omg help!

[brandy]

iam totally freaked out!
bubbles has just had a go at sam!
im still shaking!
i was upstairs and sam had come upstairs and said..
mum bubbles ate the cat food.. and i just assumed she had cleared out the cats bowl..
i told him its ok, i would be down in a sec.
the next thing i know.. i hear her do a snarl and bark and sam scream.
come flying down the stairs to see them both in the hallway.. the floor is littered with cat food pouches that she had stolen from the bin.
and sam tryin not to cry.
by this time bubbles is cowering and i ask sam if he is all right..
he said bubbles was a bad dog, and she scratched him.
i throw bubbles out before i give in to the urge to batter her and look at sam.
he has three deep scratches on his leg one of them brought blood.
ive asked him what has happened, and he said that bubbles had the cat food and he was taking it away from her and she scratched him.. he said she didnt bite him, but it was def. an im going to eat you bark i heard.
what do i do?
she has never ever ever shown aggression of any sort before!
oh god... im a nervous wreck... someone give me some advice..

[dragonfly]

Brandy I'd make an appointment at the vets to see if there is anything physically wrong with her - dogs don't just turn bad overnight and as she's never shown aggression before to you or the kids there may be some other underlying reason

I remember you posted a while back saying she was eating cushions and other things, it may all be related

If it turns out that there is not medical reason then I would be getting a dog behaviourist to have a look at her - Dave Ashpool is supposedly very good at this type of thing

[brandy]

shes due her jags soon anyway, i think i will be taking your advice!
shes back in now, sitting beside me as if nothing has ever happened!

[BINBOB]

shes due her jags soon anyway, i think i will be taking your advice!
shes back in now, sitting beside me as if nothing has ever happened!

hi..sounds terrible..what kind of dog is bubbles??

[dragonfly]

as far as she knows nothing did happen - dogs can't reason like us, she was protecting her food. I'd make the appointment today rather than wait until her jags are due

hope Sam's got over the shock

[cuddlepop]

Brandy, take Bubbles to the vet asap as she may have toothache.
I remember Connie started to behave in a less than patient manner and as it was so out of charactor Oh took het to the vet.
Poor thing had three rotton teeth which were causing her some degree of pain.

Once sorted she was fine.:D

Poor you though,what a fright you must have got.:~(

[teenybash]

Hope you have taken the good advice and made an appointment with the vet. Something is certainly amiss and needs to be investigated as soon as poss.........could be behavioural or something physical. Keep a close I would be my suggestion and especially when food is around. Good luck and hope it can be sorted quick.

[GruesomeTwosome]

I would say your first priority is your child. I would suggest keeping bubbles away from children when you cannot keep an eye on her the whole time until you find out what is wrong.

In regards to bubbles behavour it could be many things but you would be best to consult your vet asap. Dogs can get less tolerant of behaviours they may previously have been ok with though so that could be a factor to consider. Some obedience training could be helpful in the meantime to make sure she knows who is in charge.

But again, child safety should be your first priority here.

[brandy]

whew.. i think.. THINK we have it figured out what happened..
we bought an anti-bark collar and put it on her a few days ago..
it emmits a sonic noise when she barks.. but have noticed that its really sensitive and will often go off when shes bouncing around. did not think about it this morning, with freaking out... but after i calmed down and she came in.. i was watching her and realised she had the collar on. she has not been herself as far as playing and bouncing went.. was talking to my mate about what happend and noticed how jittery she was laying in the hallway..
stopped took collar off and turned it off.. the second i turned it off she was up and bouncing.. jumped up on me and started licking me all over, tail waggig tounge hanging out.. then was in the living room playing with kids as if everything was right and good in her world again.
will be calling vets to check and see if they think that this could have caused her behaviour as well... def. having her checked out.. fingers crossed this was the problem.
keep fingers crossed guys and will let you know whats happening!

[Liz]

Brandy I can fully understand you must have got an awful fright.

However, it doesn't sound as if this was an unprovoked attack which would be really worrying.
If Bubbles had actually bitten Sam it wouldn't look like scratches but proper bites.

It seems she was protecting her food (some dogs can be possessive) and was giving Sam a warning to stay away and he, being a small boy, wouldn't have done so.

[Liz]

whew.. i think.. THINK we have it figured out what happened..
we bought an anti-bark collar and put it on her a few days ago..
it emmits a sonic noise when she barks.. but have noticed that its really sensitive and will often go off when shes bouncing around. did not think about it this morning, with freaking out... but after i calmed down and she came in.. i was watching her and realised she had the collar on. she has not been herself as far as playing and bouncing went.. was talking to my mate about what happend and noticed how jittery she was laying in the hallway..
stopped took collar off and turned it off.. the second i turned it off she was up and bouncing.. jumped up on me and started licking me all over, tail waggig tounge hanging out.. then was in the living room playing with kids as if everything was right and good in her world again.
will be calling vets to check and see if they think that this could have caused her behaviour as well... def. having her checked out.. fingers crossed this was the problem.
keep fingers crossed guys and will let you know whats happening!

This could well be the problem Brandy.

I tried one of these on Benjy and it terrified him! Whenever the damn thing 'went off' he just fell to the ground and 'cowered' just like Bubbles.
Would be best to get it checked out but sounds like you are quite right.

[brandy]

have thought about that as well..but normally you can take food from her mouth. have called the vet and just waiting for them to call me back.
the collar is off and switched off, and just so peeps know.. normally the kids are never alone with her. it was a case that sam came downstairs before i did this morning, he actually came up and told me she had the cat food but i thought when he opened the living room door that she went into the kitchen and ate the cats food from the bowl... she didnt bite him, just scratched him but omg what a scare it gave me.
never in two years has she ever shown aggresion outside of barking at people when on the lead.. thus the anti-bark colar to see if we could get her to stop.
if Don isnt here when i take a shower i put bubbles outside, so that she isnt downstairs with the kids.. just to be on the safe side.

[GruesomeTwosome]

Brandy I can fully understand you must have got an awful fright.

However, it doesn't sound as if this was an unprovoked attack which would be really worrying.
If Bubbles had actually bitten Sam it wouldn't look like scratches but proper bites.

It seems she was protecting her food (some dogs can be possessive) and was giving Sam a warning to stay away and he, being a small boy, wouldn't have done so.


I would agree with Liz. Although we both may be wrong you should still consult your vet asap and perhaps in the mean time keep Sam out the way when bubbles has food.

You must remember at the end of the day bubbles is a dog and in any case a dog can be unpredictable and exhibit behaviour you may not ever expect. We can get so complacent with our dogs and this is when terrible accidents happen such as aggressive attacks. It is my last possible intention to upset you but it would be devistating if it were to happen again but Sam may not be so lucky. I hope you get to the bottom of bubbles problem and all goes back to normal.

[Liz]

Definitely sounds like the collar Brandy. Fear can make animals act out of character.

[dragonfly]

agree with Gruesome Twosome, your kids are first and with the couple of problems you've told us you've been having with Bubbles I would definately be seeking professional help regarding her behaviour.

It could be something very simple in the body lanuguage humans are displaying around her that needs to be addressed

[brandy]

well thats another thing... shes been really good latley. no more chewing of cushions... no more running off and not listening. she has really calmed down since ive been home from america. everything has just settled down to normal. been really good on her walks, and had even started calming down on lead. (still not taking her into town not stupid that was why we tried the colar to see if that would help)
saying that mystress levels have gone down lot the past couple weeks.. seeing my mom, getting bens diagnosis.. everything is just getting back to normal.
so hopefully the vet will be able to shed some light and if not will be seeing a doggie behaviorlist to see what they think.
i know the kids come first guys, and i really am very safe and consious of dog behaviour.
ceaser i am not, but i do have common sense. *Grins*
shes laying here beside me as i type, but will be taking it one step at a time,and just be very careful of how things goes.
thanks for all the advice.. and heres hoping for the best!"

[Liz]

Brandy you are doing everything right and I honestly don't think you have a 'problem' dog in Bubbles.

All animals pick up on our stress and can react in different ways. Her chewing up the cushions etc is typical.

I am sure everything will be fine. Take care xx

[brandy]

have spoken to the vet, seems to think its a good chance its the collar. recommended not putting it back on her (of course!) and to se how she does. has recommended a behavorist for the barking though *Grins* happy enough to see about that again *laughs*
but just see how she does and if her mood changes again..

[dragonfly]

but just see how she does and if her mood changes again..

I'd be phoning the behaviourist today not leaving it until "her mood changes again" - what would you do if it were to change again?

Not getting at you Brandy but its better to be safe than extremely sorry. I know Bubbles is normally a soft lump of a dood but even they can snap as you have seen this morning

better to be getting expert advice now than having to think about rehoming/PTS in the future if, heavens forbid, she were to snap again

sorry if I sound harsh but its best to nip these in the bud and for Bubbles to relearn her place in the household

[brandy]

already on to it hun.

[butterfly]

Ah poor Bubbles,the collar has really upset her,glad you have tooken it off Brandy.Maybe she will settle now.

[carasmam]

Just my tuppence worth, but if you weren't in the room you dont know what the chain of events leading up to the snarl and bark were. You cant get complacent around kids and dogs, no matter how much you trust the kid not to poke or the dog not to bite :confused

[Liz]

I totally agree with you Carasmam. How can anyone know what actually happened without being there to see it?

[porshiepoo]

The main thing Brandy is to take a deep breath. I suspect you don't have a devil dog on your hands and it may very well be a combination of family upheaval and the collar that has triggered this event.
However, just because a dog has shown no previous signs of dominance it doesn't mean it never will. It does sound to me as though your dog was showing dominant behaviour but whether that is down to the collar or the fact that you as pack leader were not in the immediate vicinity I could not say.

You certainly sound as though you have taken the best action for the time being and getting your dog vet checked would obviously be the best next step.
Please bear in mind though that regardless of the excuse for the action, the very fact that it has happened would suggest that in the right environment it could possibly happen again. I understand it could be a complete one off also so I really wouldn't want to panic you, but it wouldn't hurt to just follow the basic rules for pack leadership OR if you already follow those rules then just reinforce them. It will certainly do no harm.

Good luck with the vet, try not to panic as this will dictate your energy which in turn could affect the dog and just try to carry on.
You're doing a great job so far.