Ugh. And crap. And Huh? (pet related)

preston18

We were on vacation last week visiting my parents and my dog Zoe spent the week with DH's aunt.  She has 11 acres and works form home so Zoe has lots of room to run around or plenty of compnay if she prefers.  Aunt brings Zoe back over today and tells me about the visit and that Zoe bit her dog and he needed stitches. 

Zoe and Robbie have known each other for years and while very independent, have always gotten along so I'm having a hard time imagining my 45lb 13yo dog biting a 95lb 7yo dog.  Aunt didn't witness it but doesn't know what else it could be. The vet said it's likely a dog bite. She has other dogs but they are even smaller than Zoe.

So Ugh--$200 vet bill

Crap--my dog is most likely now dog agressive

and Huh?--how is my dog now dog aggressive and how worried do I need to be about N, although they are rarely, if ever, alone together.

MSTie24

1 ht and super quick (abt to get DD down for a nap) but dog aggression does NOT equal human aggression.  But if you see other signs of a change in behavior, it may be caused by medical issues.  Since she's older it may warrant a vet visit.   

Mama_v2.0

Do they have coyotes?

Did you aunt tell you they otherwise got along well like normal or were they keeping their distance from each other?? 

zazzu

Theres a saying in the training world " dogs don't bite when a growl will do". Where was the bite? Puncture wounds or gashes? How many? Almost always, if aggression shows up in an older dog without warning signals, it's underlying pain. Perhaps the younger dog knocked into her hips one too many times, or sometimes younger dogs will pick on older weaker ones in a primal sorta way. Hard when we think of our dogs as family, but dogs are still dogs. I do not think 1 bite deems your dog aggressive. There is a range on the bite scale which us why I was asking the above questions. I'd suggest a trip to your vet and possible a sr blood work panel run to see if anything is off. You might not see sypmtoms of pain even if they are feeling it. Sorry that happened

gina000

That is a bummer, I agree with what others have said, a trip to the vet maybe in order.  Since your aunt didn't see what happen there could have been many reasons for the bite.  My parents beagles have gotten into more than one scuffle over food but have never once bit a human.