Bunny is feeling MUCH better, which is wonderful. She is out and about with the other dogs, with the exception of Lucy. Lucy is no longer trusted, and has to stay in the other part of the house. We are in the other part of the house frequently, though, she it's not like she is neglected. She mostly spends her life sleeping on the dog couch anyway, so she is fine. She gets crated when we leave, for extra assurance that nobody gets into the wrong room. The only frustrating part is shuffling outside time. Lucy has to go by herself.
What has been baffling me for the past couple months is how this all happened. Maybe I am thinking too much into it, and it just is what it is, but I am really desperate to figure this out. The reason I did not put Lucy to sleep straight away after the Bunny attack is because Lucy has never, EVER done anything like that. Lucy has always been a bit touchy. Like, if you try to touch her butt or back she seems really uncomfortable and strains. Sometimes she growls about it. She was a single dog, though, and I am an airhead a lot of the time so I never really thought any further about it other than being gentle when I touched her there. Other than those touchy areas on her body she was just fine. We dog sat for friends in Houston and she always made great friends with the other dogs, my roommate had an annoying lab puppy for a while, and she has even been around toddlers and has always been completely trustworthy. So this has been bugging me. Obviously Lucy went way too far with what she did to Bunny, though. She was going for a kill.
What started my thinking on this track is what happened yesterday, which leads me back to Bunny feeling much better. Bunny is a MAJOR instigator. Yesterday when Lily came out of her crate, Bunny jumped at her, and bit her in the neck. She is a really saucy Corgi. Lily is a BIG puppy so it was kind of a funny visual, but it freaked her out and she screamed. I would never, EVER blame Bunny for what Lucy did to her, because it is not normal to take things as far as Lucy did. I have had my suspicions all along that Bunny may have taken a good nip at Lucy to get things started, though. It's not out of character for her to run through everyone's legs barking, or to nip, or to jump up and hang from a neck or two by her teeth. Nothing vicious. This is Bunny. I sometimes get the sense that she thinks it is really funny, because she does it kind of playfully, and sometimes you can tell she does it to put someone in line... but the other dogs get SO MAD.
Our variables are Bunny, Lucy, the weedwacker... Quinn says Lily because she jumps into the middle of things with her big bounding puppy antics and pisses everyone off... and, well, I guess that is it. I will probably never know what happened. We've definitely been asking some questions around here. Does Lucy have something wrong with her, like is she sick or does she have pain in her back region for some reason, and that made her overly aggressive? Or is it just that she has a bad background, and finally snapped? This is something we need to figure out because I really don't want to be irresponsible by keeping her around. Maybe she has pain that could be managed or maybe she has a tumor or something and is really sick. Second, bad on us for letting Bunny get away with crap because she is so damned cute. Our mom had no problem popping her with a rolled up newspaper to keep her in line once in a while (plus she did not do it as often because our mom was a strong pack leader and there was no question of who was in charge). We have just never done it. She's too cute to pop! And after all, she is so small she's not going to cause anyone damage. Now, of course, she pissed someone bigger off and SHE is damaged. Never thought of that. So we've done her a great disservice by not correcting her behavior.
Anyway, just my rambling thoughts. Like I said, it's still bugging me. It probably comes down to the fact that I have too many dogs and suck at discipline. All the dog people reading this probably think I sound stupid as I go through round 10 million of "What the heck happened?" All I have ever had to do with the dogs is love on them and feed them. My mom was always into their interactions, and discipline, and knowing their behavior. It's not a "poor me" situation, though. I should have learned. I just wasn't interested. I tend to prefer dogs like Cosmo and Bud (boy dogs are easier, maybe?) who just want love and food and companionship. I love my girls, too, but I have only ever lived with them seperately (Bunny was my apartment dog, and when she got sick and my mom wouldn't let me take her to Houston I ended up rescuing Lucy and living alone with her). Put the girls together, though, and they all go crazy. Maybe they are like people. The guys are cool, but too many bitches in one place turns into a cat fight.
4 comments:
My Cove feels that Traum should be DEAD. They can not be left alone together at all, not even let out to go to the bathroom at the same time.
What I've seen, is Traum grumbles at Cove (Traum grumbles ALL the time), and Cove goes "Oh no you don't you little crap!". Sibling rivarly, which has been numbed down/gotten better since we brought home Galaxy to keep Cove in the beta position.
I think a lot of people have dogs who hate each other, or get into fights, just most dog people don't allow their dogs to run unsupervised together, or only allow VERY compatible dogs to run together.
While Bunny's injury is an exceptional one, you're not the only person with "too many dogs", that had injuries from one dog to another. We all have it happen... just like human parents have it happen too!
Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better to know it happens to others as well. These girls just have a thing against each other, and they are all nippy and nasty... and NONE of them are like this on their own!
Fights are the reason I re-homed Ollie.. Ollie wanted to see Kota DEAD. Ollie wasn't a pack animal and Kota was. Therefore I knew I had to find Ollie a new home. you'll always do the "what happened" thing... I think we all do! Just keep doing the best job you can... that's all anyone (even Bunny) can ask :) *hugs*
Bunny's behavior sounds like normal dog and herding behavior. Remember dogs are not people :) and we can't expect them to act like people.
Ummm remember that Phoebe got a broken leg from Julie?
And if Marcy is pulling crap, play or not, for instance when you let puppy out of her crate? Don't let Marcy be there! Open crates separate or let the puppy out first. Remember that you, as pack leader, have the obligation to keep control and that could spiral into a fight/hate situation if the puppy gets fearful.
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