Had my first dog fight...

by **Miss_Pits** » November 29th, 2009, 10:23 pm

This has NEVER happened before with my dogs and I am still a bit taken back and shocked! To start, both dogs are fine, but I almost needed an ambulance to revive me from being so surprised!

Colt (our pittie pup) and India (Shepherd X, 6yrs old) are BEST friends - India is amazingly tolerant of Colt and his antics but something tripped her tonight and I'm not sure what to make of it.

Colt was playing with his Buster Cube - he plays very rough with it, throwing it all around the house - and he was next to India, maybe 2 feet or so away from her, nothing unusual and all of a sudden I saw her bear teeth at him (he had no idea, he was focused on his toy) and before I could do anything she was up and after him across the living room. I called her away from him and she listened, but then Colt got up and started running towards her.... in full PLAY mode! I grabbed him before he could make the situation any worse and had my BF get India outside. Once she was outside, I let Colt go and he went right back to his Cube...

I let India in after a few more minutes and Colt ran over to her and was wagging his tail and submissively licking her lips. I redirected him to a toy so she wouldn't get upset again - but I just don't know what to think.

I don't know if anyone has any advice - I just needed to vent. Is it possible for a dog to just be in a bad mood?

by **amazincc** » November 29th, 2009, 10:32 pm

That wasn't a dog fight... :wink:

I'm glad everyone is okay, and it sounds like you handled it well. My dogs have had "spats" like that, and my elderly Border Collie doesn't tolerate much puppy craziness any more... she often growls at them simply for looking at her, or walking past her bed lately. :crazy2:

Most of the time mine are completely oblivious to her, and we chalk it up to "crappy mood".

by **Malli** » November 29th, 2009, 10:38 pm

she's probably noted he's growing up and is becoming less tolerant, but just going near her isn't really called for...

by **Miss_Pits** » November 29th, 2009, 10:39 pm

Yeah - I was just shocked that it was so easily triggered! I could understand if he had been pestering her - the 2 adult dogs are often putting Colt in his place - but this was over the top.

by **amazincc** » November 29th, 2009, 10:42 pm

Was there anything in the cube? Maybe she got hit by a piece of food accidentally, and it really startled her?

by **Malli** » November 29th, 2009, 10:42 pm

so let her know its not ok

by **Miss_Pits** » November 29th, 2009, 10:49 pm

amazincc wrote:Was there anything in the cube? Maybe she got hit by a piece of food accidentally, and it really startled her?

I don't think that happened, but tonight was the first night with the Cube and it is VERY noisy and obnoxious... I guess she just had enough

by **furever_pit** » December 1st, 2009, 11:52 am

You could chalk it up to her being in a "crappy mood" sure, but the behavior should not be tolerated IMO.

I would also keep my eyes open for any other signs of things changing between the two dogs. Maybe Colt is out of that puppy tolerances stage and India is not so willing to put up with him anymore? I would also watch for any more signs that toys or food are triggers for such behavior.

by **mnp13** » December 1st, 2009, 2:14 pm

I think I missed something? Was there contact? Blood? Anything other than noise?

by **Miss_Pits** » December 1st, 2009, 3:38 pm

No, no blood, but contact yes - I could tell where their mouths had been on each other - damp from drool.

The whole incident lasted a whole 10 seconds - India was immediately told 'no' and seperated from the situation by going outside (she went on her own, we didn't have to physically touch her at all - I only had to hold Colt when he went to chase her in play).

by **pitsnok** » December 2nd, 2009, 7:59 pm

you are lucky you stopped it before anything actually happened.

Not long after we got Harlow, she and Degan got into it. (She is always the perpetrator in any 'arguments' they have), but this one was pretty bad. There were four guys in our living room when it happened and no one stopped them! I don't know what they were fighting over, but when I yelled at them to stop Degan went running and Harlow kept after him. I had to run from the other room and break them up. Harlow had a pretty deep puncture right on her forehead from Degan's tooth, and also one on the side of her head. It was really scary, I yelled at our friends who just watched it happen, and had to call the emergency vet. Luckily the wound healed without any stitches or anything. We actually considered getting rid of Harlow. We told ourselves if anything like that happened again she would go. Fortunately, their listening skills have improved since then, and Harlow is much less defensive. (I think because she was a starving stray as a puppy she had always been extremely territorial.) Also, we are a lot less tolerant. When they play they are VERY vocal. Never aggressive, but they play pretty rough (typical pits) and we have learned what signals they give if it is taken too far, and we immediately break it up.
We never leave them together if we leave the house, and don't really leave anyone else to watch both of them, just in case.

Hopefully one of yours was just grumpy and they will go back to being best friends again :smileUp:

Had my first dog fight...

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