November 08, 2013

My Catahoula Leopard Dog killed my Min Pin. What should I do?

Full Question:
Hi,

Very heartbroken and torn on what to do. We got a Catahoula Leopard Dog when she was 6 weeks old. About 2 years ago she started to look at you scary when you gave her a treat and sat next to her on the couch. I think if I touched it she would bite me. Then she went after my Min Pin's treat and hurt her badly. She also goes crazy if a dog passes our house her hair goes up and when I try to make her stop she will get aggressive with me. But the worst thing about this is she could be so lovable when she wants to. But about a week ago, my nightmare came true, she killed our 12 old Min Pin over a treat. Picked her up shook her like a rag doll I was horrified, couldn't believe it even happened. Don't know what to do please help. Thank you so much.?
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
I will start by saying that I am sorry for your loss. With that said we get far to many emails from dog owners who own multiple dogs and one of their dogs kills a second dog. Every one of these deaths are all totally avoidable.

I will start by saying that you should NOT GET A SECOND DOG.

Your dog is the way it is because of the way you chose to live with it. Had you done a better job in managing the dog this tragedy would not have happened. I produced a short video on Management for one of our recent newsletters. I suggest you watch it. Bottom line is good management is more important than obedience training when it comes to living with a dog.

In your case these dogs should not have been given food treats in the presence of the other dog. You large dog should not been off leash while in the house. It should not have been allowed on furniture. It should have been fed in a dog crate. It should not have bones or toys outside of the dog crate.

If you keep this dog you need to change the way you live with the dog. It needs to go through a pack structure program in which it loses all privileges until it earns them back (a little at a time). If you chose to do this I have produced a DVD that explains how to do it: Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Dog DVD.

Regards,
Ed Frawley

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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