Aggressive Female Boxer

[Bluebonnet]

Hi, I need some advice re. a situation with our female boxer, Mae. Mae has been getting into scuffles with our female boston Terrier, Lulu, for several years now. Lulu and Mae are both 6 years old and were raised together. Both are spayed. Mae has a very dominant personality, but she is very good with people and loves most everyone. The scuffles are usually not too serious, but there have been several times when Mae has injured Lulu and we've had to take Lulu to the vet. The latest incident was last night, Lulu growled at Mae and Mae went ballistic and attacked her. My husband was able to pull Mae off Lulu, but not before Mae ripped open Lulu's leg. She had to have stitches and a drain inserted at the vet's today.

We are afraid that sometime Mae might injure Lulu severely, or even kill her. The only options that were suggested to us by the vet are to rehome either one of them. We love both and really don't want to do that unless we have absolutely no other choice. I checked the behaviorist link and the closest one to us is a 5 hour roundrip. Is there anything else anyone here could suggest, would just regular obedience training work? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[sgbtab]

first let me say how sorry I am for lulu needing stiches.mattie my female 2 1/2 yrs old has gotten into some fight's with gracie my other female almost 2. now for some reason I felt that gracie should be alpha[ much larger and stronger then mattie] so what I did was after me and the other skins I would let gracie come in the house before the other dog's when we were outside, next I would also give grace the treat's before the other dog's at the same time I had to let grace know that I was alpha then skins then her and so on.for a week or 2 I kept her on a leash when we were in the house and made her stay with me so I could keep an eye on her. she has a very strong persanatily [sp?] well for now mattie seems to accept her as alpha. now I do not know how long it will be before mattie challenges her, but I do try to avoid thing's that I noticed would trigger a fight like mattie doe's not like gracie near her when she drink's and I feed everyone separite [sp?] and I just hope it does not happen any more but I'm sure it will as for you lulu is much smaller then mae and although you do not want to let one leave maybe you have a family member to take lu lu or mae I wish you luck and sorry it was to long

 

[Lorie West]

Hi, I just read your post about agression problems between two of your dogs. I have been going thru this same problem - I have three boxers (2 females 3 & 2 and one male 10mths) all are fixed. My 2 year old female has always been the bossy one, appeared to be the alpha dog and increasingly caused fights with the others. This has been happening for about a year now - at first it was once every 6 months - I thought I could handle it - now it has escalated to weekly episodes - I mean awful vicious fights.

I am like you, I couldn't imagine having to give up one of my babies - but as of last Sunday I had to make the dreaded decision to "rehome" Gracie Ann - I love her sooo much and it broke my heart to give her up but I didn't feel it was fair to the other two dogs or to her to make everyone live in fear of her outbursts. Luckily, my ex-husband was able to take her and she will be an only child with him. She is a very loving baby to humans but just doesn't have the patience or tolerance for other animals. I raised her since she was 6 weeks old and she grew up with the others - I was just devastated when this happened. I am still very emotional about it and trying to cope with losing my baby.

I have decided that a clean break would be best for me and for the dog - I have decided not to go and visit her - I don't want to constantly upset her with my comings and goings. I hope I have done the right thing by her - I know that my ex-husband will take good care of her and love her.

Dog fights have got to be the most terrifying thing to experience - I don't ever want to go thru that again.

I now have one female and one male - they seem to get along fine - both are pretty docile and non agressive.

I just wanted to share my experience with you and let you know that I know how you feel and sympathize with your situation.

Best of luck to you.

Sincerely,

Lorie A West

 

[Bluebonnet]

Thanks for the replies, sgbtab, sounds like you have the situation under control. The main worry for us is that Lulu is so much smaller, but very feisty. She fights back, which is probably not a good idea. But then, she shouldn't be put in that position in the first place.

Lorie, I am so sorry you had to rehome Gracie Ann. But with weekly, bloody fights, I don't see how you had another choice. Thank God the fights at our house are not weekly, but you are right, we are sort of walking on egg shells all the time, trying really hard not to set Mae off. She is very jealous and resents it when the other critters get attention, which is hard. Last September, we took in a stray male Chocolate Lab, Booboo, wo wandered up our driveway. We've had him neutered and he is a big boy now. Initially, she tried to pick on him too, but she quickly realized he is much larger than her and gets along with him fine now. Actually, she mostly ignores Lulu, Booboo seems to act like sort of a buffer between them. At least it worked that way until a couple of nights ago.

 

[thepriest555]

your the leader

i think it is important they are never left together unattended. monitor them and when you see one trying to get snotty the other dog, control the situation. Pack members expect the pack leader to control things. Pack members respect a pack leader who protects them from bullies.
Make sure you have 2 crates and feed them seperately as well.

 

[courtney323]

Lorie, I am so sorry you had to rehome Gracie Ann. But with weekly, bloody fights, I don't see how you had another choice. Thank God the fights at our house are not weekly, but you are right, we are sort of walking on egg shells all the time, trying really hard not to set Mae off.

Unless something changes, you can bet that they will become weekly

As you have probably read, pairing two females together often times does not work. Male/female pairings work best for this very reason. When bitches fight, they do not simply fight for dominance. They fight to "get rid" of the other female altogether. They do not forgive and forget (as males tend to do). They remember -- and they hold grudges.

I hate to paint such a bleak picture, but it is something that needs to be taken very seriously. In the rescue group that I volunteer with ocassionally, we will not place females in a home where there is another female (with very few exceptions). It's far too risky.

I would suggest you contact a behaviourist to guide you in working through these problems before you have to either (a) keep them seperated at all times for life or (b) rehome one.

Best of luck to you.

 

[sgbtab]

just wondering how mae and lulu are doing?