Q&A with ‘The Paw Man’ (425) – Of Blame And Intolerance Alison Fehlman I have a Pitbull mix who is 9 years old, Annabella (AB). Ive had her since she was a year old. She is in the bottom of my pack of 3 dogs. One dog recently died and I got an 8 month old pup who immediately took the number 2 spot leaving AB still at the bottom. My roommate has two small dogs but they are completely separate. None of my dogs have ever fought with other dogs or each other. Paw Man I don’t really understand the living arrangements here. You talk about a roommate which to me implies that the two of you live in the same house but then you say that the dogs are completely separate. How can this be? Alison I pull food out of their mouths, make them wait before they can eat out of their bowls. They will do warning growls or snap but each dog has taken heed and backed off. Recently my roommate got a pup and her Jack Russell mix has been even more out of control then normal, charging the fence, attacking my puppy when she plays with her puppy, even attacked her other dog who is blind, but never drawing blood just nasty aggressive behavior. Paw Man So the Jack Russell has dog aggression problems? Alison Unfortunately when my roommates elderly parents were here a bad fight happened with her Jack and my Pit. Im not exactly sure what happened but what I can determine is her parents called the Jack and she came running into my dog’s yard. Paw Man So when you weren’t home, the Jack Russell that we already know had aggression issues with other dogs somehow got access to your dog, although you say they are completely separate, and a fight started? Yes? Alison I know they hit AB with something several times... My guess is this spurred her to bite more. Paw Man It is quite acceptable to hit dogs to break up a dog fight and by the sound of it AB was biting the Jack Russell and not the other way around….. so there was no reason to strike the Jack Russell if it was not biting the other dog. Alison Eventually they separated. Paw Man My guess is that they separated because the parents were actively trying to break up the dog fight using whatever means they could… and if that meant striking AB then I have no problem with that at all. Alison They called me and said there was a fight and the Jack had a 2 inch gash.. Thought they should take her to the vet. Luckily I came home because the little one was hurt badly and AB had a bloody eye. Paw Man The bloody eye most likely happened when they were trying to break up the fight. Alison They originally told me they pulled AB off the Jack which as an afterthought made no sense, she weighs 55 lbs!! Paw Man It makes perfect sense to me!! If I saw a 55lb dog attacking a Jack Russell I most certainly wouldn’t stand there, do nothing and watch the Jack Russell be torn apart. I would do my darndest to pull the larger dog off the smaller one. Alison My question is what can I do to make sure AB doesnt do this again with another dog? Paw Man The simple answer to that questions would be to ensure that when you are not at home to make sure your dog is constrained within a yard, or house or compound away from other dogs. Alison I took them both to the vet in my car. The Jack was in a crate facing AB and they had no aggression at all. Im moving to my own place in 5 weeks. Thank you, Ali Paw Man It is quite common for dogs to be quite tolerant of each other after they have had a fight that typically arose due to some issue that no longer exists once you remove them from that location where the ‘issue’ took place. With a 9 year old Pitbull mix it is a bit late in the dog’s life to be addressing any major socialisation issues at this stage. Whilst it may have been the Jack Russell’s provocation that pushed him over the limit, it is safe to say that he over reacted. I hope that in your new place that you can contain AB and insulate her from other provocative dogs. She has already demonstrated her intolerance…. And I would hope that the Jack Russell has learned a lesson that he never has to repeat.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 02:01:58 +0000