One of my dogs has attacked one of my other dogs and a neighbor's dog. I want to put him down. I'm not comfortable with the idea that this can once again happen. What are your thoughts and or advice?

Question

Good Morning,

I know you receive hundreds, if not thousands, of emails regarding misbehaved dogs, etc. and my question is most likely not any different, but we find ourselves in a difficult situation and don't really have the time to read countless pages of situations. 

Here it is, we have 3 dogs and have had them for years. We have a 5 year old St. Bernard-male, a 7 year old Golden Retriever-male and a 4 year old blond golden retriever-female. They have all been fixed.

The St. Bernard, Griffey, attacked my male Golden, Wrigley, about 3 years ago, over a fight of a bone. He was injured and was taken to the hospital and they drained his neck, packed it and was on medication. Is was very serious and expensive.

Then about a year and a half ago, my husband and I were walking the St. Bernard, Griffey, and came across a neighbor who was also walking his dog, a Golden Retriever, and we stopped and talked for a few minutes, when all of a sudden Griffey attacked his dog for no reason. He didn?t draw blood but it was quite scary and the owner of the dog was quite scared and upset.

We live on 1.5 acre lot and it is now fenced in because the only dog that would stay within the electrical fence boundaries was the olden Golden, Wrigley. He is a very gentle dog. The other two were going through the fence in order to chase deer, and they would be running the neighborhood, because of Griffey?s size, people would be scared of him. Accordingly, we put up a $4,000 fence to contain them.

Last evening, the dogs were outside in the fenced area and then they came up in the patio area where the pool is, my husband and I were inside, we heard Griffey?s attack growl and bark and new it was not good. When we got outside on the patio, Griffey had Wrigley pinned down at the neck and it was a fight. My husband was yelling/screaming/kicking Griffey to get his off of Wrigley and it just wasn?t working, he was finally able to pull his collar and I pulled Wrigley away and took him inside to inspect him for wounds. I cleaned him up, bathed him and he just has a couple of puncture wounds, nothing like what he received 3 years ago from Griffey.

My husband put Griffey in the pool house and began looking around the pool area, when he found a dead, full grown cat at the back door of the house, Griffey must have killed it and brought it up to the back door, and Wrigley must have gone to check out what it was, when Griffey attacked him.

Dogs chase cats, not kill them, cats are quick, quicker than a St. Bernard, unless I guess if the cat was sick. I know the cat could jump over the 4.5 foot fence with no problem, I just don?t know how Griffey was able to get it.

Anyway, with all the above being said, I want to put Griffey down. I?m not comfortable with the idea that this can once again happen. We also have 2 small grandchildren, my husband owns his own restaurant for over 25 years and is very busy, I work full time still and I just don?t want to have to worry about him attacking dogs, cats, people. My husband, on the other hand will agree to it, but I know he will be extremely sad.

What are your thoughts and or advice?

Jenn

Accepted Answer

Dogs can and do kill cats and other small animals every day. Cats get surprised or caught off guard, and it unfortunately happens. In a dog’s mind, it’s no different than a squirrel…it all boils down to prey instinct that all dogs have. Some have more pronounced instincts than others and I know it’s upsetting. I would imagine one dog killed the cat and then was guarding it from the other, as dogs will do. It’s actually very normal dog behavior, when dogs are left to work out issues on their own. Some dogs can never be trusted unsupervised with other animals, period.

When you are managing a pack of dogs it becomes much more complicated (as you know already). Our definition of a pack is 3 or more. The key to handling this is to show unwavering leadership and give these dogs (even the dogs you don’t think are part of the problem) strict leadership and structure. This goes a long way into making them all feel secure in their place in the pack and secure in your leadership.

With that said, the advice I will offer is really not much different than to other dog owners dealing with aggression issues. It all boils down to management and training. Start with our groundwork program and Pack Structure for the Family Pet for all the dogs. Keep them separated from each other and work individually with them.

I’d also recommend Dealing with Dominant & Aggressive Dogs.

We also have a number of ebooks, which include topics that may help you.

It sounds like your mind is made up and if you don’t have the time to read the website, how will you be able to train the dogs? Managing a multi dog household takes time and effort and some dogs are more challenging than others. I find it disheartening that humans want to kill dogs for being dogs without giving training a chance. I don’t mean this to be rude, but the St. Bernard has shown over the last few years that he needs training and leadership. He attacked your other dog before, was running deer, attacked a neighbor dog. None of this should be surprising, the dog has been behaving as he’s been allowed to for his entire life. The fence is a good idea, but no substitute for training.

I hope that you find a solution that works for everyone involved, I know it’s not easy.