She almost killed my sweet dog

Question
we have two dogs a pit and a collie. my sweet old collie has never been agressive to anyone or anything. she walked past our pit and the pit turned and grabbed my sweety on her back and dragged her back. My collie yelped and cried and ran away. the pit started after but mom smacked her so hard she went belly up. they have always gotten along, whats wrong? do you know?

Answer
Hi there,

is the pit also a female? If she is and they are both not fixed i suggest you get atleast one fixed. Dogs live in packs and there is always a top dog. Maybe she is trying to establish herself now. You dont know what might set another dog of. Body language sometimes has a lot to do with it. Like males dog stare each other down and if one dog doesnt back off they will fight.

Next, i think it is up to you to makesure one dog knows that they are top dog and what not. This may mean giving one dog the food before the other etc. In my mind i recommend that you make the pit the top dog, as dogs will challenge for it and the pit most likely will and could hurt your dog. Whereas the collie probably wouldnt challenge as they are smarter dogs and know what they are expected to do.

Also you must remember to punish bad behaviour, such as that of the pit. And reward good behaviour.

Another thing to remember is that if you think your dogs will get along just becuase they have been together so long, you might be wrong. You can never really trust 2 dogs of the same sex, becasue anything can set them off.

Hope this helps