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Here's the cast of characters:
Dusky is a five-year-old border collie/australian shepherd mix. She's VERY shy and submissive around people. Meeting people makes her tuck her tail and cower. Her fear has NEVER turned to aggression. We take food out of her mouth, cuddle her on her back, etc. She doesn't mind. She loves dogs, however, and they seem to like her. She plays well in dog groups, and loves games of chase.
Ursula is an 11-week-old australian shepherd/poodle mix. She is a little dog-shy in her puppy class, but gets along smashingly with Dusky. They roll and growl and she tugs on Dusky's scruff and grabs hold of her tail, and both seem willing to go back for more most of the time. When tired, they collapse on top of each other.
Butternut is the cat.
First sign of trouble was a few nights ago. Puppy jumped up and unexpectedly encountered the cat at eye level. Both were surprised, and Butternut swiped and hissed. I don't think her claws even made contact with Ursula, but Ursula shrieked and screamed and ran around the floor as though she'd been murdered. While she screamed, Dusky the border collie aggressively lunged and snapped at Ursula from a very comfortable and dominant position on the couch. This made Ursula scream louder.
A couple of days later, the dogs were play fighting over a toy. They have numerous toys available, but they both mutually want whatever the other one has, even if the exact same toy is on the floor nearby. While I was in the same room reading a book, I heard Ursula start screaming frantically. I couldn't tell if Dusky's mouth was on her anywhere or not, but I pulled Dusky away, who lunged and growled at Ursula while I restrained her. Ursula, meanwhile, released her anal glands and ran around the house like she was seizing, just screaming, lopsided, looking half mangled. When she settled we felt her over and couldn't find a puncture, a scratch, a sprain, nothing. She appears to be just fine.
So I have two problems on my hands: 1. a Dusky with new and unexpected aggression, with unclear triggers (resource guarding in incident 2, maybe, but what about incident 1?) She seemed to get more amped up and aggressive the more frightened Ursula became. 2. An Ursula who is maybe a little overreactive to fear. This is concerning, because we don't want it to turn into biting.
I would GREATLY appreciate any advice. We will be much more careful about monitoring their play in the future. We'll also restrain Dusky on leash in the house for awhile.
Dusky is a five-year-old border collie/australian shepherd mix. She's VERY shy and submissive around people. Meeting people makes her tuck her tail and cower. Her fear has NEVER turned to aggression. We take food out of her mouth, cuddle her on her back, etc. She doesn't mind. She loves dogs, however, and they seem to like her. She plays well in dog groups, and loves games of chase.
Ursula is an 11-week-old australian shepherd/poodle mix. She is a little dog-shy in her puppy class, but gets along smashingly with Dusky. They roll and growl and she tugs on Dusky's scruff and grabs hold of her tail, and both seem willing to go back for more most of the time. When tired, they collapse on top of each other.
Butternut is the cat.
First sign of trouble was a few nights ago. Puppy jumped up and unexpectedly encountered the cat at eye level. Both were surprised, and Butternut swiped and hissed. I don't think her claws even made contact with Ursula, but Ursula shrieked and screamed and ran around the floor as though she'd been murdered. While she screamed, Dusky the border collie aggressively lunged and snapped at Ursula from a very comfortable and dominant position on the couch. This made Ursula scream louder.
A couple of days later, the dogs were play fighting over a toy. They have numerous toys available, but they both mutually want whatever the other one has, even if the exact same toy is on the floor nearby. While I was in the same room reading a book, I heard Ursula start screaming frantically. I couldn't tell if Dusky's mouth was on her anywhere or not, but I pulled Dusky away, who lunged and growled at Ursula while I restrained her. Ursula, meanwhile, released her anal glands and ran around the house like she was seizing, just screaming, lopsided, looking half mangled. When she settled we felt her over and couldn't find a puncture, a scratch, a sprain, nothing. She appears to be just fine.
So I have two problems on my hands: 1. a Dusky with new and unexpected aggression, with unclear triggers (resource guarding in incident 2, maybe, but what about incident 1?) She seemed to get more amped up and aggressive the more frightened Ursula became. 2. An Ursula who is maybe a little overreactive to fear. This is concerning, because we don't want it to turn into biting.
I would GREATLY appreciate any advice. We will be much more careful about monitoring their play in the future. We'll also restrain Dusky on leash in the house for awhile.
