Help my cairn terrier has turned aggressive!

[maxusa]

I have a 7 year old cairn terrier male and a 4 year old male neutered Labrador. We found the cairn 4 years ago and he was not neutered and have spoken to my vet many times over the years and she says would make no difference now.

P
Normally both dogs are best of friends and lab is very protective of cairn, they livd very happily together. A month or so ago the cairn attacked the lab for no reason and the fight was very aggressive. The lab did not retaliate and was crying we had to drag the cairn off him. Things settled down until yesterday when at hey fought over a cheap and the cairn went nuts the lab was squealing in pain and I had to run a throw a bottle of water over them to break them up. Athens tonight the cairn went to attack again and used water again to stop him.

The cairn is extremely spoiled, they another are and must have about twenty different toys in our,loungeá along with chews. I have now lifted and removed all the cheese but am worried the cairn kicks off again.

He has also taken a dislike to golden retrievers in the park when he was friendly with them before. I am worried sick since love my dogs so much and want them to be happy together.

All help appreciated.

 

[PorkChop]

I really feel for you, I know what a horrible situation it can be. I had a cocker and a springer that lived together happily for several years, then suddenly one day they had an enormous fight

It worried me, but I put it down to a one off. Over the next couple of months they had another two fights, awful, thank goodness I was with them.

I had to make a difficult decision, and gave the cocker to my cousin, who had always loved him, and he is having a lovely time living with her, and we still get to see him regularly.

We thought long and hard, but at the end of the day I was not prepared to kennel or shut away one of the dogs, and I knew I wouldn't have forgiven myself if either had got seriously hurt

I think maybe it could help if you had your cairn neutered? But ultimately to get to the root of the problem you will need to find out the trigger.

 

[krlyr]

My first port of call would be the vet for a thorough checkup - full manipulation of the joints to check for pain, a comprehensive bloodtest (including detailed thyroid panel) and possibly further scans to rule out issues like spinal problems or even something like a brain tumour.

 

[CAYLA]

Vet check (if all is ok)

Castration
Remove all toys (esp if he guards them as his posessions) anything that can instigate a fight!
Stop spoiling him and knock him into shape esp if he has no reguard to rules! (if you have any) (as in tell him where is place is in the home) and its not to attack the lab at any given time. Its your job to let him know "its no acceptible"
Cairns are notoriously difficult and stubborn dogs when they want to be and definately need clear boundaries. ( I have not come across many that have not had a boltchy) "answer back" attitude.

Does he growl or snap at the lab when you are fussing him and the labs comes for attention, or over anything else? and you say "cheap" what do you mean (is there a word missing there?

The lab is backing down, he wont always do this and as much as the cairn thinks he is a match for him, if the lab eventually turns, the cairn stands no chance.

 

[twiglet84]

I'd recommend a behaviourist (not a dog trainer, the two are very different). A full health check/blood test would also be a good ide. Some types of aggression are made worse by castration so definately speak to a behaviourist before going down that route x