Ok, We have a beloved 45lb collie/shepherd mix. We got her at 2 years old, she turns 11 next month.
We have always known she was food and toy aggressive around other dogs. We try to keep them apart, just in case, but now that he is mobile it can be tough.
The dog will take a mouthful of food out of the kitchen into the hallway, drop it and eat it there.
It only took a second and lasted a second. My wife and I did not see it happen.
My 14 month old walked around the corner out of view, we assume he went after her food on the ground and she attacked.
The damage, was broken skin, nothing deep, above the eye, like inner corner of eyebrow, about an inch right of that, more minor, then at the corner of the nose, very minor. The one on the eye brow was the worst.
Now, we don't want to get rid of the dog, but what's the best way to keep everyone safe, hard to make a 14 month old understand what not to do. He's not afraid of her either, even now.
Our thoughts, no more open feeding, which is what she is used to, only feed her a couple times a day so there is no food around the rest of the day. Keep them separated. Never let them be together, separate rooms is what my wife wants, I more feel, just don't let him get close enough to touch her. The dog is lazy, sleeps most of the day, so normally it's him walking up to her. We picked up a gate today, so that we can shut the dog out of certain sections of the house. My wife wants a muzzle for when they are in the same room together, I really don't care much for this idea, but I can see it's benefits for the learning stage, so if the worst happens she can't bite him. Although we assume it was a bite, but it could have been a claw too, like I said, we didn't see it happen.
Any other ideas? I'm open to any, besides you guys that will say, "I would take her out back and put a bullet in her head" blah blah blah. That would never happen. If we chose to get rid of her, it would be to a close friend or family. So lets just keep it out of the thread.
We have always known she was food and toy aggressive around other dogs. We try to keep them apart, just in case, but now that he is mobile it can be tough.
The dog will take a mouthful of food out of the kitchen into the hallway, drop it and eat it there.
It only took a second and lasted a second. My wife and I did not see it happen.
My 14 month old walked around the corner out of view, we assume he went after her food on the ground and she attacked.
The damage, was broken skin, nothing deep, above the eye, like inner corner of eyebrow, about an inch right of that, more minor, then at the corner of the nose, very minor. The one on the eye brow was the worst.
Now, we don't want to get rid of the dog, but what's the best way to keep everyone safe, hard to make a 14 month old understand what not to do. He's not afraid of her either, even now.
Our thoughts, no more open feeding, which is what she is used to, only feed her a couple times a day so there is no food around the rest of the day. Keep them separated. Never let them be together, separate rooms is what my wife wants, I more feel, just don't let him get close enough to touch her. The dog is lazy, sleeps most of the day, so normally it's him walking up to her. We picked up a gate today, so that we can shut the dog out of certain sections of the house. My wife wants a muzzle for when they are in the same room together, I really don't care much for this idea, but I can see it's benefits for the learning stage, so if the worst happens she can't bite him. Although we assume it was a bite, but it could have been a claw too, like I said, we didn't see it happen.
Any other ideas? I'm open to any, besides you guys that will say, "I would take her out back and put a bullet in her head" blah blah blah. That would never happen. If we chose to get rid of her, it would be to a close friend or family. So lets just keep it out of the thread.