odd scary behavior

Question
Hi! I have a question about my aunt and uncles dog, Ellie. She is a mixed breed about medium size short hair and around 6 years old. They've had her for many years. We've brought our 7 year old female Brittany spaniel, Dixie out there to play with her for the past few years and they have always gotten along, just a few playful fights. Just a few weeks ago Ellie attacked our dog Dixie but we stopped Ellie. It happened again not long after that and she was biting onto my dogs neck and it was kinda bad but we stopped her. Now they told me that Ellie just killed a wood chuck. We are now scared to bring Dixie out there because Ellie has started this behavior. Like I said, they've had her for many years and she's never acted like this. They're now thinking about maybe giving her away. Is there a cause for this behavior? I don't think it's normal, but if it's how she's going to be for the rest of her life then they may give her away. I'm thinking there could be a reason she has started this scary behavior but I'm not sure. Any advice would be great!

Answer
I doubt that there is any relationship between the dog fights and killing the woodchuck. I have had dogs here who would attack and kill "critters", too. Getting rid of the woodchuck was a good thing!

It does sound, though, like Dixie's trips to visit with Ellie do need to come to an end. For whatever reason, Ellie has apparently decided that Dixie is invading her territory, so it is best to just leave Dixie home when you go over there. No reason for Ellie to leave home... dogs really don't need other dogs for friends; that is what we are for!