I’ve been staying at my fiance’s house since this Covid-19 thing started.
My dog and her dog do not always get along. For the most part they ignore each other. But every now and again, they just haul back and go at it, all teeth and snarls and trying to hurt each other. For several weeks they have co-habited the same house, gotten along, and generally adopted the whole ‘live and let live’ attitude. That is until three nights ago.
About an hour before we shut down the house for the night, for reasons unknown, the two of them went at it . One moment everything was peaceful, the next it was snarling dogs. Same thing the next night.
Tonight, much earlier in the evening, her dog was going around the corner, started snarling, then bolted forward. I got up because I could hear the two of them going at it. I ran around the corner and the two of them were face-to-face, snapping at each other.
And then I did the stupid thing of trying to pull them apart. I couldn’t get them separated so I grabbed the smaller dog (her dog) and lifted him off the floor. As I was scooping him off the floor, he bit me. Same hand that was just healing from where the cat bit me several days ago. No serious damage this time, just broke the skin.
And what makes this more injurious is that I’ve been keeping a small spray bottle filled with water near me at all times for the last several days. When they go at it I can usually squirt them in the face and they separate on their own. Last night I left the spray bottle in the other room.
Here’s to hoping I learn form the experience this time.
Never attempt to pick up an animal that’s in fight mode — you WILL get bit. Correct response is to kick both dogs (literally) in the ass, or whichever one you can reach, whichever comes first. If the dog doesn’t yelp and back off, you didn’t kick ’em hard enough. A broomstick over the head is a fair substitute. You cannot be “nice” or worry about hurting animals that are bent on killing each other; that just teaches ’em how much discouragement they can overcome.
And you need to do it at the first stiff walk or raised tail or stare at the other dog; don’t wait til the growls start, as then they’ve already had the adrenalin reward.
Once they realize that YOU are going to be far worse than they can be to each other, most of this will go away. But you have to be SCARY, not nice (being nice or gentle *rewards* them for aggression). They have to believe that YOU will *kill* them for ANY display of aggression, no matter how subtle; then it will stop.
In other words, respond as you intuitively wish to do, not as you’ve been taught is “proper” by modern feelgood anti-training.
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