El Paso Dog Parks - A Pet Service Directory for West Texas and Southern New Mexico

Please HELP!!!!!
I have two male brother 50Ibs. Bassett/Cocker mixed dogs. They are aggressive towards each other,but never to the two smaller dogs here. They have both been cut by the Vet hoping this would stop their aggression but it still continues. My wife has been bite once on her arm trying to break them up. Its usually in the presence of family members,so I believe the younger one is jealous of the older one. When they fight it is very violent,bloody & upsets my entire family. The catch we have is they are house dogs and we are VERY attached to them both. The idea of giving away the younger one was discussed today after their big fight.Any other time these two can be found cuddled up together sleeping or playing in the yard.
Can someone advise us what to do to TRY to save these dogs. I dont want to give them away but I have to think of the safety of my family.We are all very emotional right now & each time this happens,but it doesnt happed as often as it did but the fights are more brutal now. Neither will give in to submit to the other as the Alpha male & its driving us crazy.
Please help with advise or contacts in El Paso Tx if you can.Just trying to calm the storm & not loose one or both of our dogs.
2/5/09
Herb
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Hi Herb.

You're problem seems pretty serious.
There's a lot that you would need to look at to find what the problems are that are causing this. I would recommend seeking a professional that can visit with you in your home to see what happens, how, when, and what you do when it does occur.
There's no quick fix that I can give you that would fix the situation.
However, one common problem is that dog owners tend to label dog behavior with human behavior. Dogs are animals and need different things than humans so associating a human behavior such as "he's jealous" may only distract you from the real issues they're trying to resolve.
Is sounds to me in my opinion that there is a battle for rank between the two dogs. The other smaller dogs don't want to fight for position, they're fine in their rank so they stay out of it. The two dogs fighting may be looking to take the higher status in your family. So when your family members arrive they may feel they need to fight for position. Plus if the family expects a fight to break out it may also trigger an attack because the dogs can sense tension.

I recommend you consult a professional right away. I recommend Glenda Herrin. At this point you need somebody that can explain their behavior and show you what you are doing wrong as a dog owner. It's not something you can solve with basic obedience training or something you can search the internet for. Each case is different so it's best to have somebody come to your place and get a better idea of what's going on.
You can visit her website at www.heelinghounds.com and make an appointment since there is much more to look at than I can do on this message board.

Best of luck! Please let us know what happens!

Thank you for the response. I wrote to Glenda this morning. I hope she can help me.Its pins & needles around here.
Again,Thank you,Herb