Monday, November 5, 2007
It's all fun and games until....
Well, i'm not sure what to do about my dog. I've got three, Lucy, Moogle, and Kenya. Moogle is a 9 year old overgrown shi-tzu, Kenya is about 5 and looks kinda like toto, but she's a mutt. Lucy is about 3 and she's an orange and white hound mix. They're all very sweet in their own way, but recently Lucy has become over-possessive of me. She cuddles in close and if the other dogs try to get near she gets very upset. She's actually attacked moogle about 4 times in the last couple of months. Up until last night, the "attacks" were scary but nobody got hurt. At about 5:00 last night though, I sat down to eat some food in bed. Lucy came up close trying to get some of the food and when moogle came up she went for him. I had a harder time separating them than I usually do and by the time I got them apart moogle had been beat up pretty good - specifically, his right eyeball was nearly hanging out of its socket. Yeah, it was gross and it freaked me out. Jill and I took him to the doggie emergency room and last night he had surgery to have his eye removed. Guess who's going to be a pirate for Halloween next year! It was sad...and very expensive, but now comes the tough part - what to do with Lucy? So far as I can tell she's just very jealous. I don't think she'd ever attack the other dogs for no reason, just when they get too close to me...and usually you can tell when she's getting upset so it's somewhat preventable. On the other hand, there's always a chance that one of these days she's going to really hurt one of the other dogs (it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye). So do I try to "reform" her and work with her to be nicer. Do I supervise better and avoid those situations? Or do I say that she's had a good life for the past couple years and she's just too dangerous to keep around. I'm not sure what do to here. Any thoughts?
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4 comments:
Oh, Moogie! That's AWFUL. Surprised it wasn't a Lucy-Kenya battle...which may have been worse since it would be a girl fight. What a tough decision. Once a dog crosses the line like that, it may be very difficult to gain control of her...what if it happened when you weren't home?
Well, considering you are the object of their affections, I guess that may not be a factor...
Before you do anything drastic check with your vet and see if there is anything you can give Lucy that will help to calm her and make her a more mellow being to be around. Also have her checked over thoroughly. She may have a problem that is causing her pain and making her be more aggressive.
It's worth a try. Good luck!
Oh Rach that breaks my heart. For both you and Jill in having to deal with the incident, for Kenya, who most likely witness it, for Moogle for the loss of his eye and a way of life he has known for 9 years... and even for Lucy who is obviously struggling with something, be it personal demons or otherwise. I realize that all may sound hokey, but I sincerely mean it all. I make no judgement in whatever you choose to do. Much like cat lady says, I suggest a Vet visit before any decision. I offer up as an option the name of a Vet office in Simpsonville. Horizon Vet Clinic 502-722-8231. The Vet there believe in natural remedies as well. Just an option. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Much Love, kelly
Hi Rachel
I've only met you and your dogs once, so consider that in the advice I'm about to give you... in other words, I may not understand everything about the situation all that well...
Really it comes down to more choices than you are considering... really about 4 choices:
1. Put the dog down. This is the most drastic of choices, but if you believe you truly have a violent dog on your hands (don't think that's the case here since she seemed fairly sweet when I met her... shy, but sweet...) you can't pawn it off on others and you can't keep it in your house because you have a responsibility to your other animals as well as the offending fuzzy.
2. Give the dog to someone who can give it the attention it wants. In other words, someone without children or other pets. That way it doesn't have to be jealous of anything. These homes can be hard to find, especially for medium/large/shy dogs, but well worth looking at the choice as it can make the animal happy and bring peace to your own home.
3. Go to see the vet. There are several things that can factor in to an animal becoming violent for the first time or becoming increasingly violent. Diseases that affect the brain could be at work here. I had a dog that had brain cancer and her behaviour changed drastically over the 6 months preceding her death. I just didn't notice it at first because the changes were so subtle at first. She snapped at me a few times and she wasn't that type of dog before. Also, if it is psychological, the vet might be able to prescribe meds that can help (they do have meds like prozac for dogs and there are some homeopathic remedies to try) or direct you to someone that can help you w/ training the pup.
4. And #3 leads into #4. If your vet doesn't think the problem is physiological and you don't like the idea of putting the dog on psych meds, intense training... not your garden variety Petsmart doggie obedience school, but one on one with a trainer or with an animal behaviourist (trainer/psychologist with a degree in veterinary medicine). These are trained professionals that can help you learn methods of controlling your dog and better yet help you train your dog to control its own aggression (not quite as well as a person can with higher reason, but it's amazing what you can train a dog to do with the right methodologies to help you). This can get pricey, but if you feel like keeping the dog and your sanity, it's an option.
The main thing is that you do make a choice and don't leave the dogs alone together while you aren't around. It's just not a safe option if you aren't absolutely sure they are going to get along. Whatever you do in this instance, it will be the right thing because you know that your heart is in the right place and you know your dogs and what they need and what's best for them.
Sincerely,
Kelley
(Shannon's sister)
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