Doggie Dilemma! BIG dog attacked the LITTLE DOG

I'm so upset for my little pommie Princess....Meiko (the 90lb bullmastiff) attacked her today!

She's always held her ground since moving in with us after the wedding. When Meiko tries to bully her around she defends herself by scaring her away (she thinks she's a big dog)and they've grown to more than tolerate each other over the past 6 months. They have never really fought. But today, Princess had her little bone and Meiko went after it. Princess got VERY defensive and really lunged at Meiko. Then, for the first time, Meiko who is usually a very mild mannered and respectful dog, attacked BACK! She pinned her to the ground and was munching on her head! I swear I almost passed out. I thought Princess was a goner for sure.

Well, we broke it up pretty quickly and amazingly Princess was completely unharmed... except for maybe being traumatized. Now she won't leave my side. She seems genuinely scared and wants Meiko as far away from her as possible. It's like we are back to square one (it took them awhile to adjust to each other at first).

Anyway, has anyone been through this with 2 dogs? Will they get over it and go back to normal? Or does this mean another long adjustment period? I feel SO bad for my little pommie.

awww poor little pommie....I am happy that your doggie is ok

Scott

After almost three years, we still separate Max from the other two dogs when rawhides or greenies are involved. When we first got him we were told he was food obsessive.

We've always fed him (choc lab) & Bailey (golden) in the same room but FAR apart and in the very beginning either me or DH stayed in the room and kept an eye on things. Hershey (small mutt) gets fed behind a baby gate in the kitchen.

We have a few (very few) incidents (that were mostly our fault - giving table food & causing them to be too close) but they almost seem like Max doesn't even realize he's done it and is back to being his normal totally mushy mellow self. And for a few hours or so, the others would keep their distance. But all gets forgotten by the next day.


Not really sure what to tell you especially since I gather you are a little more upset/concerned with what happened knowing baby avocado will be in the picture soon enough ... I'd say just keep an eye on bith of them and try not to put them in any situations where something can go awry.

Good luck

Thanks! I'm glad to hear that your dogs seem to forget about it the next day. Hopefully that's what happens in this case! But we'll definitely be keeping a close eye on both of them for awhile now. They do get fed their regular meals separately from each other - one upstairs, one downstairs. But this was a special treat. Meiko inhaled hers as usual and then wanted to go after the little one who was still knawing away at hers. Looks like no more special treats for awhile too!

omg, how scary Sandra. I hope the little one is okay.

My ex had two dogs; a bull mastiff and a lab mix. They got along fairly well, but for some odd reason, every once and a while, the mastiff would attack the lab and they'd go out at and we'd have to pull them apart. Usually it was over food. When they did that, they would fight eachother like they were ready to fight to the death and it was always really scary, especially since the lab was a lot older and a lot more fragile. Usually things would go back to normal shortly afterwards. Perhaps bull mastiffs just get really defensive when it comes to food. Maybe you should try separating them when they're eating or having a treat, just in case.

it sounds like it was more Meiko showing dominance over Princess than a true attack. If Meiko wanted to hurt Princess, she would have.

Good for Princess for standing up for her bone. It'll take awhile for her to become comfortable again....I'd try having them in the same room, but with a person there. If Meiko starts eyeing up Princess' toys /bones, tell her NO and pet Princess to show her that it is alright.