SUSAN DOBIE

Thank you. It's been much better now that I feed Betsy and Bailey away for Buddy, But now Buddy will hang out nearby. Buddy wasn't at the door today (yeah). Right now, I can't figure out where I could limit Buddy's location when we come home. It's an old house, but I guess it is fairly open so it would take a bunch of barricades. I'm sort of feeling like I need a behavioralist for Betsy and Buddy. But alas, I am not made out of money. I must be living right or my stars are aligned or something, because my dog park friend just gifted me a paid program with one. So, I can pretty much swing paying for Buddy. I swear, I had fed Betsy and Bailey and Betsy later went to the communal water bowl. Buddy pulled his growl on her. She wasn't even close. It irks me to no end. Extra and soul sucking! Luckily Betsy ignored him. Buddy wandered up to our house several years ago and was not a resource guarder until years later. Betsy was abandoned with her siblings at a park and was skin and bones when she was rescued. I get why she has not tolerated Buddy's antics. Clearly something has to change. Here's Bailey and Betsy, the two younger dogs.

Buddy growls low when any of the dogs eat. He seems to want to control who and when the dogs eat. It was absolutely about the food. I usually guard so Buddy can't pull his growling but I had to use the bathroom. I saw the tension between them and tried to distract and that's when it happened. I know now it was a horrible idea to let Betsy out of the crate after their first kerfuffle, but I did it. When Betsy attacked Buddy after I let her out of the crate, food was not involved, but my husband came home. The fight was the first. When I let Betsy out of the crate, her ears were back and I knew it was "going down". I honestly thought Betsy was going to kill Buddy. Betsy did break the skin. Buddy's ear looked pretty bad. He was taken to the vet this morning. Vet said it was not a hematoma but it was infected. He did not need stitches. The vet also prescribed Prozac for Buddy. I really feel that the food growling/growling is a big part of the issue and I'm not sure Prozac will help. Buddy has limited training. He does know "no" and sit but in the fight nothing worked. Betsy and Buddy co-existed prior to this event but didn't interact much. Since the incident, Betsy has been fairly well behaved but I hear Buddy doing his growl thing any time Betsy is anywhere near. And at times, it seems that he is trying to get near her. I move quickly to reassure Betsy so she is not triggered. I'm starting to feel resentment toward Buddy. That's not good. Buddy is always at the door when I bring the younger dogs home from the dog park. I tried to come through the back and he went there too. I don't take him because he gets car sick. It's been a challenge. What is a veterinary behavioralist? Betsy had zero training when I got her. I house trained her and taught her to sit as well as reliable call which is somewhat iffy right now but getting better. I have been feeding Betsy and Bailey (the two year old) completely separate and it has reduced the tension a little. When I was able to call Betsy away food was not involved but my husband was coming home. It occurred to me that Buddy may be a little jealous of Betsy as she and the two year old play together a lot and Bailey does not play with Buddy as much. I think there is a jealousy about my husband's attention as well. I am trying to keep the dogs away from each other, but they live in the same house . We're doing what we can to keep them apart. I'm not positive how old Betsy is, but it fairly close to 7 months now. I don't think Buddy has an underlying medical condition but he really likes food. I had to keep him away from the puppy food when I fed Betsy previously. I am pretty stressed out about the situation and I know that doesn't help either.

I've had Betsy 2 months. She came into a home with two older male dogs (mixes) and a two year old Black Mouth Cur mix (female). The two younger dogs are pretty close. One of the older male rescue dogs, Buddy, (short and overweight, don't know what breed) is fairly controlling about feeding. He bullies the other older male if the said dog is eating out of his own dish. That being said, Betsy has skin allergies and I gave her Salmon Oil with her food. I usually guard when she eats to keep the bully away. But, I stepped away and Buddy was trying to steal her food. I walked in and saw the posturing and tried to distract. Then they started fighting. I was able to slip the leash on Betsy and put her in her crate. Shortly after my spouse came home and suggested I let her out to "let them work it out". Big mistake. Betsy immediately attacked Buddy injuring his ear (hematoma now). I was feeling fatalistic thinking I could not keep Betsy if this happened. I don't want to give up, but the older dog's bullying is one part of the equation and then there was Betsy wailing on him. I fed the two younger ones separately today and things seemed calmer, but when my spouse came home Betsy and Buddy were next to each other. I was very anxious about it. I then heard Buddy doing the low growl that started all this the day prior. I was able to get Betsy to come to me and averted a new disaster. I have been beside myself the last 24 hours trying to figure out what to do and what to do first.