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Okay, so she didn't actually eat her, but here's the story... Its a little long (sorry) but I want to make sure you guys have all the info.
HISTORY -
Gia and Three (thats the labs name) met when Gia was about 10months and Three was a year and a half. The girls saw each other nearly every day, got along great, Three was dominate as she was older. The girls are now 8 and 9. Both live with other dogs, have dominate personalities, but generally get along with dogs they meet (ie walks, dog park, friends dogs). The 4 "fights" that Gia has been in, have all been short scuffles over a ball. As a rule of thumb tho, I describe her as having a chip on her shoulder... If she growls to let the other dog know the ball is hers and the other dog lets up, then things are fine. If the other dog growls back - things escalate! (I'm usually able to step in before it gets to this point tho)
EVENT -
So the other day the girls meet after they hadnt seen each other in 3yrs. Both were off leash, on neutral grounds at a park. They approached each other, got into posture and slowly did the sniff over. Ears and tails erect - tails slightly wagging... no one growled or anything, then both dogs went after each other... Gia grabbed Three in one bite behind the ear and held on the duration of the fight. The way the dogs were positioned (sort of in a twisted way) it was hard for us to get in there and break the fight up... Three was screaming and it seemed like the more she screamed, the harder Gia would bite.
AFTERMATH -
We get them apart, walk to separate areas of the park to inspect the dogs. (We didn't see Three's injury at the time). Since both were "fine" we decided that if this was ever going to work that we couldnt just end the day there so we leashed the dogs, we both got our other dogs from the vehicles, and went for a 30min walk where the dogs were fine and in close proximity. Before we leave all the dogs are sniffing each other, tails wagging, then a growl from Three, a bigger growl from Gia and disappointment in both of us humans because we thought we'd made a little progress. We just told the girls "no", put them in a sit/stay and finished our conversation.
HELP -
So the advice I'm seeking is; A - any comments/suggestions on what we did right or wrong? B - is there any hope/advice in eventually getting these two together again? We'll take it as slow as need be, just wondering if there is hope... and C - will this level of a fight "screw up" my dog? Seeing what she's capable of has me slightly nervous to introduce her to any new dogs (ever). I know thats a little extreme, but my jaw is still dropped a bit. Plus she's 8, has HD, maybe she's just a grump now(?)
So anyhow, thanks in advance.
UPDATE -
...and for those wondering, Three had a deep puncture behind her ear, but its been taken care of and she's okay now. Gia also sent her a bone with an apology.
HISTORY -
Gia and Three (thats the labs name) met when Gia was about 10months and Three was a year and a half. The girls saw each other nearly every day, got along great, Three was dominate as she was older. The girls are now 8 and 9. Both live with other dogs, have dominate personalities, but generally get along with dogs they meet (ie walks, dog park, friends dogs). The 4 "fights" that Gia has been in, have all been short scuffles over a ball. As a rule of thumb tho, I describe her as having a chip on her shoulder... If she growls to let the other dog know the ball is hers and the other dog lets up, then things are fine. If the other dog growls back - things escalate! (I'm usually able to step in before it gets to this point tho)
EVENT -
So the other day the girls meet after they hadnt seen each other in 3yrs. Both were off leash, on neutral grounds at a park. They approached each other, got into posture and slowly did the sniff over. Ears and tails erect - tails slightly wagging... no one growled or anything, then both dogs went after each other... Gia grabbed Three in one bite behind the ear and held on the duration of the fight. The way the dogs were positioned (sort of in a twisted way) it was hard for us to get in there and break the fight up... Three was screaming and it seemed like the more she screamed, the harder Gia would bite.
AFTERMATH -
We get them apart, walk to separate areas of the park to inspect the dogs. (We didn't see Three's injury at the time). Since both were "fine" we decided that if this was ever going to work that we couldnt just end the day there so we leashed the dogs, we both got our other dogs from the vehicles, and went for a 30min walk where the dogs were fine and in close proximity. Before we leave all the dogs are sniffing each other, tails wagging, then a growl from Three, a bigger growl from Gia and disappointment in both of us humans because we thought we'd made a little progress. We just told the girls "no", put them in a sit/stay and finished our conversation.
HELP -
So the advice I'm seeking is; A - any comments/suggestions on what we did right or wrong? B - is there any hope/advice in eventually getting these two together again? We'll take it as slow as need be, just wondering if there is hope... and C - will this level of a fight "screw up" my dog? Seeing what she's capable of has me slightly nervous to introduce her to any new dogs (ever). I know thats a little extreme, but my jaw is still dropped a bit. Plus she's 8, has HD, maybe she's just a grump now(?)
So anyhow, thanks in advance.
UPDATE -
...and for those wondering, Three had a deep puncture behind her ear, but its been taken care of and she's okay now. Gia also sent her a bone with an apology.
