Dogs fighting

Last night our rottie bitch Dizzy, went for our old border collie Smooky. It all started when BIL was brushing Dizzy and Smooks came over for a look. She just turned and grabbed his face..he has a chunk out of his nose which isn't bad but it frightened him. She has a problem with Smooks which she stands over him and trys to intimidate, but it has never gone like this before. She spent the night in the kitchen last night and seems very sheepish this morning. Any ideas on how we can get Dizzy to stop with the intimidation..it's only Smooks she does this to and apart from this is a wonderful dog. I'm just worried for him as he's an old man and I'd hate for this to happen again....sorry if I'm rambling but it reaaly upset me

Hi Mand,

what's the rest of her behaviour like? How does she interact with the rest of the 'pack' and d'you know what her status is? Is she intact, in season or close to being in season? How else does she behave with Smooks? How old is Dizzy?

Sorry for all the questions, but with a bit more information it might be easier to work out why she went for Smooks. Standing over another dog, in itself, isn't necessarily pure intimidation - in our house, Sophie dominates Satch, but he stands over her posturing on a regular basis.

I can understand it being upsetting, and sometimes you do need to step in, IMO. But sometimes it's necessary to try to see the bigger picture. If Dizzy is a teenager, she might be trying to find her place in the pack. She might be picking on Smooks as he's an 'easy target'. If this is a sudden thing, she might be near season and temperamental.

If it's a pack thing it's very difficult to 'manage'. The more you intervene, or act on guard, the worse it can be. If it weren't for his age I'd suggest you leave them to it to sort it out between them. But as he's an old boy, it might be better if you keep a watchful eye. You can make it clear to Dizzy where she is in the pack in your eyes, but be careful you don't favour Smooks if he's below her in the pack as that will only make matters worse.

I'm sorry I can't be much more help - PM me if you wanna chat

Hi Becs

Dizzy is 18 months and spayed, and Smooks is 9yrs old. The rest of her behavoiur is fantastic, she gets on well with the other 2 males, Cain 7 and tetley 18 months. She also gets on well with BIL's, both bitches. When I say she stands over Smooks, she generally is wagging her tail, but Smookks doesn't seem to like her at all, and to be honest, he's the one when I think about it that will curl his lip at her Bless her really I don't think she has a bad bone in her body. When they were younger, Smooks and Cain used to really fight, and they get on OK now. I'm just keeping an eye today, although to be honest, Dizzy is keeping well away from Smooks now

To be honest, it sounds very similar to the situation we have here, although with us Soph's a rescue with a 'history' so it's a little different. She curls her lip and growls at Satch over anything, takes chunks out of him, nicks his food, blocks his way. But then he annoys her by dive-bombing her in the garden, nudging her to play and generally being an obnoxious younger 'brother'. Would you say Smooks was a nervy dog?

All I'd say is step in if it ever gets too much, but at other times just try to deflect situations. If you try to control pack interaction between two dogs, it always ends in chaos. You can't force pack ranking, other than your own, so don't artificially favour one over the other, try to follow the actual pack rankings rather than what you'd like them to be. Dizzy's a teenager and may just be finding her place in the pack - it's all natural. If Smooks is the lowest ranking adult pack member, he's the first target for her. Of course, you don't want either of them to get injured or whatever, but with a careful eye you can usually get through it.

Thanks for the advice...I feel better now and yes Smooks is a very nervous dog, always has been. I'll keep an eye...

No problem Mand, glad I could help a bit

Hi Mand it must have been a bit of a scare for you...my guess would be if Smooks has always been the one to initiate the aggressive behaviour, Dizzy felt threatened and her action was one of defence rather than attack..it may well be that when Dizzy stands by Smooks take wagging he may have misread her body language interpreting it as threat rather than an invitation to play. Avoidance is the best course of action, if you are grooming or paying particular attention to either of them don't do it when the other one is present, I think they will for the most part keep a healthy distance from each other.

Thanks Mini it was scary, it always looks bad doesn't it, and especially as Dizzy is much bigger. They seem OK now though