Question about our boxers current behavior

Question
We have a deaf boxer named Rocky that is 4 years old. Here lately he has dropped from 69 lbs to 53 lbs and is getting thin. We have 2 other boxers, one female and another male. Here since he started losing weight, something has changed in him. One minute Rocky will be playing with our other male, Max, and then next thing you know Rocky is attached to Max's head attacking him for no reason. Max never does anything to provoke Rocky, something in Rocky just snaps. Its like he completely blacks out and won't let go of Max until someone hit him a couple of times in the jaw to "wake him up". Its like he doesnt even know whats going on because once we get them separated and calmed down, Rocky is licking Max's wounds like their best friends. We desperately need some advice because this time my boyfriends mom got bit on accident trying to break them up.

Answer
I apologize for the delayed response, I was not receiving my notification e-mails!

I would have a vet checkup done on Rocky, if you haven't -- the weight loss is a concern, and illness often manifests in behavioral changes. Be sure the checkup includes a complete thyroid panel -- ask for the "OFA panel" -- as thyroid problems can cause aggressive behavior.

If the vet checkup shows everything is fine, then you might consider a consultation with a qualified behaviorist. Dogs rarely attack for no reason, even though we often can't see the trigger -- a behaviorist is trained to see minute changes in expression and body language that might pinpoint what is causing Rocky to attack.

You don't mention how old Max is, or how old the female is. If Max is younger, generally around 9 to 24 months, then he may have lost his "puppy license" with Rocky and they may be fighting over "pack position". If the female is intact and is coming into season, that may be the issue.

Until you get the issues figured out, you might consider muzzling both boys while they're together -- the softer nylon muzzles tend to fit Boxer heads better. That way if they do get into a fight, they'll cause less damage to each other, and to the people trying to split them up! (While it's instinctive to grab a dog's chest/front when in a fight, grabbing the back legs is the safer option. If there are two people, each one can grab a dog by the hind legs and pull them apart; if you're alone, try to get something between them like a door, gate, chair, etc. Sometimes even throwing a blanket over one dog to block the other dog from their vision will give you a second or two to get the dogs separated. While you may read that you should throw water on fighting dogs, in my experience all that gets you is wet, slippery dogs.)

Also consider instituting a "Nothing In Life is Free" (or "Say Please") protocol for all the dogs in your house -- it may or may not help with the fighting, depending on the underlying cause, but it can't hurt. NILIF basically establishes your roles as the giver of all good things -- theoretically the dogs will learn that there's no point in fighting with each other because neither of them really have control. (That's simplified greatly, of course!) NILIF in a nutshell is here:
http://ahimsadogtraining.com/blog/say-please/

Good luck!!