Dog fight

jessdogs

Hello. I had posted in the past about my two BT puppies. When we got the second one, the oldest was possessive and rough on her. This has resolved overall, although the older one, Bosco (almost 2), is still food possessive and will bite at the other one. She even tries to dominate the water bowl. Things have been okay overall otherwise. They play a lot - rough - but they seem happy. However, Bosco today went out of her electric fence and after our neighbor dog (in fairness to Bosco, our neighbor Jim has been taunting Bosco with the other dog - a Rotweiler - because he thinks it is funny that Bosco gets so worked up). They dogs ended up fighting. No one was hurt (no people or dogs) but my husband said Bosco was the obvious instigator. The neighbor fell over as a result of the fight and scraped her knee. She felt terrified. Bosco seems more intense lately. She nipped at my son and left a tiny mark on his face (although my son was practically jumping on him). I don't know what to do. Bosco is well-trained. She is sweet overall. But she is highly anxious with any noises and gets so intense. She loves to play with other dogs and loves people overall, but we just don't know if she is safe in the home and in our yard. Thoughts welcome. I have spent lots of time and energy training her and hired an incredible trainer who has been with us from the beginning. Waiting to hear from him today but looking for other opinions as well. Our youngest BT, Denali, has none of these issues and is super sweet! But thinking Bosco may need a new home. So sad

chooba

I also have 2 ebts. Both male, and both above average size wise.


My first thought is........
How in the world an electric fence has worked this long for you is a miracle. I wouldnt give it 5 minutes with my boys.

Ladynbuddy

I think you have to keep her in a very calm setting for a while and calm her down the day to day life of being worked up can cause any being to snap eventually best of luck

jessdogs

We actually realized that the fence just was not working that day. So normally the fence works great. Both of them have done great with it and now we have better collars.

BulliesofNC

You need to be a lot more careful about other dogs now after the fight because Terriers in general can become a lot more dominant and aggressive after engaging in a fight.
Your best bet would be to put a real privacy fence that would secure your dogs in your own yard without the worry and stress hoping they won't escape the electric fence. If she got through the electric fence once she will continue getting through it and pretty soon it will become an easy process for her.
I recommend that you exercise the dogs in your yard to burn off some pent up energy. This will help enormously with their behavior in the house and tolerance with each other. I realize you may be letting the dogs outside for bathroom breaks but young bullies need exercise. Try throwing a ball for a good while and allow them to really exert some energy.

jessdogs

Thank you for your response. We are thinking about the privacy fence. I showed my husband the response and he now says that it wasn't a fight. He said Bosco got out of the fence and was barking and getting into the dog's face and he isn't sure if she wanted to play or was angry. But somehow the neighbor got knocked down. It doesn't sound like they engaged in fighting but he said it was an intense interaction. Neighbor was afraid, especially with two big dogs. They do get a lot of exercise. We have a huge yard in front and back and they play together a lot. Also take them on long walks twice per week. But Bosco has always been an intense dog. She seems quite anxious, easily startled, goes crazy after balls and lawn mower and all that. I think the anxiety gets to her a lot. No history of trauma. We have always had her. We thought about trying medication? Plan to see vet in two days. Our dog trainer has them both at his home when we vacation and he said he has never seen Bosco be aggressive toward people or dogs, just intense. But also she does anything the trainer says and adores the trainer. He has a way with dogs and knows exactly how to correct her. But once again, not sure if she is completely trustworthy. Any other thoughts?

chooba

Now this is just my opinion, and mean absolutely no offense.
Do not medicate. Your treating an avoidable symptom chemically. It will not fix the problem. It will not teach Boscoe to control behaviour, and it will have side effects on the health of your dog, especially considering she will be on it for possibly life.

Get a fence. Being a bull terrier, those who are not educated will label her a pitbull. If there is another fight and either needs medical attention your dog could be taken from you due to stereotyping.
If someone tries to break up tje fight amd gets injured yiur dog can be taken from you.
Both of these could result in euthinozation.

A good dog is a tired dog. Using my 2 as an example, walking every other day would not even put a dent in energy lvls.

Dogs also feed off the spirit of his/her handler.
If, for instance, she is with the trainer in a similar situation, the chances of a confrontation are down. If she is with someone else, who is stressing, she will feed off that, and chances go up.
This has potential to become serious and its extreme cases like these that we signed up for by becoming parents.

Boomer was socialized often and early. Been to boot camp twice and is a great, loving dog.
He was attacked by 2 dogs @ 1 year old, and has never been the same. Simillar but not exactly with what you are dealing with. Boomer hit the next lvl, which may be where your headed if the next dog on dog interaction gets out of hand.
I now have to take extra precautions and this will never go away.
Animals have mental switches which when activated, can be suppressed, but never ever actually go complety away.