Dog aggression

[BettyBoop]

Ok, I will be picking up my first rescue, through a friend of a friend. She is a one and a half year old female, not spayed. She has been with this lady since she was about 9 weeks old. This person has other dogs, such as schnauzers, cavaliers, beagles, shitzu and collies. How many of these dogs I am really not sure of. The Cane Corso was an inside dog and I guess was fearful since day one with anything new. My understanding is that she got along with everyone with no problem. The owner said that she would get a little possessive of toys and growl and the owner would take away anything that she would grumble over. Well, tonight she left the house for an hour and upon returning to her horror, her beagle was ripped up from the throat to the shoulders and to the rear. All the other dogs didn't have a scratch on them. The beagle is still alive, but they are not sure if she will make it. The owner believes it was the Cane that did the damage because none of her other dogs have any marks on them and the only one that could do this type of damage had to be the Cane. The owner also indicated that the dog had shown no signs of any form of aggression before and she doesn't want to take the chance of something else occurring. I don't blame her. So, I am going to be picking this girl up and seeing where things are at. I do wonder if this has been a house dog with the rest of her dogs, that do not go anywhere and are mainly house bound. I understand that she loves her dogs which might be in the number of about 30. But, would this not drive any dog to wanting their own space? Help me out anyone, with feedback and advice. I don't have her with me at this moment, but I do believe that I will have a huge road of socializing ahead of myself.

I currently own three canes. All of whom are good dogs, although strong willed and determined. On going socializing from day one until they are going to the rainbow bridge. I think these guys are a work in progress ALWAYS.

Again, any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[spiderbitten]

Oh my goodness! Thirty dogs?!? I obviously don't know the details of the situation, but that seems like a hoarder-amount to me. Unless the owner lives in a gigantic mansion, I can't imagine those dogs aren't looking for some space.

I can take anything away from my CCs, and they won't do much more than look at me mournfully, but if another dog tries to take something from them, it's likely a fight will ensue.

I do wish you the best of luck with this girl!

 

[BettyBoop]

Thanks spiderbitten. I do believe it is a situation where there is little space, free feeding, toys, chewies ect. The girl just snapped and said enough. I don't want her to be put down when no one witnessed the actual event and I do believe she deserves a better chance. I will be getting her next week and bringing her home and assessing what exactly is going on with this girl.

Anymore advice would be appreciated or just simple feedback.

Thanks!

 

[Mongo]

Im sure if the dog was not properly socialized and stuck in a house with a large number of dogs that this dog will have some issues that need to be worked out.

I would be very careful with her around your other dogs... and be sure to take her to the vet just in case she is ill.... I know most "hoardered" dont really take the dogs to the vet... they just give them their "love" like that makes it all better! Ugh!

Another reason to keep her seperated or a close eye on her is if shes been around a bunch of small dogs... she might not know how to act around a dog her own size... more less 3...

Good Luck!

 

[BettyBoop]

Hi Mongo and thank you for your advice. I have all ready set up the vets appointment to have her checked over. I also have a crate ready, in a seperate room from my guys and also a secure pen outside for her when she does join us. Any suggestions on the introductions in regards to my guys? I know that all dogs don't get along although I am willing to see how the posturing ect is going to be. I will not let it be a free for all either. I don't want anyone harmed. Any suggestions on how I should be introducing and assessing would be appreciated by anyone out there. I am all open to opinions, advise and just plain old feedback. I am not new to dogs by any means at all, I have a background in dogs, although I am always willing to learn more! Thank again!

 

[spiderbitten]

When I got my girl, I already had my two boys (an immature and rude male CC and a super-friendly pittie).

What we ended up doing was introducing her to the pittie first, in the hopes that my male CC would be more inclined to follow his friendly lead. One person walked the female ahead on a lead, and I followed with my pittie with plenty of space between. We walked around like that for awhile, getting a bit closer, slowly, and eventually let my pittie close enough behind her so that he could sniff her out. They were cool, so we reversed the process, and the two of them have never had an issue.

We did the same with my male CC, but he is a jerk, and my female won't start a fight but the minute another dog shows aggression she's ready to throw down. For that first meeting, they did some posturing and made some noise, but it was an extremely hot day and after about half an hour they were too tired and hot to do much more than lay in the shade and occasionally glance at each other, from a safe distance, of course.

They were okay when I first brought her home, but then they started to try to figure out the order of things. I did crate and rotate, and kept her on a leash constantly while she was in the house. I took them on a very long walk together on a very hot afternoon.

It took a few weeks, but things did settle down and everyone gets along really well now, although I never leave them alone together. But they play constantly, take treats politely from me, and curl up together to sleep.

You have three, so I'm sure you're aware of this, but CCs seem to me to be fairly dominant, so there will probably be some initial scuffles.

I do have two boys, and I don't know how my female would act around other females.

 

[BettyBoop]

Thanks Spiderbitten, great advice! I have two males one is ten the other is just a year old and he is the very active playful one. I also have a female she is nine and she is a little more serious about what is going on. I figure I will introduce the young male with her first then the older male....then the female. I don't want to overwhelm anyone right away so this is going to take some time to do but I figure if we go slow we will be better off. I also have 40 acres so there will be a lot of exercise involved first each individually before there is any interaction. I figure just like yourself if they are all pooped out they won't be as ready to react with that kind of energy. My real concern is with the two females. To me in the doggy world they are very wicked when they get into anything. Just from experience, anyone else have an opinion on this?

My two males are also very large canes they are both around 140 lbs. So I have to have everyone under control. I have the crates and rotate, pens and leashes at every door. I just feel this poor girl deserves a chance as she is so young and no one witnessed what went on. Let's face it, you can't euthanize ppl.

Anymore advice from anyone please feel free!!

 

[spiderbitten]

Lol, no, in my experience males do a lot more posturing, but females get into some wicked brutal fights.

I might get criticized for this, but for all the horrible noise they were making, my two CCs never actually hurt each other when they got into it. They made noises that I was sure meant they were tearing each other apart, but seemed to just slap each other with their open mouths. There was NEVER any blood or injury, except for maybe egos. I made the decision to 'let them go at it', just once, and my female calmed down a lot after that. She kind of said, "I made my point," and walked away.

I am certainly NOT recommending you do the same, because each dog is different and there is of course the very real possibility that serious injury can happen, but that was just my experience and I thought I'd share. I'm just curious - how do your CCs get along with each other now?

I think you're doing a really wonderful thing, and who knows what actually happened without being there to witness it? Again, good luck to you!

 

[BettyBoop]

LOL....my guys have slapped each other around also and then they have been good. It is the older male that doesn't have as much tolerance for an excited young male that is wanting to play, but the older male will play on his time. So I would say he is the top dog. Don't get me wrong....I am the leader but not a brutal leader. For the most part they are all getting along unless there is a very prized possession like a kong with a goody in it. I never let them have free for all with that. They get their goody in a crate and that is just the way it is. I also feed seperately and don't do free feeding. There has never been a problem with feeding everyone in the same room, under supervision of course. I also have been looking at NILIF and I agree whole heartedly with that method. Again anymore advice would be greatly appreciated as I too agree that sometimes you do have to let them go at it, of course without damage. I think constant seperation can actually heighten some of the behaviour, of course depending on each and individual dog.

Thank you again for your encouragement. Keep the advice coming so I know that I am doing the right things as we go. I pick her up on Thursday and am actually looking forward to the challenge.

I still have to figure out how to post those pics....they won't upload.

 

[BettyBoop]

Well, I have my rescue girl home now. The place where I picked her up was a horrible sight that I hope to never see again. My husband and I went down to get her unexpected. There were over 40 dogs in the house and just awful conditions. I will be making some calls. She is now safe and on a great road. Thanks for the encouragement spiderbitten. I will keep you posted.

 

[spiderbitten]

I would love to stay updated on this! Poor girl, that sounds like a horrible situation. I am glad you're taking action.

 

[BettyBoop]

Thanks Spiderbitten. Well, on her vet check, she hated everyone that was human. Didn't mind other dogs or animals but wanted to scare away every human that came along. She also has ear mites and we are treating for that. She has never been on a leash and has had no boundaries at all. She is doing great with crate training and also doesn't mind her kennel. She listens to you very well and is trying to learn without rolling over and doing a submissive pee. We do have a lot of work and even in the vets office she started to come around with reinforcement. The post should say now, human aggression. Although I am very glad that she is out right venting and scared to death of people as this tells me she hasn't seen people and needs to get her confidence to know that we won't hurt her and no need to drive us away. She bathed up fine also. Sweet girl that needs re-direction. I will keep you posted on her and not sure where I should be posting with her updates?