whiskers
Boxer Insane
This isn't about Juno (thankfully), but about my 12ish year old Border Collie X, Happy.
So, we adopted her 6 months ago and she came to us deaf, vision impaired, heartworm positive... just a little bit of a mess. From day 1 though she has taken everything in stride, and has never been a resource guarder and has never been intolerant to any sort of handling. I still am a little slower and more cautious with her, just because I don't know her as well as my other 2 who I've had since they were puppies - but she had never given me a reason to feel like I need to be this way with her.
A little less than a week ago I came home from work and my mom told me Happy tried to bite her. The context is this: my mom fed the dogs dinner, and when Happy was done eating she went over to Juno and growled at her. Juno walked away, Happy proceeded to eat Juno's food. This happens a lot. My mom saw it happening so she grabbed Happy and pulled her away, then stood and body blocked her while Juno ate. Again, this is nothing unusual. Somewhere in the midst of this then, my mom went to grab Happy's collar again to lead her out of the kitchen, and when my mom went to grab her, Happy mouthed her arm. Didn't bite down, didn't apply pressure, but still... put her mouth on her.
The next day something similar happened and again I wasn't actually around when it happened, so I'm only getting second hand info. I guess my brother in law was pushing her away from my niece, and she went to bite him. I don't know if again it was just a mouthy thing or if she actually bit down, but I do know that my BIL loves her and is very gentle, so when I say "pushed away" I don't mean anything overly aggressive... I have pushed Happy away a thousand times and have never gotten that sort of reaction, nor would I ever expect a dog to react that way to this.
The final straw is that she actually bit a child today, on the forehead. This time she bit down enough to leave a mark and to scrape skin. The kid didn't even touch her. Was only walking toward her.
My first thought is, well maybe it's a reaction to pain since it isn't her usual behavior. But I can't find any sign of pain. She goes for walks just fine, she still has her daily moment of friskiness, I've been able to grab her and push her and roll her on her side for nail trims, there's just really nothing else going on that would make me suspect she's in pain. She gets aspirin daily.
She had bloodwork done in April.
I'm just looking for some thoughts and opinions. I really feel like this is more a "health issue" then a "behavior issue" but maybe I'm wrong. I don't want this to be the thing that puts her on borrowed time, but it's really unacceptable if it's going to continue.
So, we adopted her 6 months ago and she came to us deaf, vision impaired, heartworm positive... just a little bit of a mess. From day 1 though she has taken everything in stride, and has never been a resource guarder and has never been intolerant to any sort of handling. I still am a little slower and more cautious with her, just because I don't know her as well as my other 2 who I've had since they were puppies - but she had never given me a reason to feel like I need to be this way with her.
A little less than a week ago I came home from work and my mom told me Happy tried to bite her. The context is this: my mom fed the dogs dinner, and when Happy was done eating she went over to Juno and growled at her. Juno walked away, Happy proceeded to eat Juno's food. This happens a lot. My mom saw it happening so she grabbed Happy and pulled her away, then stood and body blocked her while Juno ate. Again, this is nothing unusual. Somewhere in the midst of this then, my mom went to grab Happy's collar again to lead her out of the kitchen, and when my mom went to grab her, Happy mouthed her arm. Didn't bite down, didn't apply pressure, but still... put her mouth on her.
The next day something similar happened and again I wasn't actually around when it happened, so I'm only getting second hand info. I guess my brother in law was pushing her away from my niece, and she went to bite him. I don't know if again it was just a mouthy thing or if she actually bit down, but I do know that my BIL loves her and is very gentle, so when I say "pushed away" I don't mean anything overly aggressive... I have pushed Happy away a thousand times and have never gotten that sort of reaction, nor would I ever expect a dog to react that way to this.
The final straw is that she actually bit a child today, on the forehead. This time she bit down enough to leave a mark and to scrape skin. The kid didn't even touch her. Was only walking toward her.
My first thought is, well maybe it's a reaction to pain since it isn't her usual behavior. But I can't find any sign of pain. She goes for walks just fine, she still has her daily moment of friskiness, I've been able to grab her and push her and roll her on her side for nail trims, there's just really nothing else going on that would make me suspect she's in pain. She gets aspirin daily.
She had bloodwork done in April.
I'm just looking for some thoughts and opinions. I really feel like this is more a "health issue" then a "behavior issue" but maybe I'm wrong. I don't want this to be the thing that puts her on borrowed time, but it's really unacceptable if it's going to continue.
