Dachshunds Fighting

[Chip's Mom]

Yesterday at work, I learned that a friend of mine's 10 year old dachshund had gotten into a fight over food with another dachshund. The damage was so bad, he had to have her euthanzied. He was very attached to this little girl but the damage was to great to repair. Doesn't seem possible that a little dog could do so much damage. They tried to separate them.

[corgimom]

What a horrible thing to have happen Bonnie,

Were these dogs owned by the same person, or were they together for a play date?

[darci]

OMG How horrible ?
How old were they?
Ditto with Linda, same owner?

[Chip's Mom]

They were owned by sister and brother. He was staying at her house for awhile and the dog that died was over 10. Not sure how old the other dog was. I just can't imagine a dogfight excalating to that extent. They had been around each other all their lives though.

[Chip's Mom]

They were owned by sister and brother. He was staying at her house for awhile and the dog that died was over 10. Not sure how old the other dog was. I just can't imagine a dogfight excalating to that extent. They had been around each other all their lives though.

[Jespah]

That must have been heartbreaking for them.

It's so easy for us to lose site of the fact that our beloved little dogs are animals, though domesticated. Rupert and Jemma got into a nasty fight over liking the empty cat food bowl a week or so ago - it was frightening. Food can be the catalyst to a minor tiff that can escalate out of control very quickly. The base instinct of every living thing is that food is life and survival depends on it.

[manymuddypaws]

Deb makes a really good point. Dogs are Dogs- regardless of age, breed, size or whatever. My female shepherd is confident in being the queen of the house, but the two corgis still aren't too sure of the rest of the order and it only takes a lifted lip, a forgotten chewy or a favorite toy and you have a war going on in your living room! My two do fight, but not very seriously and if I tell them to knock it off it is forgotten and they go back to playing.

When I first got Sam- I had him maybe two months. I was staying at a friends house (she breeds shepherds and has out door dog runs) I had put them in the run together and walked back to the car to get the rest of our stuff. All of a sudden all I heard was a high pitch screaming followed by growling and yelping. I ran back to the run and Wicca had gotten her jaw stuck in Sam's collar and couldn't get it out. He thought she was trying to kill him and was fighting back!!!! It was horrible and after I pried them apart and made sure there was no serious injuries I sat on the ground and cuddled the two of them. It was very scary for them and me!
This is a good example of how a small thing can escalate because Dogs, think like Dogs, and unless they fully understand the body language there is going to be problems!
(Note* I have since never left collars on my dogs unless they are on leash.)

It is very sad for the owners of those two dogs though. I wonder if they had past history of fighting?

-amanda

[Chip's Mom]

That is the biggest thing I worry about with getting a puppy is how Chip and the new pup will get along. Fighting would scare me to death too.

[Fluffypants]

How sad for your friend Bonnie.
I'm sure that the breeder will help you pick the right pup to get along the best with Chipper (although it's not 100% certain that they'll NEVER disagree). And with all the members here who (are lucky enough to) have multiple corgis, I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice on how to prevent common problems (such as Muddy's collar issue above).

And you already have a pretty peaceful multi-dog household, so you must be doing something right! Trust yourself!

[Chip's Mom]

Thank you Jessica. I needed that reassurance this morning.

[Jespah]

Bonnie, I was very concerned about Rupert getting along with another dog. Although he was missing Riley so much and not enjoying being the only dog, he has territorial aggression issues with other new dogs in his 'hood. He was very stresssed and unhappy in the weeks after Riley died and I was scared of how he would react when we went to meet Jemma, as he does not behave well towards younger dogs. I told the breeder this and she told me she knew what to do.
Instead of Rupert meeting Jem right away, Betty put Rupert in her fenced-in backyard with two of her adult female Corgis who she knew could take care of themselves and wouldn't put up with any guff from him. You could see from his face he was out-smarted and he was quite well behaved. After about 20 minutes with them, she brought out Jemma and her mother. By then he knew that the Corgi girls were boss and he was fine. He gave Jem a wuff to tell her what he thought and she just turned right around and wuffed him back.

Other than two incidents - over food, he has been great. I treat him as the alpha so he know's he's still number one and doesn't feel threatened by her being here. They play every day and he even lets her snuggle up against him in bed now.

So talk to the breeder about how to treat them both and I think you'll be fine.

[manymuddypaws]

Don't get me wrong- Sam and Wicca LOVE each other, they sleep almost touching, have no problems eating side by side, they play tug, they love to chase one another, but my dogs are very high drive and it doesn't take much to escalate from play to serious. When they play they are loud and obnoxious- esp Sam, he insists on barking and yipping the whole time so it sounds pretty ferocious. They turn heads at shows and stuff when I exercise them together- lots of hip checking, barking, and rough housing. But in the end they are great fun together and are best buds, even with the occasional scrap. I just never leave them unsupervised with high value chewies. ;o)