Our rescue dog has become horrifyingly aggressive towards first dog

[jamie1]

Hello everyone. This is a long one so sorry in advance. Not even sure if this is the right sub but I really need help.

My husband and I got a second dog 6 weeks ago. He (Ricky) is an abused rescue, unsure of the age, they said 3-4 but I think he’s more like 1-2 with how he acts. They said border collie x St. Bernard

Anyways. First dog, Lou, is a 7 year old border collie x lab male. He is intact (don’t give me heck, I know he should’ve been neutered but I wasn’t in the picture then) Lou has always been an alpha dog around other dogs. He was a cocky guy.

The adoption place said to us that Ricky would do better in a home that has a lot because he’s “really good” with dogs, and with another confident dog it helps him gain his confidence as well. (Lou is now extremely submissive and cowardly since getting Ricky)

As expected, the first week or two was not easy. Ricky and Lou weren’t massive fans of each other but they got used to each other by week 2.5 ish. On the 3rd week to the day of having Ricky, he attacked Lou over something I am not even sure of. My husband tried to get Ricky off of Lou and Ricky diverted his aggression towards husband and bit him very badly on the hand. The wound is still not fully healed.

Things were good for a while, they would have small fights here and there over getting attention from us or a toy. But it wasn’t anything crazy more just loud and not actually biting.

Until this weekend, everything flipped with Ricky. Yesterday my husband was tickling me and Lou came to investigate. Ricky must have thought it was Lou that was bothering me because he lunged at Lou and attacked him, and it was the biggest fight we had yet. Nothing was stopping them and they knocked over our table. We put a blanket over them and after a lot of commotion finally got Ricky outside. Lou had been bitten right on the eyelid and was bleeding and it swelled up quickly.

Then today, I got home and again, unprovoked Ricky attacked lou at the front door. But thankfully Lou managed to slip away before it got too crazy.

Now here is the reason for my post. Supper time for the dogs, we have never ever had food issues with them, and Ricky attacked Lou over Lou’s bowl. It was an unstoppable fight and Ricky had his whole mouth latched onto the side of Lou’s face and there was a lot of blood. I think if Lou had tried to pull away from it he would’ve lost the side of his face or died. there was blood all over the kitchen and Lou was crying so badly and Ricky was not letting up.

Now we are in bed and Ricky is not sleeping with us but I don’t know what to do. Is this reversible? Can the dogs get over whatever the problem is? Will Ricky be a risk to any future children? I’m terrified he’s going to actually kill Lou one of these days, and I don’t want either of us to be bitten again.
I love Ricky so much he’s always been very gentle towards me but I don’t trust him. I think we may have to take him back to the shelter for Lou’s and our safety. Is this the right move ?

Sincerely, a very distraught dog mum. Sorry again for the length

UPDATE: shelter doesn’t want to take Ricky back on short notice. Said a trainer would be in contact with us and the trainer called and sounded like he thinks it’s a horrible idea to keep Ricky and said to keep them completely separate until Ricky goes back. However I don’t know when the shelter is going to take him back because they keep saying they don’t have space for him. So now I have to juggle the dogs between outside, garage and in the house so they don’t see each other.

 

[nablusstar]

@jamie1 It’s a very unsafe situation, as both dogs are large and bites keep escalating very quickly. For some dogs decompression means worse behaviors, not better, because they could be suppressed in a shelter. Don’t feel bad returning the dog, but make sure to give the shelter honest feedback on his behavior, including the bites (in writing).

 

[spyderco]

@jamie1 To answer your questions: this is not a good fit. Call Ricky’s shelter. It has escalated beyond an adjustment period for a reactive dog. If you don’t return Ricky, you will have to keep the dogs separated and rotate family time. You might could consult a behaviorist, but honestly this early in I think it’s better to cut your losses and get Ricky back to the shelter, and hopefully with a family that doesn’t have another dog.

Ricky could be a risk to future children. It’s an unknown variable.

Taking Ricky back is the right move. It’s not fair to Lou. And you’re right that this is a dangerous situation for Lou. It could possibly be managed, but that requires 100% management 100% of the time and keeping both dogs separate. A slip up or an accident is bound to happen. You’re making the right call.

Ricky also deserves a home that works for him. Definitely let his shelter know that he would be best suited as a single dog.

 

[jamie1]

@spyderco Thank you, I think I knew this it just helps to hear it from an outside perspective. I want to keep him for my own selfish reasons because he’s a cuddly dog but it’s just unsafe and too unpredictable. I hope Ricky will be okay because he is a nice boy, I do think the shelter downplayed his issues heavily. They told us he’s not good with people but great with dogs and I’ve only seen the exact opposite of that. He needs a home with someone who has better knowledge on this kind of behaviour. I feel badly we’ve had him this long and it’ll be a hard adjustment for him going back :/

 

[spyderco]

@jamie1 If it makes you feel any better I board my reactive dog at his shelter and he’s overjoyed to see his shelter dads again. It’s only six weeks. You did the best you could, you really did.

 

[monk58]

@jamie1 Return the rescue

It is not the situation for him

Both dogs will only get increasingly stressed.

Explain to the shelter fully.

This is not really either dogs fault