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old dog with new attitude

19 10:36:20

Question

Tes and Em
Tessa is a 7 yr old lab/retriever/shep mix.  I "borrowed" her 3 yrs ago for emotional support when my chi mix was mauled in front of both of us.  She was easy to train, quick to learn and is extremely social (we have gone to the dog park 4 days/week for the 3 yrs we;ve been together.  2yrs ago, i introduced a jug puppy to the family and have several cats which Tessa loves and tries to mother.  I know socializing is not the issue and everyone gets along great!  BUT!!!  2 days ago when i came home from work, I found both Tessa and Em(jug) covered in blood.  Upon inspecting them it seems Tessa turned on Em leaving 4 really deep puncture wounds on her head.  We;ve been to the vet for cleaning and stitchs and everything is alright medically.  yesterday and today it seems Tes is trying to over power Em (she won't let Em eat at the same time as her though there are multiple dishs, em's not allowed on the bed or near me).  To show Em any amount of affection, I have to crate Tessa so she doesn't see any contact between Em and myself.  This has never happened b4 and Tes shows no aggression towards Fiona (Em's biological daughter).  What is up with this??  Where is this sudden aggression coming from???  Is there anything I can do to prevent this in the future???  I have begun to crate all the dogs when I have to work but I've never had to do this b4.  Is it normal for older dogs to turn on their canine family members in old age???  Tes is 7, Em 2, Fiona 1.  Does the age difference have anything to do with it???  let me know ASAP!!  I can't afford another $600 vet bill at the moment lol  and would rather prevent than treat issues like this!  attached is a photo of the 2 showing how close they usually are.

Answer
Without seeing what started the initial disagreement, you cannot be certain that Tessa is the one that started it. It could very well have been Em, but because of the size difference, Em's injuries were much worse. What you need to do is re-assess your position as the leader of the pack. Do your dogs truly see you as their leader, or do they usually work things out amongst themselves without your input (including at the dog park)? What I would recommend before anything else is that you begin practicing "Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF)" with all the dogs in the house, to affirm your position as the pack leader in a non-confrontational way.

The age difference absolutely could be playing a part in this. It could be that Em, knowing that Tessa is 'getting up there' in age, is vying for Tessa's rank, but Tessa is not ready to give it up just yet. What you need to do every time you see the two dogs start to stiffen and/or square up to one another, is to correct them BOTH. Because of the size difference, I would strongly suggest that you consider hiring a local trainer/behaviorist who can come to your house and help you one-on-one, because it would be awful if you went to correct Em, for example, and Tessa jumped on Em and injured her again, which is very likely. Ideally, you WOULD want to correct Em first, since she is actually the antagonist here (assuming that she is, in fact, challenging Tessa for pack rank). However, unless Tessa truly respects you as the pack leader, she is probably going to take that opportunity to get one in on Em when you go to correct her.

Good luck. It is not always easy to have a houseful of bitches! I know! I have three of them myself, and all of them have to be kept separated most of the time.