I had a chance to talk to Lucy’s previous owner a little more about the attacks she made on her smaller dog. Each time, Lucy was in an already excited or aroused state of mind. The first two times, Lucy was playing with the other dog and just snapped. The last time, they were coming into the house when she attacked. While it is interesting that she has never acted this way towards medium to large dogs, it is very common for dog fights to occur during these same times.
There are “danger zones” for dogs – times and places where a dog fight is more likely. These danger zones are in places and at times when the dog may already be or be likely to become excited – whether it be playful excitement or aggressive excitement. The thing is, for a dog, playful and aggressive excitements both feel the same. That is why dog fights happen “out of the blue.” It really isn’t out of the blue. It is just one arousal skipping to the next.
One of the things that I do not allow to happen with any dogs that I board or train is rough playing. Any kind of playing that includes one dog jumping on or biting another is a big no no. Sometimes even running together isn’t a good idea. This is a danger zone. Other danger zones include thresholds, crates, feeding bowls, around toys, when a person is crouched low to the ground, when the owner is around, etc. All if it is dependant upon each individual dog.
It seems that Lucy’s danger zone includes any play time and at thresholds. Now that her more powerful e-collar is here, I will begin to introduce her to Raina and allowing her to spend more and more time with her, but all excitement will be kept at a minimum – even when Lucy is with the larger dogs.
(As the e-collar just came in late this afternoon, there are no videos for this update. Sorry.)