April 22, 2011
Our 4 year old female attacked our 3 1/2 year old male yesterday. The Vet bill was $350.00. She had never done this before. Can you tell us why this happened?
Full Question:
Sir,I found your website informative and hope you could provide some guidance for us. (Since you don't know the dogs it would be hard to give a definitive answer.) Yesterday when my wife got home my female dog (April) tried to hump my male dog (Snoopy) and he let her know he didn't like it. Well next thing my wife knows April grabs Snoopy by the neck and was tossing him around like a rag doll. They finally stopped but not before doing $350 worth of damage to each other. She is 4 he is 3 1/2 and they have been together for 3 years without anything like this happening. Because it appeared to happen for no reason we are both puzzled on why April went nutso on Snoopy. I do not want to get rid of April but will if we cant get her under control. The only change in the house is that my wife just found out she is pregnant. Do you think obedience training will help?
Sincerely,
Andrew
![Ed](https://leerburg.com/Photos/articles/authors/edfrawley.jpg)
![Ed](https://leerburg.com/Photos/articles/authors/edfrawley.jpg)
I don’t think your wife being pregnant has anything to do with this.
I would recommend that you get 2 dog crates and keep these dogs separated for awhile – only one out of the crate at a time. Then there can be no fights.
In the mean time, get a prong collar and start some serious obedience training with this female. When dogs fight like this it’s a rank issue. In this case it even trickles down to the female not respecting your wife enough. The PACK LEADERS allow fights and disallow fights. I can tell you that if these two dogs lived with me that female would know 100% for sure that I DO NOT ALLOW FIGHTS!!! So, the point is, she does not respect your wife (no matter what you may think).
Have your wife be the one who trains – with the prong collar.
Good luck.
I would recommend that you get 2 dog crates and keep these dogs separated for awhile – only one out of the crate at a time. Then there can be no fights.
In the mean time, get a prong collar and start some serious obedience training with this female. When dogs fight like this it’s a rank issue. In this case it even trickles down to the female not respecting your wife enough. The PACK LEADERS allow fights and disallow fights. I can tell you that if these two dogs lived with me that female would know 100% for sure that I DO NOT ALLOW FIGHTS!!! So, the point is, she does not respect your wife (no matter what you may think).
Have your wife be the one who trains – with the prong collar.
Good luck.
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