Maje Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I moved in with my boyfriend recently and go a new puppy. My boyfriend's dog attacked my puppy completely unprovoked. Pup was hurt pretty badly, had to take him to the vet to get three stitches in his head and had a puncture wound in his neck also. He's only about 3 months old. Needless to say he's terrified of my boyfriend's dog now, doesn't want to have anything to do with her. She's growled at me before when I was just petting her so I've pretty much just stopped interacting with her outside of making sure she doesn't get near my dog. But she's curious about him and wants to follow him around now and nobody else seems annoyed with her like I am. I understand my boyfriend loves her because he's had her for a while and she's been with him through a lot, and I feel awful that his decision was to give her up to one of his relatives, but at the same time I feel like it's not coming soon enough. No one is worried about her hurting my pup or another dog again, everyone is just nonchalant "well we'll find her a home soon I guess sometime maybe" attitude. In the mean time I have to carry my dog around so he doesn't shake, hide, or cry, or hide out with him in the bedroom. I told my boyfriend I didn't mind giving my dog back to his previous owner if he really wanted to keep his dog and would get her training and spayed, but he said no, he would have a family member take her. I'm just so angry at his dog for attacking mine and angry that she received no punishment and just trots around the home receiving table scraps and pets and lovings like she never almost just killed a puppy. I don't blame my boyfriend, I understand that he loves her and he is going to be giving her up and that is very hard on him. My anger is only towards his dog who I do not want around me at all and wish I didn't have to see her so often. And I know that it makes no sense for other people to treat her differently, my boyfriend and his family love her, I'm just having a hard time empathizing with it, for obvious reasons. There isn't really a problem since it's being resolved. I'm just so annoyed that this happened at all though and needed to vent. Link to comment
Seraphim Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 It is not unprovoked though. As far as she sees it you moved in and took over her pack and moved in a little puppy. She is jealous. Was the new puppy introduced properly? Animals are not really bad, they do things instinctively, it is up to the humans to know how to read the signs and do things properly and not blame the animal. Link to comment
DN Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 It's pointless being angry with his dog, or with him. The dog was just asserting dominance and that is natural and to be expected if you bring a new dog into a dog's territory. They should have been introduced gradually. It seems a little hard that his dog is the one that has to be disrupted. Link to comment
Maje Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 "Unprovoked" as in my dog was just standing there being a puppy when she attacked. I know she felt she had some reason or other for attacking him. He was introduced as best we knew how to introduce them. They were fine for a while (have had him a few weeks by now) up until she attacked him, they hung out together at the dog park even. Link to comment
Seraphim Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 You still can not blame the dog. It is unprovoked to YOU. According to dog relations of hierachy and dog instinct it was not unprovoked. Link to comment
Maje Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 It's pointless being angry with his dog, or with him. Which is why I said I was just venting, and that I wasn't angry with him. It seems a little hard that his dog is the one that has to be disrupted. I offered to give my pup up if he wanted to try training her. He said no multiple times, especially since we will be moving into a new apartment and she is a shepherd dog who needs space and a lot of exercise. All I can do is offer and offer, and then support his decision. Edit: Victoria- With respect, I feel like you're splitting hairs over the word "unprovoked," even though I already said I know she had her own reason. Again, all I meant is that my dog didn't attack her first or something like that. Link to comment
Crazyaboutdogs Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I really think it is the puppy that should find another home. Your bf is trying to please you and in the process is turning his back on his loyal dog friend who was just being a dog and defending his territory. It is unfortunate what happened to the puppy, but I think your bf dog needed time to get used to a new person in the house first, before a new dog is introduced. Perhaps your bf is not well bonded with the dog that he can give the dog up so readily...but certainly the dog has bonded with him. It is not fair to his dog to remove him from the home just so that a new dog can replace him. Dogs shouldn't be this disposable. Link to comment
Maje Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 It is not fair to his dog to remove him from the home just so that a new dog can replace him. Dogs shouldn't be this disposable. I agree, and his dog to him certainly isn't disposable. He loves her very much. Link to comment
Seraphim Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Why not go to some dog training together to know how to introduce these dogs properly that way no one loses? Link to comment
Maje Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Why not go to some dog training together to know how to introduce these dogs properly that way no one loses? Because regardless there won't realistically be enough room in the new apartment for a shepherd dog. Link to comment
Seraphim Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 So it is not the attack on the puppy, because that is entirely fixable. It is the fact that someone is moving into a space too small for the pet. Hopefully your puppy is a small dog and won't out grow the space. Link to comment
OptomisticGirl Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I agree with all the other posters - the attack was not provoked. If animals are not introduced properly to each other (especially an older animal to essentially a baby animal) things like this happen. I def. agree with CAD and IMO, your boyfriend will come to regret having to give his dog away. Link to comment
Maje Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 He will be a small dog, yes. Her attack of my dog isn't the reason why she is being moved, but it causes me a little relief anyway only because I know then she can't hurt him again. If we could fit her with us physically then we could train her not to snack on other dogs, and more importantly my boyfriend wouldn't have to be heartbroken. But ideally we'll be driving out to her new home to see her anyway. ("Ideally," since she must be moved anyway) Edit: Opt- I think anyone would regret having to give their companion up. Link to comment
OptomisticGirl Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Idk, I just think it's highly unfair to both the dog and your boyfriend. But again, I'm the kind of person who is willing to drop $1,500 on my cat to move him with me rather than leave him behind with my mom. Link to comment
hers Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 his dog isn't spayed? Do some research ASAP on dogs who aren't fixed who share their homes with other dogs. it's likely to happen again when they're not fixed b/c they have raging hormones (think teenagers who ask for a car but their parents won't get it for them...RAGE i tell you!). Link to comment
Hollyj Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Don't blame the dog, blame the owner. The reason the dog is aggressive is because it never got proper training. Take a peek at Dog Whisperer. Link to comment
sadchick83 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 My family had a female Doberman-- I called her the Doberwoman, and she was spayed. She was extremely jealous of the two male dogs the we brought home after her. I was petting one of the male dogs and 5 minutes later she bit his ear off-- oh and he was a male Shar Pei. She had 2 years of obedience training at a special guard dog school. SHe did the same thing to the next male Shar Pei-- tried to bite his ear off. So now we have a new female Golden doodle, who again is very jealous of the now elderly 2nd Shar Pei. Female dogs- * * * * * es are often jealous. You cannot cuddle the other dog in front of them, be careful about toys and feedings. Its not impossible to have them live together, you just have to come up with solutions. The Dobe had very intense training-- by some guy who trained all the dogs for television and movies, so the training was there. There are some things- i.e. jealousy that you cannot train out of a dog- no matter what. it would be like training a dog not to bark, or wag its tail. They can live together-- you just have to be careful. Link to comment
Silverbirch Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Hi All, I just wanted to give a slightly different angle on this. I have one dog on my bf 2. He also has 3 cats. We don't live together yet, but we do know that although there haven't been any really bad attacks between our pets yet, there has been quite a lot of aggression from his smallest dog. The main reason no serious harm has been done is that she is much smaller than even the cats. She's definitely a "one-person dog". BF seems to think she is a Jack Russell X which are more often than not, believed to be "one-person dogs". One of the "mistakes" that my BF and I have both made has been allowing our dogs (his little female and my little male) to become over-attached to us. I admit that I often think of my little white dog as "my bubba". Intellectually, I know that this is not a good thing in a lot of ways for several reasons. Both of us have lived on our own for some time, and we let our dogs sleep on the bed with us. Now we are having problems in that we have 2 dogs who will bark all night if we don't let them sleep on the bed, and the female will get very snarly towards my dog, especially if there is an exchange of affection between my BF and MY dog. Sorry, I know this is long-winded,but I wonder if the problem could be that there is over-attachment between owner and dog. I know that I need to remind myself all the time to treat my dog more like a dog and not my toddler. He is SO cute though and very smart. I feel certain that a well-known television animal handler and trainer would slap me on the wrists and tell me to be less attentive to the dog and break an inappropriate level of attachment. Link to comment
Realitynut Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Nope, can never be too much attachment to your pup!! My pup is VERY attached to me (as she should very well be!!) and was even MORE attached to bf. So much so, I would be jealous of all the attention he gave he. She always started sleeping in her bed, and then around 4 in the morning climbed into bed with me...UNDER the covers and between my legs...sometimes right up next to my crotch. !! lol She's always where I am. Right now I'm on the couch and shes curled up right next to me. Anyway, she knew not to get on the bed when we were having sex, but afterward she'd climb under the covers with both of us. Now I'm on Match. com, and I said I'd prefer someone with no dogs, cuz there can only be one diva in the family, and it's her. And I also said I would not date anyone who did not love her as much as I loved her. I also said, 'even tho I have a dog, I am not a dog lover, and don't want anyone with large dogs, I don't want pup eaten". She's a chihuahua and very even tempered. She has played with big dogs, and got along fine, but was a bit timid about being trampled. (It was a mix of husky and wolf) Dan and I always called her 'our child', since we didn't have any together. And I'd ask her, "is daddy coming home?" When he'd come home from wk. she'd get so excited she'd piddle a little...ahhhh I miss our little family. Link to comment
OptomisticGirl Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 ^ I told my husband when we met 'it's me and my cat, we are a packaged deal'. Which is why he's spending $1,300 to fly the cat to England. Link to comment
Silverbirch Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Carla, have you found your dog to be very territorial? David's little dog is so attached to him that when he isn't home she will find a way to get out and go looking for him. She would also probably be the most territorial dog I know. Okay, I'm embarrassed to say this, but she has humped my arm, especially when I have been in bed with D. I have made a joke of it saying she is leso and wanting to join us in a 3some, but D says it's a behaviour of aggression and dominance towards me because of her over-attachment to him. Link to comment
duke nukem Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Try introducing them gradually in a new place that isn't either dogs' claimed territory. Dogs are very territorial. Also, don't give up your puppy. My friend's dog used to not like my Jack Russell, but after gradual introducing and both dogs getting used to one another they are fine. Sure my friend's dog sometimes has to growl or bark at my Jack, but that's because my dog is an usurping little bastard No harm done though. Link to comment
duke nukem Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Carla, have you found your dog to be very territorial? David's little dog is so attached to him that when he isn't home she will find a way to get out and go looking for him. She would also probably be the most territorial dog I know. Okay, I'm embarrassed to say this, but she has humped my arm, especially when I have been in bed with D. I have made a joke of it saying she is leso and wanting to join us in a 3some, but D says it's a behaviour of aggression and dominance towards me because of her over-attachment to him. Mounting is a dominance display. My cousins' Dalmatian used to hump my black lab, even though their dog was female and mine was male. He was bigger, but she was meaner. My dog didn't really care he just liked having another dog around Link to comment
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