vet both time hes had seizures, but they werent often enough for them to start him on meds. the first time he had a seizure the schip attacked two hours before the seizure, and no injuries were found, the second seizure egzactly a month later the schip was living with the trainer and had already been with her for a week, and the pom injured his foot jumping off the copuch and then went into a seizure. i feel like she gets anry when he tries to playt with her toys and then attacks, i have encountered about two attacks a month for the past 5 months, and was only injured in one of the attacks. i am usually present when it happens, but sometimes it happens when they are outside playing. i let them out frequently for 10-15 min a time, to get exercise, but i also work 9-6 mon-fri. the attacks allways happen on the weekends though. most of the time they have free reighn all weekend.  i dont kennel her often, because she sees it as a punishment, because that is how i potty trained her, and she will sit in there and cry, and make a mess of her stuff. i am getting ready to give birht in two weeks, so i will be home more often, at least for the next 3 months. i could keep one downstairs and the other upstairs. but would i do that all the time? or just when i am gone? i dont even know if she attacks him when i am gone?

They probably both need to be crated while you are gone -- or at the very least *separated*.  You surely don't want to leave them where one can injure the other.

The crate should be the source of all good things -- feed in there, give toys in there, treats, etc. -- you may need to do a little re-training.  In *my* mind I would crate the agressor to prevent that dog from hurting the other.  I would crate the one who seizes so it can't get tangled in cords or such and get hurt *while* having a seizure.

Your vet is right -- you don't just slap a dog on phenobarbitol or potassium bromide because it's had a couple of seizures.  Those meds have **side effects** that are pretty serious.  There are other things you can do -- things like herbals that can seriously help ward off seizures and prevent them from happening.

I have a little peke who is seizure prone and we control her's completely with herbals from the vet.  I use a vet who does TCVM (traditional Chinese veterinary medicine and acupuncutre) and it controls her problems completely without any serious seizure meds. 

http://www.tcvm.com -- there is a locator on the left side of the home page that will help you locate someone near you.

It is also very possible that it's not the *dog* who needs to be retrained as much as YOU.  When you have a dog who is aggressive to another dog you have to study and determine what's triggering that aggression so *YOU* can prevent it.  You supervise them all the time and keep them separate when you can't.  You keep toys picked up and make sure they can't get into an aggressive situation when you can't prevent it.

If you are ready to have a baby then your time will be precious and you have to seriously consider if you have the time to dedicate to this situation to keep it from being explosive.  You don't want a situation where a human child is near when two dogs fight.  You also don't want the baby's toys to be a catalyst for problems either.

The starting point would be to keep all toys picked up ALL the time.  The pom needs to be in one place with his toys and the Schip needs to be in another place with her toys.  You have to control the environment in order to control the behavior to a degree.  Does that make sense?

And another thing -- dogs aren't usually retaliatory -- yes, she may get aggressive over a toy or food.  That's an inate response in a dog that *you* can control by making sure the dogs and toys stay separate. 

But a dog doesn't think "OH, she put me in a crate so I'll do this".  But you can encourage aggressive behavior if you don't control their environment.  You will need to do that anyway because you are going to have a baby crawling around soon.  What if the baby decides to play with a dog toy? 

Bottom line -- either you will need to use crates or baby gates to give the dogs EACH room to play separately.  That way you'll be more used to dealing with that when the baby begins to crawl.