Quote:
Originally Posted by Skeezix
We've talked about rehoming Griff, but that would be very hard on us. He is such a sweet and fun dog: a big ol' goofy goober, except when he's around Buddy. And Buddy just has too many remaining emotional issues from his previous abuse to safely rehome him, plus he's completely stolen my wife's heart. In addition, Buddy is one of those dogs that truly has a "spirit" or "soul", and it's a sweet, loving one (except towards Griff). You can see it in his eyes and feel it when you're around him.
We've talked about seeing an animal behavioral specialist and will certainly pursue that option. If we go that route, we'll deal with Buddy's issues first, because he's usually the first instigator of the aggression. The trouble is that we are out in the middle of nowhere, and it's 3 1/2 hours to the nearest specialist. But we will do it anyway. These dogs are worth it.
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Be very cautious of any trainer who tells you this problem can be "cured". The truth is that there are never any guarantees with aggression cases - it depends on the individual dog, owner and situation. It is pretty rare for a case like this to be totally cured - as in the dogs return to getting along fine without strict management. If you decide to keep both dogs and attempt to get them to tolerate each other, understand that in ally likelihood things will never be easy with them again. And mismanagement on your part may result in seriously injured dogs (or humans). If you can't bear to part with either of them your only option may be to crate and rotate, which I posted an article about in my first reply.