Dog Attack - Now What?
Our Boston Terrier was mauled yesterday by two other dogs in our house when we were not home. She suffered three puncture wounds. She has bruises from teeth marks over the rest of her body - back, tummy, ears, neck, head, legs, etc. There isn't a square inch on her body that wasn't bit. We are now wondering what to do with the other two dogs. My husband and I are both responsible people and want to do the right thing. We are dumbfounded. Here's the background: BOSTON TERRIER 7 years old female, on medication for seizures which are not controlled totally. We have had her for five years. Not aggressive. LAB MIX: 4 year old female. We have had her for two years. The lab is a very sweet dog who loves to "hug." On two previous occasions, we have found her over the terrier with the terrier on her back and the terrier crying. In one case, there was a bite mark on the terrier's ear. We thought that was just over-zealous playing. We did note that the crying of the terrier seemed to bring out a different personality in the lab. The lab does have a history of being extremely possessive with stuffed animals (which we no longer keep in the house). She also catches / kills rabbits in our backyard. We now wish we had taken measures to keep the dogs apart when we weren't at home. We feel just terrible. We just never thought our sweet lab would actually hurt our terrier. Our backyard is fenced, by the way. Since the lab can jump the fence, we also have an electronic fence. Even with this, she occasionally (twice in the past year) jumps the fence. A new neighbor has moved in next door with a four-year old. Husky / Malamute Mix: 3 years old. This dog belongs to our son and was visiting for a few days while our son was out of town. She is a well mannered dog and was just approved as a therapy dog two weeks ago. Our son was planning to take her to the summer camp where he works with adolescents having behavior problems. She likes to rough-house with other dogs. She and the lab usually chase each other around our yard. They will jump on each other, will put each other's heads in their mouths, but never bite. The husky usually is dominant and the lab will end up on her back. Both initiate chasing. They will also play tug-of-war with the same toy. We think of them as best friends. The husky is possessive with her food bowl. In the past she would bark at the other dogs if they got near her bowl. However, our son has discouraged that behavior and she did not do that this during this visit. Our son lives in the woods with the nearest house being a 1/2 mile away. There is no fence. The husky is often not supervised while outside. Needless to say, since she is a therapy dog, she is good with people, well-mannered, and minds well. The attack happened when we were not at home. We arrived home to find both dogs standing over our Boston Terrier. When we got home frm the vet, we checked the "crime scene." The husky had a small spot of blood on the side of her mussel and and another on her paw. The lab had no visible blood on her. When I rubbed a wet paper towel on the tops of their mussels, the towels from both dogs showed evidence of dried blood in their fur. I should also point out that there was a ton of blood all over the family room (floor, couch, carpet) so either dog might have gotten into blood after the attack instead of during the attack. There was also evidence that the Terrier had a seizure away from the area where the attack occurred. We are guessing that one of two things happened, but we really have no idea. 1. The terrier had a seizure which triggered the lab's attack instinct. She attacked and when the terrier yelped, it further triggered the lab's instinct. She has, however, been around the terrier may times during seizures (when we have been at home and not at home) and has had no reaction. 2. The husky rough housed with the terrier. When the terrier yelped, the lab reacted aggressively. Here's what we are thinking about doing. WE WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE ADVICE. TERRIER - Bring her home. Give lots of TLC. Keep her away from the other dogs. LAB - Our "gut" reaction is that the lab was the one who attacked our terrier. However, we don't really know. Our plan is to find a new home for her on a farm where there are no children around. We have also considered putting her to sleep. We want to do the right thing. HUSKY - This is our biggest dilemma. Our "gut" is that the husky was not involved, but we can't be sure. We are thinking about keeping her in her current environment with our son. We are also thinking that it might be best to have her not be a therapy dog. However, if she were not involved in the attack, this seems unfair. As parents, we also know that if we are wrong in our guess and the husky later attacks a person, 1) a person would be hurt (most upsetting), 2) our son would be devastated emotionally, and 3) our son could be financially liable if sued. We want to do the right thing. Your advice? What should we do with the 1) lab, and 2) husky. Thank you in advance for your advice. |
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| I work with basset rescue, as well as being a sheepie person. We have had several bassets come into rescue lately with seizure issues, and we (our basset group) have done quite a bit of research on this subject.
The 1st issue is to keep your Boston in a safe and seperate area when you are not there to supervise. This would be overnight, and when you aren't home, or even if you are busy with something at home. When another dog has a seizure, most dogs will attack it, and even try to kill it. This is an instinct, and not something you can untrain. It is not the fault of the other 2 dogs. The Boston just needs to be kept safe. Most of our fosters kept the seizure dog in a seperate room, or a large plastic crate when unable to supervise. They felt a wire crate was not a safe situation for a dog with seizures to be in. Their other dogs were perfectly "normal" with the seizure dog the rest of the time. I hope your little Boston recovers from this incident and your family can get back to normal. |
| Hi and Welcome to the forum,
I feel badly for you and your family that had to go through with this. What Dawn said is correct and the seizure was probably the anacendent that caused the attack. We also know that seizures occur more frequently by stress and so your little Terrier must live in fear of the two bigger dogs which increases her chance of seizure. A horrible catch 22. People often miss dog body language. It's an instinctual thing with many animals if they think one is sickly and based on their own survival they will try to oust, drive away or kill the one whom may bring the downfall of the entire pack. Cats often will hiss at another cat whom they think is ill even if they have lived with them for years. They definately should be seperated at all times . Based on dog breed Malamutes and then Husky's have the strongest prey drive of dog breeds. Often they will chase and kill the prey unless they have been brought up with smaller animals. Even then they will still continue to chase other smaller creatures that are not in their own family, such as cats for example. This is not a genetic defect as each breed behaves according to their genetic makeup such as our Old English Sheepdogs herd, Huskys/Malamutes have the high prey drive. Dog vs dog aggression is usually very different from dog people aggression and involves a whole set of different rules. Although I haven't seen the dogs and only basing it on what you are saying I would not be as concerned regarding the dogs would turn on people. However as the Husky/Malamute appears to have a high prey drive and they love to chase after things that run I would be concerned if the 4 year old was riding a bike past your home. Just be on the lookout for this. Old teens should not be a problem. Even if you place the terrier in a crate when you are not home I would still place her behind closed doors in which the others can not gain access to it as you wouldn't want to have the little one in a place where it is trapped with no escape should the two others decide to go after it again. Never leave them unsupervised even if just for a bathroom run. Lastly what one dog may not do on their own generally will be increased when they are in a "pack"...the pack mentality so to speak. Even if that only involves 2 dogs. Good luck to you and please keep us posted. Marianne and the boys |
| I agree totally with both posts above...every last details, so do take heed.
I also would like to add that a dog having seizures could very well look like a wounded bird or rabbit would look like, and a dog would be very inclined to "finish it off". Both of my sheepdogs have caught, killed an eaten rabbits and birds in my back yard. I could certainly see them attacking a seizing small dog. The reason I especially bring this up and that you mentioned your lab kills small animals, and the husky is often left unspervised to roam the forest area. I would bet there is ample opportunity to build on this insticnt for both dogs. I would not compare dog to dog relations to dog to people relations, as they are different....But allowing a prey-driven husky out unsupervised, and uncontained, can be very dangerous in the event of an encounter with a young child mimicking a small or wounded animal. Hope all this information helps. |
| All the above advice is good.
I want to mention that as the owner of two dogs of a great difference in size I NEVER leave them alone together. They get along wonderfully and I know that Tasker would not intentionally hurt Ty but there is a 90lb difference in size and neither really KNOW their size. Ty goes in a crate in a room that Tasker cannot go into when we are not home or even if I am outside. |
| I cannot even begin to tell you how much our family appreciates your thoughtful responses. We have just returned from the vet with our Boston Terrier. She pretty cut up and bruised from head to toe, but she is going to be fine.
I found it interesting to read that you think the seizure activity might have brought out the natural "attack" instinct in the two dogs. While we have not yet determined what to do, we are now starting to think that it may be ok to keep both the Boston Terrier and Lab with us -- with the Terrier in a separate room in a crate when we are not able to supervise. We will also put a wood fence in the back yard so the Lab can't possibly jump over the fence. It was a HUGE relief to learn that dog-to-dog aggression is different that dog-to-people aggression. As for the Husky-Malamute, our son's home is deep in the woods with only 2 neighbors in a 10 mile radius. Neither neighbor has children. I will emphasize that his dog should always be supervised when around people -- including being on a leash when outside. I welcome any other additional thoughts that you and/or others may have. Thank you again for your kindness. |
| I had a wonderful kind lab mix, who one day seemed to become more and more aggressive to other dogs. But was wonderful with people. It was very confusing. I took him in for his regular checkup and shots and the vet found nothing wrong. Until he looked in the dog's mouth. It was not easy to find, but the poor thing had a cracked tooth. Since it did not look bad I was going to wait a couple of weeks until I got paid to have the work done. A few days before his appointment the tooth broke in half while I was playing with him. He did not even growl when it happened. Needless to say I had him in the next morning. After the surgery he was again the most wondrful doggy.
It is too late to make a long story short but here is my thought. Have you lab mix looked at, it may have a problem that is causing discomfort, but not enough that it feels like being aggresive toward you. My experince with huskys does not include any aggresion toward ill dogs. But maybe your little dog is making sqeaking noise during the seizures. Some huskys find that irritating. If the husky has been approved for therapy, it went through some intense testing and I would trust that. You did not say anything about the lab being aggressive toward people. Lab puppies are possessive of their toys. I would consider other options before I looked at the putting down of this dog. |
I don't have any advice, but wanted to welcome you to our forum. I'm so glad that you found us and were able to obtain wonderful advice from WONDERFUL people. All the best to you and your family! Give that Boston a hug from us  |
| First of all, I am so sorry this happened. Poor puppy. It must be so hard to know what to do when you don't really know what instigated this episode. In my very limited experience, it does sound like your lab may have dominance issues. The "hugging" you describe may be her way of trying to assert herself into a higher position in your pack. Have you done obedience work with the lab recently? Maybe a refresher course might help.
The only thing I can suggest is making sure that the dogs are never together unsupervised. With her seizures, your terrier might be giving off some wierd vibes that are triggering aggressive reactions. Can anyone with more experience, or multiple dogs chime in? |
| Sorry to hear that this has happened and I am sure this has been very traumatic for your family. Glad to hear that your Boston will be okay though. Did the vet have any comments or causes for the sudden behavior?
I'm wondering if it's the "pack" mentality too. I wonder if the lab & terrier were playing and the husky saw it as prey drive and just reacted. Especially since the husky has only been there for a few days. It takes some time for the dog rankings to establish so maybe the terrier started in with the husky? I really don't think you should feel like you need to put the lab down just because of this one incident and it's really up to you if you feel the need to place her. I just would never leave them unattended. I do have to comment on the terrier crying. Their crying does sound like an injured animal and can help instigate a prey drive. I have heard other stories about terriers and not leaving them alone with larger dogs just because of that reason. (We have a Norfolk Terrier who we keep crated when we are not home - I work at home so it's fairly infrequent.) It doesn't sound to me like your lab has aggression issues except for the possessive behavior which really you can work with her on that with different training techniques. The rabbit hunting is any sporting dog's instinct so you can't fault her for that. Good luck with your decision. I know it's a very difficult one, especially when you see a pet so vulnerable. |
| I would have guessed it was pack mentality. It is possible that the seizure triggered the attack and that any aggression from the lab (if it was the lab) was intensified by the husky, who may have participated as well. The crying might have also been a trigger/intensifier.
I would certainly make certain that the terrier was separated from the lab and/or husky if the dogs were ever left unsupervised again, even for a few minutes. I would also speak with my vet, who presumably knows both the terrier and the lab, and perhaps the husky(?) for advice, since the vet is a neutral person who might have some observations/insight and objectivity that you don't since you are so close to all of the dogs. I'd also have the other dogs checked out to be certain there's nothing that might trigger aggression, be it a hurt tooth or a sore ear or anything else. You do need to be sure. I'd certainly make sure that my new neighbors knew about all of the dogs who live with or visit you and has an opportunity to meet all of the dogs, along with the child. You should mention that your lab is an escape artist, that you are doing your best to make sure she doesn't leave your property, but at the very least, they need to know that there is a large dog next door who might come on their property. If you haven't already, I'd take both lab and terrier, but especially lab, to obedience classes and if available in your area, dog parks, to make sure that they are well socialized with other dogs. Watch closely for clues about both dogs behavior when they interact with other dogs. If you see unprovoked aggression in either, you need a stronger intervention. If everything seems to go well with meeting the neighbors and their child, I'd try to make sure that the dogs got to know the neighbors and child, very well--unless there's aggression towards humans. |
| I have merged the two threads.
Good luck with your problem.  |
| I am glad that you have a pran this types of events are difficult. My message sounded mean in the order that it showed up. I do not know what happened, when I responded there were no other response on the thread. Mine must have been taking the long way around.
It sounds like your mind can be more at peace now. |
| You've come to the right place for good sound advice. I agree with the others on the pack mentality, but another thought that also come to mind while reading your story is the "panic attack". Do something - even if its wrong.
How do you react when the little guy has a seizure? How excited do you get? One dog may have started out in its own way of trying to help. Then, in comes the third dog, and that unleashes the "jealousy factor". With three dogs it ends up two against one. Its hard to figure out sometimes, why the "two" pair up, but when it happens they're out for blood. Once they pair up its like the two made a pack during the fight, that from then on, the third dog belongs to them. You never know when the next fight will be, or why - but more than likely it will happen.  |
| We have a 3 y/o chocolate lab that is just the best dog ever, exept when there is food or toys around. He shows aggression towards other dogs if they interfere with his "stuff." Today we adopted a 7 week old yellow lab and had him for 6 hours. My husband had the chocolate on a leash and we had just walked to his parents to show them the new puppy. My father-in-law set water down. The chocolate started drinking and the puppy came to drink also. Our chocolate viciously attacke the puppy by biting him in the head. We rushed him to the Emerg Vet, where i could feel that the bones were broken in his skull and gushing blood from his eye. He yelled the whole way and i was trying to hold pressure to his head because he was profusely bleeding and i am sure he was in intense pain. This has to be one the worst days of my life. He underwent surgery and was told he did not lose the eye afterall but time will tell how will do. He has many fractures, lacerations, swelling and pain. He is sedated and in ICU as I speak to you. I honestly think I was going to lose it. This is the saddest day of my life. Now we have to decide what to do, like you. Do we keep the Chocolate who has just been a pleasure in our life and have become so attached to? Do we keep the puppy (if he survives)? Whatever we do for now we are going to give that puppy an unbeliveable amount of love and every chance to live but we just don't know how we can live easy with the two of them together. My concern is that the chocolate will do this again and if we give the puppy away, we will have made the wrong choice. I am devasted and feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest. I honestly can't even look at my chocolate and I feel horrible about that. Please, If anyone could help me work through this awful time. My husband is so distraught. He feels it is his fault just as I do. Cindy |
OMG  How terrible for you.
You have to make the decision that works for you, one you can live with. I cannot imagine keeping both dogs after something like that. Not that it makes any difference now but many trainers recommend introducing a new puppy to an existing dog in "neutral" territory. Taking them both to a park or other area to get to know one another before bringing the puppy into the home. I hope that both your dogs get through this. |
| I think regardless of whether you keep the puppy or not, you need to work on the chocolate lab's aggression issues. I do not mean this as pointed as it will sound, and I know you feel terrible about what happened, but I'm curious why you would consider bringing another dog into the household knowing that the first dog's issues were so extreme? |
ButtersStotch wrote: I do not mean this as pointed as it will sound, and I know you feel terrible about what happened, but I'm curious why you would consider bringing another dog into the household knowing that the first dog's issues were so extreme?
well it can be done- these tow dogs can probably coexist only if they are seperated when not under GOOD supervision. |
| Oh wow, sounds like lots going on here.
First the terrier, My "uneducated guess" would be that for some reason the terrier cried or seized and created the "pack" mentality. I've seen it time and time again at the dog park that when a dog goes down for whatever reason the other dogs go for the downed dog or gather to see if its going to be a free for all. For this reason alone I would keep ALL dogs seperated by a closed door between each if you are not in the same room with them. The Lab biting the puppy is something I DO have experience in. When we brought Taylor home as a pup, my Siberian, Vaughn, played with him for a little while and then for no reason bit him. No blood was shed but it did make Taylor scream in terror. I went for Vaughn and my words and actions(didn't physically hurt him) let him know that it wasn't tolerated and it never happened again. You could not know this would happen and its not your fault. The older Lab was asserting his position in the pack and hurt the pup in the process. Your choices are very limited in this and very hard to make. The older lab is your dog and I assume you love him but are ashamed at the moment to be in the same room with him. The puppy was hurt by him, badly, and its your responsibility to care for him until he is better...and then I would find him a new home. These are the choices I would make. Its only a suggestion but in the end its your call. |
kerry wrote: ButtersStotch wrote: I do not mean this as pointed as it will sound, and I know you feel terrible about what happened, but I'm curious why you would consider bringing another dog into the household knowing that the first dog's issues were so extreme? well it can be done- these tow dogs can probably coexist only if they are seperated when not under GOOD supervision. Life would probably be a lot easier and rewarding for everyone if they didn't try. |
| I have to agree with Jill, I cannot imagine these two dogs ever being safe together. |
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