Tonight's doggie drama

[Casey Laurie]

Oy! Now that everyone is feeling better and getting back on track, we have a new issue. Lilly and Rusty got into it tonight and now Rusty is terrified of Lilly.

Lilly took a dominant stance by standing directly over Rusty. Rusty growled at her to "back off!", and Lilly growled back. Rusty snapped at her and she snapped back and they tussled a bit (all totaled about 10-15 seconds from start to finish) until I managed to step in between them with a sharp "Hey!". I accidently stepped on somebody's paw..I don't know whose..I think it was Rusty because it sounded like his yelp, but Lilly was sitting with her left front paw in the air..I dunno if that was from getting stepped on or if it was the "I'm not dangerous, I swear it" paw lift. Rusty ran and hid. (No injuries, no blood) I started to take Josie out for potties and Rusty absolutely would not be left alone with Lilly, he was absolutely terrified and refused to come in from the hallway. I took him out with us and then back in..I had to carry him in and put him in the bed. He's hiding under the pillows now. I put Josie to her own bed and got Lilly to lay down in hers once but she's back up and wandering. We haven't perfected "stay" yet. I'm sure she'll go back as soon as DH is home and everyone else goes to bed.

We're letting Rusty sleep with us tonight but this needs to be resolved PDQ tomorrow. Any ideas? :confused:

[Casey Laurie]

A bit better this morning. He's still shy of her but not totally terrified. I'm going to keep them separated mostly until his adrenaline has a chance to go down and try to keep his life as low stress as possible for a bit.
I'm watching any interactions closely and making sure Lilly "listens" to Rusty's signals to leave him alone.

[Nikki Jackson]

get an in-home dog trainer, this is not something to play around with
you need a professional before things get worse. good luck.

[Casey Laurie]

Thanks. I'm hoping to get an appointment with the behaviorist that works with the shelter.
As much as I love Lilly. If it weren't for the fact that we are the only thing standing between her and being PTS, I wouldn't have her here. This is not the best environment for her, but we're all she's got at the moment.

I'm torn by this fact, and the fact that I also cannot/will not have my own dogs living in fear in their own home. Things seem to be calming down nicely so far though, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.