Our 7 year old beagle is attacking our 14 year old cocker. It’s gotten so bad we are afraid the beagle will kill our other dog, what can we do?

Question

Ed,

We have a 7 year old Beagle and a 14 year old Cocker Spaniel at home. We've had both since they were puppies, but we got the cocker first. They have gotten along up until about this past year.

Lately, the Beagle has been attacking the Cocker Spaniel. She's a hunting dog, so she's fast and gets a good grip on the other dog. Out of the blue, she'll lunge at the other one and attack her, without ever letting go. When we try to drag her off, she takes the other one with her.

It doesn't make sense because most of the time they are friends, but sometimes the Beagle gets jealous for no reason and seems like she's trying to kill her.

It's gotten so bad, we are afraid she might kill the Cocker, especially with her old age.

We don't know what to do about it. I've been reading your website, and it has great tips ... It's just that the Beagle has been aggressive and attacking the other one for so long, we're worried it is too late. We are unsure if any training classes would help her at home (she doesn't seem to learn her lesson easily...). We also wouldn't want our life to revolve around keeping her on a leash the whole time. We are already constantly on the edge of our seat for the next attack. This isn't how we want to live our life, but we really just want the fighting to stop.

We have to get in and pull her off, unless she'll never let go. We need your advice before either one of us gets bitten, or our Cocker Spaniel gets badly hurt or killed. We definitely don't want it to come to where we have to get rid of the beagle, or be forced to put her down.

Please help us!

It would be so greatly appreciated if you would email me back. Also, if you would post a response on the website, please let me know.

Thank you,
A.

Accepted Answer

Normally we suggest separating and training both dogs but with a 14 year old dog I believe the best course of action would be to keep them separated so the poor older dog gets some peace.

My guess is that as the cocker gets older, the beagle is trying to climb the social ladder and take over the dominant role from the cocker. YOU should be intervening and not allowing this to even be a possibility in the first place. It's like a senior citizen being put in the middle of a bar fight, it's just not fair.

I would take the beagle through our groundwork program and Pack Structure for the Family Pet.

I'd also recommend a dominant dog collar and Dealing with Dominant & Aggressive Dogs.

You may not want your life to revolve around keeping her on a leash, but you have a responsibility to train or safely contain this dog so the older dog can live in peace. Putting the beagle to sleep seems like a pretty harsh option to me, just because “We also wouldn't want our life to revolve around keeping her on a leash”

If you spend some time reading this section on dog fights, you'll see that your problems are very common. I've received 6 or 7 emails just today from dog owners with very similar problems. If you don't teach the dogs your rules, they can't possibly behave how you want them to.

Cindy Rhodes