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.

[BG and Gavin]

Great input Jane (as always).

Thinking of you Amy.  Very stressful. I am confident that you will be able to sort everything out once you get your feet underneath you.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Just one more thing I forgot.  While all this is going on I would avoid holding either dog.  You mentioned that at one point you were holding Ollie on the couch and he growled when Cubbie walked past.  In this case, you were the resource and Ollie was guarding you. Did you correct Ollie so he got the message that he doesn't "own you"?   I know that I'm the "queen of down/stays" (Laurie always laughs at me about that..LOL), but I think reinforcing a down/stay with both dogs will help you so much.  When you or your DH is busy and can't be tuned into them, put them each in a down/stay and make them stay there until you release them....it works so well for me when I can't really be watching them.  They can't go after each other if they're in a down/stay.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Jane, You are my training hero, even if I do tease you :) I have so much respect for what you do with your dogs.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Aww, thanks Laurie.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Ditto that "hero" comment. Thank Dog someone here has some tangible practical advice about how to manage this in the interim!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Amen!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Thank you, my friend.  All "hints" I've learned courtesy of Mr. Murphy.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I am going to try and call a couple behaviorists today so that I can have some one ready to help me the moment the dogs get out here.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

Yes, when Ollie growled at Cubbie he got put into the bathroom.  I always try to remove the dog that caused the problem.  When i can't tell which it was, they both get separated from each other and from us.  It makes me sad to think that i can't snuggle with my pups, but I really do understand why you said that and will take your advice.  I am going home this weekend on a business trip so maybe we can take both dogs for a long walk and then i can have DH take each one around the block separately so i can have some one on one time with each dog. 

Do your dogs remain in a down stay even if there is already tension between them?  Or do you put them in the down stay before anything has a chance to start?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I always try to put them in a down/stay before it gets "ugly".  It's more of a prevention and it really gives them a chance to calm down.  With Murph the signs are pretty clear. 

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

wow Jane.  you hit the nail on the head with that one.  I am definitely in the leadership role.  So much so in fact that DH will tell Cubbie "go find the leader" and he runs to look for me.  If I tell Cubbie to "go find jeff", he runs off and finds his stuffed pig.

I will tell DH to keep them off the couch.  When I was home, both dogs slept on doggie beds in our room.  Now that i'm gone and we are trying to sell the house, the beds have been put away.  There are blankets on the floor for them to sleep on but they end up in bed with DH.  The dogs never try to sleep on the bed if it is just me, but when it is just DH, they jump right up there.  Sounds like I'll be having to do some tough love when the doods get out here.  I think they have both lost furniture rights for a while.

If I see them standing there staring at each other, I immediately say in a super happy voice "doodles.  Leave it."  Then i hurry into the kitchen to get the treats and make them do some sits and downs to change their focus.  But sometimes, I don't notice anything and then all of a sudden they are fighting. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

When I compile the "Funniest DK Lines of All Time" anthology, this will be prominently featured:

"DH will tell Cubbie "go find the leader" and he runs to look for me.  If I tell Cubbie to "go find jeff", he runs off and finds his stuffed pig."

Bwahaha