One of my rescue dogs, Daphne, has it in for two of the other young dogs who will not fight back and who are much weaker than she. She has attacked Little Bit four times and Shaggy twice. One attack several other dogs got involved in, and it was like watching a pack of wolves tearing apart their prey. Actually, I wasn't watching, I was in the middle of it, trying to save Little. I had to use my whole body to cover her, and after I got the other dogs away, I finally had to bite Daphne (BITE!) because my hands and feet were busy, to get her to release.
Little and I were both in bad shape after that incident. Little had two big holes in her thigh and multiple other wounds over her body. It didn't help her recovery from mange much. I had to get x-rays and some medical attention, as it seemed one hand was broken (it wasn't).
A few days after that incident, Daphne nailed Shaggy and put a big hole in her belly.
I've kept Daphne apart from Little and Shaggy as much as possible. I bought her a muzzle, but she's even gone after Little with it on! She spends nights in the pen, and comes out in the day when I've got the other two in the house.
Daphne gets along fine with the other half-dozen or so dogs here, and she's an affectionate, intelligent, obedient, beautiful dog, but this aggression toward the weaker dogs really is a concern. Last night, I let her out of the pen to join us in the house for the evening (she had been out a good part of the day, too) where I could closely supervise interactions. In a flash, she raced out of the pen, directly to the front porch 50' away where Little was sitting, cornered and attacked her. Little has new holes in her poor body. I lifted Daphne by the collar directly off the ground and she wouldn't break her hold - Little came off the ground with her. She had her by the neck.
She's been in the pen since then. I have no where to turn without being deceiptful. The shelters on the coast will not take dogs from Hoopa because the Tribe refuses to negotiate a contract with them. I'll have to pretend I live somewhere else and say I found her somewhere else, and I won't be able to give her history, which I think is important.
I know there is a good home for her somewhere. She is a great dog, except for this select animal aggression. I think she would be a good companion and a good hunter, if one was inclined that way. She is physically and mentally strong. However, I can't keep her here and no one has come forward to give her a foster home. After last night's attack, it seems my only alternative is to kill her. I know that is blunt, but this is not a delicate thing, and it's something I've been afraid to face eventually. It had to come, given the numbers of dogs I've seen in just three years. I just didn't imagine it to be a dog that was so wonderful in so many other ways.
Ironically, Eagleton, a dachsund cross, the littlest dog of the bunch, and a little tough guy at 19 lbs., can put Daphne into a whimpering ball!
I don't know what else to do. Staking a dog to a chain, or leaving her alone in a pen for her life is not acceptable to me at this point. She cries pitifully when she's alone in there (it's huge) and sees all the others running free. Is it better to live alone in a pen or tied to a stake than to be dead?
sigh
Now here's another rub. This is Daphne (right) with Little. This was after the first attack back in July or August. Soon after this photo, Daphne went to another home for a trial run, perhaps to stay, perhaps to be fostered. The folks decided that the two other dogs they'd already adopted from me were enough, especially since Daphne would not stay out of their fish/lily pond, so Daphne came back. She had been gone about 10 days. The next morning, she jumped Shaggy. The morning after that, she got Little in the attack previously described. That was Oct. 26th. There have been three incidents since. The time away from here did something in Daphne's head.
It's very tense. I've found myself frustrated and yelling at the dogs, which is not the way I handle them at all. As result, they are not behaving in the way they usually do. Chaos seems to be present more than it is not. While some chaos is acceptable to me (with so many dogs and a crazy lady, it has to be expected), it feels nearly constant and the dogs are in charge now, not me.
I think I'm throwing in the towel for dog rescue after all are placed.
This message was edited Nov 9, 2006 7:48 AM
