this morning the girls were nagging to go play outside so i let them, they've been doing a lot better outside the last couple of days. Immediately when i let them out Kay goes for Maya and they get into a nasty fight. I break it up and Kay goes for Maya again before i could get a hold of her and this repeats about three more times. Finally i was able to catch Kay, after falling on the ground, and put her inside. Maya had some blood on her face and legs and was holding her paw up. She was shaking all puffed up and had her tail in between her legs. i let her calm down a bit outside then put Kay in Sophie's cage to look Maya over most of the blood was not hers. i cleaned her little wounds up. then i put her outside with Sophie while i looked Kay over and she had a pretty bad bite to her back leg that was bleeding so i cleaned her up.

Kay always tries to fight with Maya, whenever they're outside all she does is try and get Maya to fight with her. She'll fight with Sophie outside too though theirs aren't bad. Inside the house all day Kay will circle Maya growling at her whenever they get near each other, she really stresses Maya out. My mom thinks she probably needs to be in a one dog home but i really love her and don't want to rehome her. She also tries to kill the cats and already got a hold one one, she fractured the kitties back and we had to put the kitty down So maybe she would do better in a home with no kitties or small animals.

Here's the little injuries from today, Maya's aren't bad and hard to see. Maya usually comes out the worse for wear but not this time.

Kay's is the worst, i think Sophie did it to her when she joined in with Maya and was ripping at her butt and back legs while Maya held her.

Looks like she got a bite to the face, there's a little bump and some blood but she wouldn't stop mouthing me long enough to get a good look.


And a video of Kay and Maya

I can understand that you dont want to rehome her, it would break my heart too, but you have to make sure that you do what is best for all concerned. When we took in our second we agreed that if it was any threat to Tika or the cats she would be rehomed, and we comitted to that. If she would have gotten one of our cats and fought with Tika like that, she would not have stayed no matter how much it would have hurt to give her up.

My honest opinion is that she would probably be better off in a home without other small animals, and maybe without dogs entirely. Just because you cant keep her doesnt mean that you cannot find her an excellant home. Our rescue would have posted a courtesy listing for us, maybe there are some in your area that can help. You can also see if you have any family members or friends that are willing to take her in as a foster until this happens to limit any potential injuries. Or maybe they are looking to adopt.

In the meantime I would make sure that as much as possible they arent left alone together unsupervised, or that Kay is never left out if there is a possibility that the cats might get hurt. I'm not saying lock her in a crate all day and night, just as much as possible make sure someone has an eye out and can avoid any more injuries.

Good luck, Keep in mind that it isnt giving up on her. its giving her a home that she will be better suited in.

I have some questions, if you don't mind me asking...How long have you had Kay? Who came first? What techniques have you been using to deter the behavior? How often does it happen(2x a day, 3x a day?)?

I wouldn't jump to finding her a home yet, or feel that she is hopeless. Let's look at the situation as a whole and help you make the right decision.

Course i don't mind

We've had her for about 3 months now, whenever she acts up i remove her and place her in the bathroom. fighting with Maya happens about 4 times a day or so. Some days they're a little better and some days they're worse. Maya came first, we've had her for about 4 years.

Do they go on walks together? What have you actively done to introduce them?

If it were just the dogs involved, I would say that you probably need to step up the structured socialization a bit. However, with small animals involved, I agree it's probably best to find her a home without small animals and maybe only one other dog.

I was going to try taking them for a walk together today before this happened. i hadn't taken the for a walk together besides the Caesers creek walk Mobezilla and i did. I know they would get into a fight while we head out the gate and the out the door because Kay is crazy and Maya doesn't like to be jumped on or pushed. So i had been taking Maya on walks alone and taking Kay and Sophie for walks together.

They've gone to the pet store together and have training sessions together. Though i'm careful with training sessions since Maya isn't big on sharing begging for treats with Kay.

I think it's probably best if you find Kay a new home. There is a LOT of training you're going to need to work on: sharing training, leash manners, small animal training. Any one of these alone is a tough job to tackle, but all three is really going to be difficult.

With the death of one cat already in the picture and the fights not getting any better, I would 100% start looking for a forever home with Kay.

I know that's not easy to hear, but sometimes the best home isn't with us. And if you love them, you should want the best life for them possible, even if it isn't with you.

Good luck.

I think finding a new home may be the best option - for her and for you.

I have a dog with past resource guarding issues, she is much better now but she used to go up and get snippy with Cato over his food (when I fed kibble) and would guard toys from him. By that time, I had curbed any resource guarding she had with us. Thank god, or it would have been much harder. It still took about 6 weeks to desensitize her to resources when it came to Cato..but, this was only one issue. She wasn't aggressive with him otherwise and if she had been, I would have taken Cato back to Karnovanda because I had Delilah first. Delilah was my first priority, no matter how much i fell in love with Cato.

Is she showing any of the same aggression with you? or just animals?

Been reading this as it progressed slowly.

Quote :

I know they would get into a fight while we head out the gate and the out the door because Kay is crazy and Maya doesn't like to be jumped on or pushed. So i had been taking Maya on walks alone and taking Kay and Sophie for walks together.

This alone leads me to agree with everyone else. If after 3 months you cant walk them together they aren't a pack. Until they can do that together I just don't see any interactions working in a civil manner.

I'm not saying it can't be worked on or improved with enough commitment or time, but that isn't the only thing you would be dealing with as Tori said.

If you're adamant on working on it I would start from the walk and build off it. Tiring both pups out as MUCH as possible and then after they are pooped walking them both. I might even go so far as to use two handlers at first and then slowly work it into myself alone and ideally at the end walking on the same side of me.


Like Kelly said however our first concern when getting Ripley was the balance we already had with all our other animals in our house. If she would have ever hurt or showed a sign of aggression towards any of them we would have found a home better suited to her needs. For us we wanted Ripley to be safe and happy, something we knew she just couldn't have if we didn't trust her 24/7. You can't calm down and relax if you know someone always has an eye on you.

~Chris~

mheath0429 wrote:

Is she showing any of the same aggression with you? or just animals?

No aggression with people, she'll just run away scared from my brother or dad. She's not possessive of anything either and will let me take things from her.

I suppose i'll be trying to find a new home for Kay, it's not easy to hear but i already had it in mind if she wasn't going to get along with Maya.

Perhaps you could find a nice woman to rehome her with? Or a couple?

Yeah i'm sure she would love to have all the attention to herself

Does it matter that my mom signed something saying that we have to take her back to the shelter if we couldn't keep her? I'm so not taking her back there.

Abby, are Maya and Sophie both spayed?

Yep, they're all spayed.

My mom is set on keeping Kay so i guess we'll be keeping her. What exactly can i do to help Kay and Maya get along? They've gotten a lot better since we first got Kay, they don't exactly hate each other. It's mainly outside that the big fights happen.

I still think your mom should talk to a behaviorist if she is insisting Kay stay. Talk to a trainer or something to help her out.

If its triggered outside, don't let them go outside together.

I agree with Megan. If your mom insists on keeping Kay, I think you really should call in a professional trainer or behaviorist for the sake of your other animals. This is really too big of an issue to diagnose over the internet.

Heather is right. Don't let them outside together and until you can get a professional in, I would definitely start doing what Chris suggested: tire them out and walk them together. Getting them to act like a pack is the only advice I can give at this time.

Okay, i'll talk to my mom about a behaviorist or a trainer. i'm getting my sister to walk Kay while i walk Maya after they're tired out, thanks guys

You could always just muzzle them in the yard, it won't hurt them, just keep them safe. I'd do it until they all learned to get along, she also can't get the cats then too.

Jennet&Embry wrote:

You could always just muzzle them in the yard, it won't hurt them, just keep them safe. I'd do it until they all learned to get along, she also can't get the cats then too.

I like this idea. Never putting them in the yard together is not a solution, thats avoiding a problem in my opinion. But until they're better with eachother, I would just put maya and sophie out, and then kay out. Like Tika said they aren't a 'pack' yet. And Abby, if you need me to come over and help you I can walk one of them for you if Josie's too lazy (no offense Josie ) so its not so much to handle, and it helps them to get to know each other one - on - one. Once they know each other well enough on the walks, then I'd try to let them play outside with muzzles on.

We did it with my friends Husky cause she is cat friendly, but can be unpredictable. I left it on her until she ignored the cat and we've been 2 months now without her chasing the cat.

Muzzling sounds like a good idea. i had thought about muzzling them but i thought it would be mean or something. The main problem with her and Maya is that Kay is incredibly mouthy with people and dogs. She constantly bites them and is just flat out annoying so i thought about muzzling her just to teach her a lesson (i'm mean that way). Whenever they retaliate or tell her off she just gets pissed and snaps at them which is the cause for most of the fights. They like each other, well the last couple of days Maya's been scared of Kay, but usually they lay next to each other and play. They just have some issues, mainly Kay's constant biting, barking, and Maya not sharing things.

Oh and they all go out to pee separately, if i let Maya and Sophie out together all the time Maya would just bully Sophie and roll her around on the ground resulting in a muddy/wet puppy.

Yeah if you just get a nylon muzzle for them it won't hurt them, and they can still pant if they play with them on

Alright so Megan and i just took Kay and Maya for a walk, my sister was too busy playing Skyrim to bother. It went a lot better then we both expected. They hit into each other a couple times and there was no reaction from either of them. Maya has to smell everything like crazy on walks so when she was smelling something Kay came up and smelled it too to the point where their heads were touching. There was no fighting and we just kept walking and they smelled some more stuff together with no problem. There was also no fighting today or yesterday after their fight outside. They haven't really played with each other today either but I've been cracking down on Kay's behavior harder today. I've left a lead on her which makes it so much easier to grab her when she doesn't want to be grabbed