Sudden Aggression - When I Have Food!

[ChristineX]

I never thought I would be asking for advice about Kate - my 9 year old irish terrier who usually does not put a foot wrong. Usually its Duke who is causing mayhem at my place!

However - background info - just after Xmass Duke stuffed his back up (again), but this time he must have done a 110% job of it because he was extremely aggressive towards Kate. Tramydl helped a lot, and the Chiro this week seems to have sorted out his problem.

But, during this time, Kate has turned aggressive - If I have food (my food) or am eating. If its dog orientated food, no problem at all (I've always kept them separated for meals). I've had to crate them if I do anything in the kitchen, because Kate goes for Duke (not, I think, with the intent of drawing blood,though). Tonight, not only did I crate Kate, I put the doona over because she was going nuts. And no, Duke wasn't getting any of my dinner, either.

Okay, my dinner is over, food is all gone, and peace is once again in my household. The question is, how do I get Kate back to normal - ie not getting snarly, aggressive and attacking Duke just because I am having a meal.

[corvus]

See a behaviourist, obviously.

I think you're doing the right thing in anticipating when trouble is likely and preventing it with physical barriers. The problem with physical barriers is that they tend to increase frustration, which can heighten arousal and change the nature of the aggressive behaviour. Seems likely to me that Kate is reacting to a negative association she has with Duke, now. The most widely accepted method of changing a negative association is counter-conditioning, but the important thing to remember about CC is that your dog needs to be under threshold for it to be effective. That means no lunging, barking, snarling etc.

That is the grossly simplified view, as it has to be because it's over the internet. Why anyone asks advice for serious problems over the internet is beyond me, to be honest.

[Vickie]

Where are they when you are preparing/eating? I would not be letting them anywhere near the kitchen/table while you are preparing/eating food.

Will they stay on a mat? Giving them something to do, ie stay, at the right distance from you would be how I would approach this.

[Staranais]

Interesting. Is she defensive, do you think - I'm wondering if he attacked her when you were eating in the past, and she now associates you preparing food as being a trigger for his aggression, so wants to get in first & defend herself?

Either way, you'll need pro help. If you say where you are, perhaps someone will have a recommendation for someone good you can see.

[ChristineX]

The past couple of weeks Kate has just had to twitch to trigger off an attack so she has not had a very good time, and yes, this has probably made her very defensive.

Duke is quite a reactive dog, and his triggers at home are usually tight spaces (I've a small, old house) and food (he's a bit of a food guarder), and pain levels reduced his tolerance quite sharply (I had a really interesting long talk with the vet about that). the accupuncture this week has dropped his tolerances back to normal levels, which means a decent part of Kate's new behaviour is being ignored for which I am very grateful - and he is being rewarded for doing so.

Fortunately, I already have a dog shrink for Duke, so I've been in regular contact with her as well to manage Duke and his aggression - but she is busy and given that neither of my guys are putting holes into each other will respond in a day or so to this latest development, and you guys always have ideas that are worth considering. I've also noticed that if I am in the midst of angst, I'm so busy seeing trees that I miss the forest - so coming here is a good way of re-focusing on the forest instead of the trees.

Corvus, I think you might have a point regarding barriers. I moved one of the crates into the bedroom yesterday - I'll put Kate in there with a kong while I'm busy with food. That could well work better than the other crate.

Control to keep them on mats - only exists while they have my full attention. That's the fun and frustration of terriers - there are no absolute commands in their minds. Thats why I splurged on crates as my Xmass present to myself this year, even though the amount of floor space they take up is pretty huge in my tiny place.

Thanks guys - you have helped re-focus me and I really appreciate it!

[corvus]

I've also noticed that if I am in the midst of angst, I'm so busy seeing trees that I miss the forest - so coming here is a good way of re-focusing on the forest instead of the trees.

That is a fair call. Sorry, I was thinking "Not another one..." before I knew the full story. I find formulating a post often makes me realise what the answer is before I even get to posting it.

[ChristineX]

No problems, corvus, I agree, sometimes I formulate a post, and then delete simpley because I figured it out!

Besides, I always enjoy reading your posts