had another fight :-( help please

I'm so sorry to hear this.

But to try and find something positive, as you say, he was just castrated, he is still sore and not rid of all his hormones yet. Also about when the first attack happened that you described, it is not unusual that when you have a dog with Gizmo's problem of wanting to be top dog, that they attack when arriving home from a walk or leaving home going out for a walk, I don't remember why but it is something about those situations that heightens the tensions.



I don't know what you should do, but until you make your mind up, keep them separated indoors but not out of view, maybe you could divide some of your rooms in two parts by puppy pen parts or maybe they could e.g. take turns in being in a crate. When you come home, don't release Gizmo from his lead and collar, without keep it on him so that you still have control over him.
Then you get a chance to see if things settle after the castration, get a chance to find a behaviourist that maybe could help you on what options you have, so that you feel you've really tried everything/have given him every chance before deciding if he should stay or what to do if he doesn't stay.





Personally, I don't like the fact that it sounds as if there is such a difference between his behaviour, that it is such a night and day so to say between wanting to be top dog over Louis one moment and very submissive towards other dogs you meet out on walks next moment. As you say, his previous owner have a lot to answer for with not socializing him properly, though let us not forget that with some dogs even proper socialization does not help.




Maybe it is simply to stressful for Gizmo, going from living like he did to try and live as a normal dog with all the impressions of everything going on around him. Maybe while meeting other dogs out on walks, all the people, noises and traffic etc, Gizmo builds up frustration over trying to deal with it and then he tries to be top dog over Louis, to get some of that frustration out of his system or to feel that he at least can boost his confidence that way?

If so, maybe taking a step back and letting him take ''smaller steps'' back out in reality, with less impressions, letting him meet less strange dogs etc, could help? Though I admit, I think that sounds a little far fetched myself, but I'm trying to think of anything that could help.


Again I'm really sorry to hear this and I hope Louis and your OH heals quickly.
 
Thankyou so much for your answer.
When you say you dont like the fact his behaviour is different ie from Louis to submisive to others what exactly do you mean?
You have made me feel abit better. We are going to keep them seperated apart from times when we are both here and can be in full control of the situation.
I think you may be on to something with the frustration / lack of confidence thing! He was incredibly insecure and nervous when we got him, and still is about certain things. One example, my OH took him in the hay barn at the yard and tried to play with him throwing hay about - he dropped straight on his back and looked terrified. I think he is still insecure but has new found confidence over Louis and is using it to further boost his confidence perhaps.
 
When you describe him further as you do, I think you can probably disregard what I said about not liking that Gizmo can go from being very submissive with other dogs to very aggressive together with Louis. But to still clarify myself, I meant it as that I don't like it because I don't know which behaviour that perhaps really stands for the type of dog Gizmo was meant to be, if he had gotten the proper socialization, and when the behaviour then is so in each end of the scale, it gives the image of a very troubled dog.



But reading you describe him further, maybe my thought was not as far fetched as I feared when I wrote it. Imagine yourself, being nervous about everything, because everything is new, maybe it is to some part stress caused? And once he comes home and feels safe, he can't control all the stress/frustration that has been building up in him, so he tries to have a go at Louis?
And now he has been at the vets, with all its smells and strange people doing things with him, put in comparison to coming from a life only some weeks ago, where it did not sound as if he was handled much at all. I think it was a good choice to have him castrated but I can also imagine that it was a very big experience for Gizmo, that made him stressed and perhaps feel out of control.



He would not be the first insecure dog that acted so that people judged him as aggressive. Perhaps as I said take a step back, slow down on letting him explore the world, make him feel more secure in one situation before moving on to the next. Take shorter walks, pamper him a lot when you spend time with him so he gets the feeling you view him as a puppy, don't let him actually meet other dogs without let him look at them and learn by observing (unless not being allowed to meet them makes him more stressed of course) etc.

If you do have them together indoors as you say when you can be in control over him, keep a lead and collar/harness on him, it gives you something to grab on to and as CaveCanem said, if the worst happens again, don't be afraid of using the lead to make it more difficult for him to breath, better that and get a quicker release than trying to drag them apart.


Also as Cayla have said today and earlier, it can build up tensions being out of sight from each other, e.g. that is why I suggested splitting a room in two with puppy pen parts or making them take turns in a crate in the room, that way they still see each other, they can interact somewhat but Gizmo would not be able to try and harm Louis.



Think of humans, those who bullies other are often, though not always, actually insecure persons but insecure or not, the bullying makes them feel big and strong.
 
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