April 26, 2011
My 7 year old Lab killed my 14 year old dog in a fight yesterday. Was this a dominance issue-- we just added a puppy 3 months ago.
Full Question:
We have had a serious incident where one of our dogs has gotten into a fight and killed the older dog.We had a 14 year old female mixed breed (Bichon) that at one time was the dominant dog. We also have had a Lab for 7 years. We just (4 months ago) brought a new rescued puppy into our house(Lab/Chow mix). The two older dogs have gotten in small fights before and the Lab has been more dominant over her lately. Yesterday, we had an incident when all three dogs were looking out of our front windows and another dog came onto our yard, a fight broke out between the Lab and the older dog and the Lab killed the older dog. The Lab had the older one by the neck and must have broken it. The Lab has never been aggressive to any human. She usually is extremely friendly. She has never shown anything near this behavior. We don't know what to do with the Lab. Will the puppy be safe if we bring the Lab back into our home? Has the pack order problem(which I didn't realize we had until I read some of your website) been solved?
Thank you for any help,
Scott
Ed's Answer:
This is pretty sad.
There is no Question on Dog Fights that this was your fault – that goes without saying. At least you are looking on the Internet for some answers – I will give you that. It’s too bad it took the death of your old dog for you to decide that its time to learn about dogs. If it makes you mad – well ask yourself what your 14 year old dog felt like just before it died.
Bringing a new dog into a home with 2 dogs is a key element in elevating pack drive in the existing dogs. You found this out the hard way, or I should say your old dog found this out the hard way.
I have written an article on “”- if you want to go read it you will see the beginning of your mistakes. You can find this on the article page on my web site.
My advice is to get two dog crates and use them. Then train these dogs, I would bet you my business that you own untrained dogs – an untrained dog is one that will not mind under distraction.
If you want to learn how to live with a dog – go read the article I wrote on The Ground Work to Becoming a Pack Leader.
If you want to learn about pack and rank drive – go read the article I wrote titled Dealing with the Dominant Dog.
So the answer to your Question on Dog Fights is another Question on Dog Fights. Can you change the way you live with your dogs and are you capable of properly training a dog?
There is no Question on Dog Fights that this was your fault – that goes without saying. At least you are looking on the Internet for some answers – I will give you that. It’s too bad it took the death of your old dog for you to decide that its time to learn about dogs. If it makes you mad – well ask yourself what your 14 year old dog felt like just before it died.
Bringing a new dog into a home with 2 dogs is a key element in elevating pack drive in the existing dogs. You found this out the hard way, or I should say your old dog found this out the hard way.
I have written an article on “”- if you want to go read it you will see the beginning of your mistakes. You can find this on the article page on my web site.
My advice is to get two dog crates and use them. Then train these dogs, I would bet you my business that you own untrained dogs – an untrained dog is one that will not mind under distraction.
If you want to learn how to live with a dog – go read the article I wrote on The Ground Work to Becoming a Pack Leader.
If you want to learn about pack and rank drive – go read the article I wrote titled Dealing with the Dominant Dog.
So the answer to your Question on Dog Fights is another Question on Dog Fights. Can you change the way you live with your dogs and are you capable of properly training a dog?
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