stephanie is: 
upset…
Today has not started well.
A little backstory:
We have been having problems with our dog India’s “attitude” over the past year. It started earlier than that, but the past year has been significant. The past two months she has gotten much, much worse.
In the evenings when she is tired, she sits and growls – mostly at her sister across the room. We’ve long ago started telling pet sits to give them no fancy treats (like bones or rawhide) because it can spark India to start a fight.
India likes to sleep on the bed with us. Over the past year she had been growling and jumping down randomly when someone enters the room, but over the past two months she has started lunging violently at the cats all throughout the night. I hardly got any sleep last night trying to keep her off the bed.
She was crate trained as a puppy, but about the time her behavior started changing, she starting having severe panic attacks in her crate. She rubbed her nose bloody trying to push out of it. She dug at the plastic floor of the crate until she broke through it, made a hole through the carpet, and made a hole through the passing. We have two patches of floorboards showing now. She eventually broke the crate entirely and it had to be thrown out.
We have been trying all kinds of training with her. Recently we’ve been trying to be extremely consistent with our verbal commands to her the moment she starts to growl. She is very smart and knows many commands, but when she gets that glazed-over look on her face you can’t even get her attention. Sometimes a loud noise can distract her, but you risk setting her off into a barking lunge at whomever she was upset with (always animals – never people).
I have stopped short of trying a deterrent such as a citronella collar – I’m not sure it would be sensitive enough to spray the citronella when she starts growling.
We no longer bring her to doggy daycare or the dog park. She loves to wrestle and play with other dogs, but I can’t risk it if she may snap and go crazy. China does not like India’s rough-and-tumble way of playing so India is stuck playing only with me. I know that must frustrate her and add to it all, but other dogs’ (and owners’) safety comes first.
As I mentioned, all last night we were trying to keep India off the bed. I was already thinking that I needed to call the vet soon and see if there is something medically wrong with her to cause all of this. If we are going to consider starting a family in the future, there is NO WAY she could be acting as violently as she is. Several times she snuck up onto the bed after we dozed off again – only to attack any passing cats (very loudly). If I had tried locking her out of the bedroom, she would have cried all night and dug at the door.
This morning, all was fine. India was tired, but we all were thanks to her. When we were all packed up to leave the house, Danny got out a biscuit for each of them. They get one every morning as we leave. India was already laying down (on command) outside the pantry for hers when China came in the kitchen. I had my back turned when the fight broke out.
India starts all the fights, but China is alpha dog. She goes out of her way not to start trouble (a stern look and a butt-sniff and all she considers necessary when her alpha status seems threatened). But China does not mess around when outright challenged. You have to get several feet of physical distance between the two before she’ll back down. And that is easier said than done because she likes to clamp her jaws down.
Danny and I used kitchen stools to separate the two. I cornered India (who was reading to go back for more) and put her behind the gate to the upstairs. Then I checked for injuries. India has a full set of punctures on her jowl from China’s upper and lower teeth being clamped down. China had one slice on her lip (India rarely does damage). I cleaned up everyone and put antibacterial ointment on the punctures.
India was still growling through the gate, so I secured it in place and covered it with a blanket. I gave her a bowl of water and a few toys, and I locked the rooms upstairs.
Those of you with cam access may notice I turned two of the cameras to watch India. She has been pacing since we left. I called the vet as soon as I got to work. I made an appointment for 5 pm this evening to have her punctures looked and more importantly, to discuss her aggression. I sobbed at my desk afterwards.
I really don’t know what to do. I love her to death, be she is scaring me. I am scared for China, for us, and most of all for possible future children. I don’t know what to do. How could I give her up? She is such a huge part of my heart. I’ve always been so against people “giving up” on their dogs. But what do you do if they can no longer live with other pets safely? Who would even want to adopt her knowing her issues? How would I not die if I had to give her up?
I am rally hoping something good comes of this vet appointment. It may be our last hope.