Need Help...The Fighting has Reached an all Time High

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

The fighting has increased and I just don’t know what to do.  I am 2,000 miles away from home and my two doodles and I feel completely helpless and worried.  I am looking for any suggestions.  I apologize for the length of this post. 

 

Here is a little background:

We had Cubbie for about 3 years when we adopted Ollie in 2011.  From day one, we struggled with issues between the 2 dogs.  We trained Ollie separately (Cubbie already had his CGC) and we also took both dogs to a training class together.  Ollie now has his CGC, so both dogs have been through a decent amount of training.  We worked with our trainer and finally got to a point where we weren’t constantly worried about a fight breaking out.  We were able to go 1-2 months between incidents, which was actually a big improvement, when suddenly things started getting worse.

 

In August I got a new job that requires us to move 2,000 miles away.  My DH has to stay back in Indiana for the remainder of the year (he is a teacher) while I move to WA.  In the month before I moved, I was super stressed and very busy trying to get the house ready to sell and say all my good-byes.  That is when things started to get a little worse with the dogs.  They seemed to get more easily aggravated with each other but I just assumed that they were reacting to my high stress levels.

 

Once I left for WA, DH didn’t have any issues for the first 2.5 weeks.  Everything seemed like it was back to normal.  Then I came home for a 2 day stay before departing for the doodle cruise.  The first night I was home I was sitting on the couch holding Ollie and when Cubbie simply walked past, Ollie growled at him.  So I put Ollie in another room to prevent the situation from escalating.  Once I let Ollie back out, he went and laid down on the kitchen floor, but Cubbie just stood there staring at him and you could tell that the tension was rising again.  So they were back in separate rooms.  The whole time I was gone on the cruise, the dogs were mostly ok. 

 

I returned from the cruise on Saturday afternoon.  Saturday evening we had a HUGE fight.  My husband and I were sitting on the couch watching tv.  Ollie was chewing on a bone and then the next thing we know they were attacking each other.  We didn’t see what happened so we don’t know who/what started it.  They were rolling around, teeth flashing, growling, and snarling.  Cubbie had Ollie pinned and was tearing at his ear.  Ollie was screaming (or the doggie equivalent).  I used an air horn until it ran out and that didn’t stop them.  I threw a pillow at them and still nothing.  I finally grabbed Cubbie by the back legs and lifted up and tried to pull him off Ollie.   When I finally pulled them apart, I stood there holding Cubbie up at chest level to keep them away from each other.  Ollie jumped up to try to get Cubbie and got my arm instead.  That was over a week ago and I still have a rather large bruise on my arm.  We kept them apart the rest of the night and then most of Sunday too.  The only time they were together on Sunday was when we took them both on a long walk while we had a showing on the house.

 

Yesterday DH had to separate them again because they were getting tense with each other.  But tonight was the worst.  DH called me at work and said “if we don’t do something about these dogs they are going to kill each other.”  Needless to say, I wasn’t really able to focus on work for the rest of the day.  Apparently Ollie had been laying on the couch and Cubbie was standing near the couch.  Nothing had been going on.  No toys were involved.  All of a sudden, Cubbie jumped up and started to attack Ollie.  DH said that Ollie tried to get away twice but Cubbie just kept going after him.  I am not sure what all DH tried, but he said that eventually he was able to get Cubbie off Ollie by swatting him with a pillow to get them to stop long enough to step between them and then used the pillow to herd Cubbie into another room.  I told him to keep them separate for the rest of the night, to take them out to potty individually, and make them sleep in separate rooms instead of the bedroom with him.  He is going to let them out in the morning individually and then put them in separate rooms to feed them breakfast and then leave in separate rooms when he goes to work.  My parents are going to go over in the middle of the day to let each dog out separately.  I am so stressed out; I just don’t know what to do. 

 

At first I thought they just might be feeding off my stress, but I’m not there now.  We moved their beds into storage and put up most of their toys so our house doesn’t look as “doggie” when potential home buyers come in for a showing.  There are strange people leaving strange smells in our home.  I was gone, then I came home, then I was gone, then I came home, then I was gone.  Are they just stressed out and confused?  DH and my brother will be driving the dogs out to WA starting on 10/25 where I will be living with them in temporary housing (a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment) until our house is done in December?  Am I going to make it?  I will take any advice or suggestions that anyone can possibly offer.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

That would be fun.  I'll have to see how my 2 are doing.  They might be on probation for a little while until I feel comfortable trusting them running around together. 

[Bonnie and Kona]

I am so sorry you are going through this. I am always so grateful to read Jane's posts about training our beloved Murphy. I hope with the good suggestions here, your family will find some level of peace. I can well imagine you are a wreck worrying about this. Please keep us updated, Amy. Praying this all calms down. 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I second that Bonnie, Jane's posts always give me hope that no matter what the problem once we understand the root cause( which Karen put so clearly) and apply common dog sense we can find strategies and solutions.  I do hope you find the help you need to get this sorted.  Day care would certainly be a help if it's possible for someone to take them even before you get back.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I am so sorry you are going through this, how hard! I think you have received really good advice from everyone, so I'll just say that I'm sorry and I'm thinking of you.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

So funny thing.  My parents went to let Ollie out since he was stuck upstairs and my mom said that Cubbie was crying and kept running toward the door that was separating him and Ollie and wanted my mom to open the door.  My mom opened the door (while my dad kept Cubbie back) and Ollie was just sitting in the small space between the last step and the door.  When they let Ollie into the backyard he could hear Cubbie crying and started to whine and look for him.  Once Ollie got back inside he ran right back down to sit by the door.  When my parents left, Cubbie was still whimpering and scratching at the door.  Not sure if they missed each other or wanted to get free so they could attack each other again though.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Oh I'm guessing they really did miss each other.  They are so different that we are.  They can be fighting and within just a few minutes they've moved past it and they're fine together.  They're confused right now...their world has changed and they're just reacting to that.  I think when they're back with you later this month, and you set the ground rules, this will just be a bad memory. 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I like the sound of that, Jane, for Amy. Such good advice.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Amy--did you see my reply to this same post that you placed in the multiple doodle group? I had some ideas that have not been mentioned yet. 

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Oh i hope this stressful time passes quickly for you and everything/everyone gets back to normal!  

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

Amy

I am sorry you are going through this.  You have been and still are a support to those that have similar issues with their doodles....really!  This does go to show how much their world revolves around us. While my doodles don't fight they would be very discombobulated if I were to live away from home.  My DD loves them but I don't think he is as structured about things as I am when it comes to their care.....yes, I admit I can be a bit overboard when it comes to them:^)