I am so frustrated and disappointed in myself.

When bringing Bru into my home, I did everything the right way as far as introducing him to Ollie. I've gone so slow. They've been around eachother only recently outside, supervised and with no toys or food of any kind. They have done so well, but still I've kept them separate mostly. Training has been going great, and I have really been pleasantly surprised at how much progress I've made with my dogs and myself as a dog owner.

Yesterday evening on our patio, we were grilling and had both dogs out with us...right there on the patio. Bru was wearing a drag line and Ollie was free. There were no toys or food. Ollie found a hickory nut, Bru was super interested in what he had. I saw Ollie posture and started toward them from about six feet away but not fast enough. The went at each other.

Although I got them apart pretty quickly, Ollie has a cut on his snout and Bru has a place on his chest. Both tiny, but not the point. Ollie responded to me verbally, Bru did not but calmed quickly. I was RIGHT THERE! I saw it before it started and still wasn't fast enough.

They will be separate entirely now. No walks together or hanging out with the family on the patio. I feel so guilty...and I tried so hard to do this the right way. They are both really great dogs...both very obedient. I hate that I got too comfortable and let my guard down. Even being right there to supervise, it happened so fast. My husband, being new to life with dogs, was absolutely horrified.

I thought about rehoming one of them. Ollie leaving is not an option. It just wont happen. Bru is just a puppy, and I would really worry about finding him a good home. Especially with him being 9 months and a holy terror to most people.

How many of you have dogs that live separated and what are your biggest challenges? I'm committed...I guess I'm just looking for encouragement.

Thanks.

So sorry to hear about this Janet, I've been there... it's sickening, heart breaking and gut wrenching, the love you feel for your dogs is obvious, and that makes it all the harder, I wouldn't dream of giving you advice, I will leave that to the experts, I got it so very wrong, and it was a different set of circumstances from yours, but I absolutely know how heavy your heart is right now.

Give yourself a chance to sleep on it before you make a decision, seperating and containment is do-able, but can be miserable, but I just want you to know I am thinking of you and you have my utter sympathy, it really is a shitty situation for you all.

Tracey

I've done it with 3 dogs....all having to be kept seperated at all times. It was 2 1/2 years of a stressful way to live.

I have used crates & also putting dogs in seperate rooms to minimize crate time. Rotating dogs from crates or rooms to outside free in my fenced yard, or in the kennel in the yard.

The hardest part is to remember who is where & not open a wrong door or have an error/malfunction with a crate door & have a dog get out that shouldn't be.

I have had dogs that can live together & dogs that will never get along, to dogs that will be able to be together,with lots of time & work, with supervision & some without supervision. I have run the gambit on this.

The bottom line is...that it is a PITA to live that way. Since I like to be able to put my dogs in the truck & for them to go just about anywhere with me & be able to walk together with me..so, that kind of lifestyle is not the way that I want to live with my dogs. Been there, done that...not going back if I can help it.

Hi Janet,
I am not an expert and certainly not in matters of aggression, but it seems to me that you don't need to give up all hope of these dogs ever living peacefully together.

Here's what it sounds like what happened to me. Bru is still a puppy and was "feeling his oats" and being a butthead. Ollie corrected him. If Ollie had really wanted to hurt him, he would have and wouldn't have listened to you at all. Should it have happened? No, but Bru is still young and malleable and he will probably think twice before doing it again.

I'll leave the more specific management advice to the real experts. Yeah it sound like you need to be super-vigilant about the resource guarding issues. It just seems to me that people can jump to that "Oh No! they can never look at each other ever again!" a little too fast sometimes. It is erring on the side of caution, I understand.

Thanks, Tracey. It is so heartbreaking. My dogs are very special to me, both in their own way.

Anne, your post rings true to me. I had envisioned a time where I could just put the dogs in the car and off to the park we'd go. This is not the life I wanted for myself with my dogs.

On the positive side, I have a good set-up to separate them, as they were mostly even before this. For now, I will keep them apart and see how it goes. It's not what I wanted, but I don't want either of my dogs to go somewhere and not know what becomes of them. If I can do it and still provide a happy, healthy existance for them both, that's what I want to do.

The whole thing just makes me want to cry. (Lame I know.)

It isn't fun to live separately with you dogs, but it is do-able. It's like playing "musical dogs." One in the bedroom, put the other outside, alone time with inside dog, put inside dog in bathroom, take outside dog to bedroom, bathroom dog outside, spend time with other dog... It can make your head spin after a while but you could do it if it came down to it. It sounds like there was a guarding issue, not just unwarranted aggression, so you may be able to still work out the guarding.

ETA: It's not lame that it makes you want to cry. It's hard, and it makes you a good owner for caring that much!

Janet, sorry to hear about what happened.

We have four dogs, 1 is a sport dog that can be bossy at times, 3 are senior pets. My husband built 3 doors/gates inside the house to separate the house into several sections (one separates the kitchen from the den, not shown here):



We use the doors a lot, even when we are home, the dogs are usually separated from each other, just to help minimize problems.

None of our dogs is aggressive towards each other (I am sure my GSD can break the door if she really tries), so the doors/gates work great for us.

 Quote: kristin mortensen

Hi Janet,
I am not an expert and certainly not in matters of aggression, but it seems to me that you don't need to give up all hope of these dogs ever living peacefully together.

Here's what it sounds like what happened to me. Bru is still a puppy and was "feeling his oats" and being a butthead. Ollie corrected him. If Ollie had really wanted to hurt him, he would have and wouldn't have listened to you at all. Should it have happened? No, but Bru is still young and malleable and he will probably think twice before doing it again.

I'll leave the more specific management advice to the real experts. Yeah it sound like you need to be super-vigilant about the resource guarding issues. It just seems to me that people can jump to that "Oh No! they can never look at each other ever again!" a little too fast sometimes. It is erring on the side of caution, I understand.

Kristin,

That is exactly what happened. They have always done well when together, and I think it was resource guarding as you said. What scared me is that it was something I didn't really have control over...a hickory nut for goodness sakes!!

If anyone has suggestions on ways to work with this situation, I'll do anything. Both their OB is pretty good. Ollie is more solid with the hard stuff, like "stay" and "leave-it" under extreme distraction. I really thought this meant they couldn't be around each other ever again. If I can do more for them, I certainly will.

Got a phone call & missed the edit time.........

My dogs will still very occasionally 'spat'. I say spat as opposed to fight, because they are like toddlers arguing...not really fighting. BUT it would not take much for that to exculate further into a real fight,if I didn't stop it the second it starts. SInce they are both posessive of me, they don't get into anything when alone...they start vying for position when I enter the scene. Crazy dogs! Since when they do this, I stop it & ignor BOTH of them, nobody wins my attention. You must ALWAYS be vigilent & NEVER become conplacient.

It only take a second for a fight to break out. You are never going to be faster then they are physically to prevent it. You need to be able to see the very early stages. Had it been me, I would have taken the nut away the first second that I saw it had his attention....it was no different then if he had found a toy stached somewhere in the room...Dogs that have fought repeatedly will be harder to get to live together. You need to physically contol the dogs at all times. By that I mean, to have you hands on one of them...just walking dragging a leash is for a later time in training...not for the beginnng phases. You need to have one if not BOTH dogs on 6' or leass leashes & by your side. If both are out there should be 2 people, one holding each dog. Or one holding a leash & one dog loose...but another person there able to grab the other dog if needed to physically restrain it. If you can't do these steps then they should be physically seperated, by a crate, fence, kennel etc.

Good luck with your dogs.

ETA....Amy has it correct....REMEMBERING WHO IS WHERE is the hardest part!!!

Lots to think about.

Thanks everyone. Anne, Thanks for the advice, and you're right. I should have taken it away sooner. I didn't think about it until I saw Ollie posture.