Category: Animal House
I would say yes. I bring this up because for the last few days I've been house sitting for my folks with the help of my sighted girlfriend, although I've been alone for the vast majority of each evening because she's at work from 3 PM to 11 PM from Friday till Monday and doesn't even get home until close to 1 AM. But anyway my folks have three dogs, a Miniature Pinsher (Min Pin) named Moe, a Boxer named Kaley and a (Lhasa Apso mix named Mickey. We jokingly call him a Lhasashit since we suspect he probably has Shitsu in his blood, but due to his size we figure he's not purebred. But anyway the Min Pin has had a tendency to try to hump the Boxer every chance he could get, wich she doesn't like. Usually she'd growl at him a bit and move away but last night I suspect he tried one too many times and she finally just had enough and bit him on the backside. Now Kaley is usually a very sweet, even-tempered and obedient dog. Well right after this happened Moe went into his kennel in my folks' bedroom after doing a considerable amount of what sounded like staggering around and a great deeal of panting. So being worried I called my folks' nextdoor, who is both sighted and considers herself an animal expert. I have some doubts about this last since while I'll grant that she does know a lot about certain animals she's also done some pretty stupid things with regard to other types of animals she owned (care for some fried chicken anyone)? Well about two or three weeks ago we had an incident involving our Lhasashit and the Boxer, during which the Lhasa lost an eye. We figure that time was accidental since these two dogs absolutely adored one another from the moment my mom brought the Boxer home. The difficulty arose from the fact that due to the considerable difference in their sizes they hadn't quite figured out how they were going to play together. Well a few weeks ago they apparently made another attempt to play and I guess it got a bit too rough. That and this Lhasa thinks and has always thought he was top dog of the neighborhood because he somehow managed to terrify the St. Bernard across the street, a dog that by his size alone should have been able to mop the floor with Mickey. Of course I think Kaley's been overcome with guilt about the whole thing since Mickey's had to wear an Elizabethan collar to keep him from trying to scratch the area where his stitches are. Kaley usually takes one look at Mickey in that cone, steps back and whimpers a little. Well after Mickey's incident my folks were initially going to get rid of Kaley but the vet persuaded them not to because she's usually so even-tempered, that and in all likelyhood Mickey's injury wasn't intentional. He figures that the two will learn to respect and be more careful of one another.
That long ramble aside we had the incident last night, and while even my folks' neighbor admits that the injry to Moe's...backside isn't serious enough to warrant a vet visit she's firmly of the opinion that Kaley's not a good dog and that she needs to be found a new home at the very least. Heck, she doesn't even think dogs should be permitted to lick their own wounds, which they and probably wolves doubtless do in the wild all the time and it apparently doesn't harm them. This is the touchy part though. There are some factors that have to be taken into account, like the fact that not only is Kaley generally one of the most even-tempered and sweet dogs I've ever had the pleasure to know, but also that she's quite frankly given Moe more warnings to back off from her than I can count. This has been going on since my mom brought her home near on three months ago if not even a little longer and this is the first time they've gotten physical. And it's entirely possible that this latest incident wasn't entirely intentional either. Kaley may have intended to deliver a more physical warning but because she's got a much bigger mouth she ended up drawing blood when she didn't necesarily intend to. It just makes me mad that this neighbor of mine (I've known her for pretty close to seven years), would just jump to conclusions without considering the facts or what have you. Not only that she has a tendency to do things and then if something goes wrong with one of her pets as a result she shifts the blame onto other people. That fried chicken reference I made earlier was a case in point but I'll go into that later.
Are the male dogs neutered? Many times, males that are unneutered will push for dominance, but since the female's so much bigger, once they got on her nerves, she defended herself. This is why dogs should always be supervised, especially dogs of these size differences. I have a Pit Bull named Princess, and I definitely don't trust her to play nice with other dogs by herself. She's always supervised while around them.
As far as I know all three dogs have been fixed.
Find out if they're all fixed, first and foremost.
From there, it might be a matter of getting some obedience training for all three dogs. If you live near a Petsmart or Petco, they usually have a lot of classes available. Humping, if the dogs are fixed, is generally used to show dominance. The dog who does the humping is asserting that he or she is higher up in rank than the dog who is being humped, and sometimes if the one being humped disagrees, it can get a little physical. The real problem here is just the size difference between the dogs. The boxer isn't a devil in disguise, she's just big, is all.
They're all fixed. But after my folks got home they took a look at Moe's injury and it actually looked to them as though Kaley hadn't actually meant to bite him. He might have tried to hump her and gotten a bit too close so that when Kaley turned around to tell him off she caught him on the backside with her canines. After all if she'd really wanted to hurt him she could have done a lot more and not just because of her size.
boxer can be a bit of the trouble here, if it is a male boxer. usually male boxer would like to domernate, as the leader of the pack...more so if the 2 others are female.
Dogs definitely have breaking-points. Remember that relationships between human and dog, and those between dog and dog, differ. You might see this biter as even-tempered on the whole, but it's easy to say that if she's never bitten anyone.
Personally, I'm going with what the majority have said here. In a worst-case scenario, she might be a bit of a tough case with smaller dogs who wish to be persistent or playful. Some animals simply don't know their own strength; come to that, some people don't either.
I'm by no means an expert so could be totally wrong. But I too think that she honestly had enough and that even if she did intend on biting him, she had a very good reason for doing so. Apparently, he just wouldn't pay attention when she tried to give him hints, and since she can't talk in the same way that we humans can, she resorted to violence. To be honest, if someone kept making advances at me when I repeatedly told them not to, I'd probably punch him myself.
Yep. That's pretty much what my folks think. That and she needs to be played with on a regular basis to work off some of her energy. So I think from now on they're going to take her with when they go on longer trips so they can play with her.
I have a boxer, and only once have I seen her get um, well, frisky? It was a similar circumstance. Our neighbor's dog would not quit humping her when she was no where near heat, and at one point he even went so far as to hump her head. Humping her head was his mistake because she bit. LOL. He has not tried it since, and no, she did no perminant harm, just a little blood and soarness for a while, and I agree, let someone keep making advances or trying to be dominant, and I will punch, or if necessary bite them to get my point across.
Exactly. And as I've said before it's not as though she hadn't given him lots and lots of warnings to back off. So we pretty much agree he got what was coming to him.
One time when I went to the dog park, there was a male dog who kept humping my dog and wouldn't leave him alone. I don't know what breed he was. Out of all the dogs there, he was only after mine. My dog just let him. I was glad when the guy finally got his dog and left.
Well that's a little different. If it's a guide dog they can't show any aggression or they're disqualified.
yes dogs have breaking points. so do we. it is our job as responsive and responsible owners to ensure that they don't reach that point.
We all can agree they're emotional creatures, and certainly it sounds like she had the right. The real question is would he have the sense to stop? Doubtful. Dogs are all emotions and zero brains. Sorry guide dog owners I'm sure that's not entirely true, but pretty close ... unless it's taught into them somehow. I concur with Turricane, whoever owned the male ought have smacked it in the head or whatever to make it quit humping.
Actually both dogs belong to my folks. It was just that I was here by myself at the time and couldn't see them or I'd have called Moe off.
I do know that dogs get depressed. I have heard stories of dogs dying of a broken heart if either their dog friend or master dies.
Agreed, and I have to strongly disagree that dogs don't have brains. There have been some incredible stories of them doing amazing things that were not taught and that are not part of their natural behaviour.
I also agree that dogs have breaking points, just as humans do, and she had given him enough warnings. She was just trying to put him in his place, as it were.
The odd thing is that now he's basically the alpha dog of the hree. I think Kaley still growls at him if he tries to hump her, so he has to settle for a stuffed duck that quacks if you kick it. It's just too bad it doesn't quack from ordinary squeezing or whatever. It'd be funny to see Moe's reaction if he humped it and it quacked at him. LOL.
Yes dog's do. they have feelings and emotions like us. Not to mention they sense ours. :)
Yep. That's why I think it'd be good for my wife to get a therapy dog. Of course first she needs to start seeing a counselor or therapist first by her own admission.
dogs have breaking points.
although.
what to do when said dog decides your leg would be a good humping thing.
he's fixed, so i just move the leg... he doesn't do it that often. usually when he wants to play.
but still it's kind of annoying
Well we're pretty sure Moe' been fixed for years. And he seems to have given up trying to hump Kaley in favor of watever stuffed animal happens to be nearby. He used to be self-conscious about it and would stop if he realized someone was watching him but apparently not anymore. Either that or he's just too blind to realize he's being watched. He's ten or twelve years old I'd guess.