tdierikx

Don't panic until you find another one, OK? T.

*BIG GRIN* That is too funny! T.

I agree with Nekhbet... My 2 girls get along fine together normally, but we have had 4 very serious fights in 3 years. Enough is enough, and they are now no longer ever free together. Both get one-on-one time with me in equal numbers of hours per day - we have a new routine, and they are coping with that just fine... I would even say they are actually more happy about the new arrangements than the old ones - with the added bonus that they can never hurt each other again. My girls are my responsibility - and I don't think it would be fair to rehome one or both after seeing what they can do to another dog if the wrong trigger was set. I raised them from puppies, and they are both lovely well adjusted souls in public - but they just have a thing for each other sometimes... grr! T.

My girls have never fought when alone together - they generally just lie down and sleep until I get home... it's only ever been when I'm home that they have had any of their big fights. Both of my girls are desexed, and both have alpha tendencies. There is a 6.5 year age gap between my girls, but the older girl is far from infirm. You feel so totally helpless when it happens because two 30kg dogs ripping into each other and refusing to stop are impossible to break up - you pull one back out of the fight and the other stupid bloody dog keeps coming... grrr! Currently, my girls are separate. One is crated when the other is allowed to run loose, and I take turns with them being loose/crated. They are fine with that arrangement and the crated dog doesn't show any aggression while the other is free - they will even lick each other through the crate, but I don't encourage that. I'm actually pretty amazed at how well my girls have adjusted to the new arrangements - seeing that neither had been crated before in their lives... T.

There is hope... yay!! T.

My girls recently had their fourth fight in about 3 years - each of those 4 fights resulted in at least one dog at the vet for expensive cleaning up and suturing of wounds sustained. The latest fight had both dogs nastily injured and both were at the vet for 2 days. That was nearly a month ago now... I have decided that I'm not going to let my girls run together any more. It's fiddly and a real pain in the derriere, but having them try to kill each other over some stupid little thing is an even bigger pain. T.

Fingers crossed that Jarrah continues to behave himself and uses his "chosen" bed in his normal spot every night now... *grin* T.

Heaps of woofs and licks for Penny from my crew... and positive healing vibes from me... Fingers crossed it's just a little bit of bruising that will settle overnight... T.

This is totally AWESOME news spottychick!! You will now have to give both of the brilliant babies an extra cuddle from me, OK? T.

What happens if you put the crate and bedding he's been in/on while on holiday in his normal sleeping spot? Will he go it it and lie down? Worth a try... The new spot is near or in direct line of sight of the door. He may be guarding you from something he senses - and the door is the only entry point to the room. It is school holidays here at the moment and feral teenagers roam at night... *grin* T.

Ummm... I was cuddling a near-term pregnant rescue dog yesterday, and we were having a very cool discussion about how she wasn't going to be doing anything silly like trying to have her babies at some ungodly hour and keep everyone awake. She was very attentive... *grin* T.

All the dogs in my street are either pet shop bought or rescues... not one from a registered breeder. There is a registered breeder of Cockers and Staffies in the next street though... lovely dogs! They also show, and the wife is a show judge. T.

The world is a better place with you in it Jed... don't you ever forget that, OK? So glad to have you on the mend and back with us here on DOL... I've missed ya babe!! T.

Oh man!!! I always get the warm fuzzies when I see your boys with the fosters... You and your whole family have that special something - that's for sure!! T.

He's also a bit of a cutie, isn't he? Attitude is everything... T.

My mother used to do that, but my dogs have the good sense to ignore her, so she stopped trying... *grin* T.

There is one lovely saying... "If you can't say something nice, then best not to say anything at all" If you come across a complete moron with an uncontrolled dog in a public setting, screaming abuse or telling them to get lost isn't going to help them at all, is it? Maybe a different approach like expounding the virtues of the local dog training club might be in order? And throw in how much fun the dogs have in training, and how it really wears them out mentally and physically... *grin* I don't tend to harp on about where dogs come from... but I do mention that I foster puppies for rescue - which leads to other opportunities to explain how my fosters came to be in my care. Works really well when I'm in public areas with said pups behaving beautifully... which then also shows people that not all dogs who have found themselves homeless are "broken"... Plenty more, but my brain is frozen at the moment... T.

My vets do... and if they are the ones havin g to help my baby take it's wings, they cry while they are doing it... then we have a hug and a cry session together. I've been known to buy my vets flowers after they have helped one of my dogs to the Bridge... T.

Going for the legs is designed to make the other dog go down. When the other dog goes down, it exposes it's soft underbelly... you work out the rest... It could be that your small dog is going for your larger dog's legs because that's the only place it can reach... my girls are of equal size and weight... T.

Do you think she may be sensing something about the man that you don't know about? I had a Rotti girl that would act really out of character when she encountered sick people - a mate's dad came over once, and Blossom went all funny, barked a couple of times and wouldn't go near him (and she'd previously been fine with him) - my mate's dad had a heart attack a couple of days later and needed triple bypass surgery. Six weeks after the surgery he came to visit again, and Blossom was all over him like a rash - total tart city as normal... T.

Hahaha! Check out Luki asking his big mate to come play... and the big puppy is looking like a good game of zoomies is about to start... *grin* It's also lovely to see Jack smooching his little heart girl Jasmine on the couch... T.

My girls are 6.5 years apart in age... and both are very fit and healthy girls. My older girl is not being picked on by the younger one due to infirmity or pack structure. Their serious fights have usually been over the stupidest of things - the other night it was a scrap of food that they both saw at the same time in the yard... my problem is not that they have a scrap, it's that neither bloody dog will back down if one starts. If/when Zeddy goes to the Bridge, my next companion for Trouble will be a male... T.

I'd be putting the beds a bit of distance away from the couch until your girls have the idea that they need to behave and lie on their own beds. Indy is growling because she is near you on the couch - so don't give her the opportunity to growl because her bed is near you either... Try starting with the beds some distance from the couch, and slowly over a period of time you can move them a little closer to the couch if that's where you want them to be - if the girls are getting the idea that the beds are for them and the couch (and you) are not something to be guarded. Aidan has some very good advice about the "long down" - I'd be working on that as well, so that if/when you move the beds closer to the couch, they will stay on them. T.

My girls' stitches came out today, and the vets were very happy with how fast they have healed... they were asking me if I've got the girls together yet, and I told them I was going to get some help with that. The vet advised again that the girls were fine with each other while they were at the clinic after their fight. I'm still going to take this one VERY slow, and I think that the girls might be allowed to be together only under very strict supervision (like resting on the couch to watch TV of an evening) from now on. I really don't want to have another fight... ever... So far, when one is going out for playtime or potty break, she will seek out the other for a quick smooch, and then off outside to play/toilet. No animus displayed by either so far - but I'm not going to tempt fate... T.

I have a friend that works for Aus Post - I'm trying to get her to grab me some of the cards and promo stuff... Would you believe that I actually named Tigger when he was a little puppy? He also had 3 brothers - Dink, Boomba, and I can't remember what we named the other one (his nickname was "The Mop"), and one sister (Blossom) who was the tiniest of the litter, and had a deformed front leg/foot - not that it stopped her rough-housing with all of the other puppies... all of them found wonderful forever homes... They were all absolutely lovely natured babies... and Tiggs is still a little spunk, and climbs onto my lap for a kiss when his mummy brings him to the rescue for visits. That is the bestest feeling ever!!! T.