Need help - mad patterdale

[wheresthel1ght]

We have had our lovely patterdale for 4 years. She was a rescue from what I thought was a reputable place - it wasn't. We got very little info and what we did get was wrong - even the name they told us was wrong according to her chip info!

Anyway other than the usual neurosis of a small terrier she has developed a real issue with our second dog. We have had him since just before Xmas and up until the last couple of weeks everything was fine. They play well together, are great when out on walks etc. The only issue was good but we have worked with that and they are better.

However the last couple of weeks the patterdale has become increasingly aggressive and starting fights with the other dog (he is a westie cross we think). She will be sat on the sofa and he will walk past ignoring her and she will attack and a couple of times she has been on mine or dps lap. Yesterday she did it whilst sat on dsd (10.5) and as Dp tried to separate them he got nipped.

I do not want to have to rehome her or worse have her out to sleep but if she is starting to bite then there is a risk to both my dsc's and my dd I won't tolerate it.

Is there a way to control this behaviour without muzzling her or do I need to rehome her?

Your husband got nipped as a side effect of breaking them up, it wasn't a 'bite'

It sounds like jealousy if it happens when he walks past when she's on your laps?

Costa - I am aware of that but I am not sure my dscs mum would see it the same way if it was her kids receiving the nip.

And nip or not her behaviour is escalating and biting is the next level which I want to avoid.

Well as long as none of the children are breaking up fights, it won't be a problem

We had a jealousy issue between our very reactive dog, and a puppy we rescued. We took a looooong time addressing it, we started by having them either side of a stair gate and rewarding positive interaction with small treats and 'nice kisses' command, otherwise kept them separate. When we were confident with that we put the pup on a long lead in the garden and let the other one out, again, treats for good behaviour, any signs of aggression and we stopped the session and gave them some time out. They're now fine and play together happily

You're going to have to put some work in on this, contact a dog behaviourist for strategies, and be consistent in the training

Costa have you read the bit where everything was utterly fine until about 2 weeks ago? We did all the right things when we got dog2. I am not a complete idiot.

Where did I say you were?

I thought our experience might have been useful, obviously not, I'll leave you to it

Rehoming would be a massive over reaction , dogs that bite dogs do not just randomly start biting humans . My mum has litter mate border X JRTs , they're 14 and have had a few 'major' fights , none could be predicted but they are always instigated by the boy dog yet he is the one who would be least likely to bite a human ( his sister is a different matter) . Start by trying to work out what has changed in the last 2 weeks and then implement new rules like no dogs on laps or making sure that you can intervene at trigger points . You could contact the Patterdale rescue ,I'm sure they could give advice so that you feel happy to keep the dog , there are quite a few patties in rescue and they are often difficult to rehome . I have a patterdale X ( got at about 16 weeks from Battersea) and they're so loving with humans but often have dog issues .

Ok, you did it all the first time

Now you do it all again - the training, the rewards, right from the beginning

And get it checked for a neurological problem maybe?

Could new hormones be in play for new dog?

Another thought sounds like it happens when she is on a comfy spot, settee, knee etc. Our ddog is a little love but he can sound extremely scary sometimes if his area is approached or touched
realised this when I tried to sort my handbag on my bed! He's not happy when I try to get anything! Think it's a bit of resource guarding. My blimmin resources!

Faux - hormones is unlikely as they are both spayed I think it is more a defiant "it's mine" thing.

They are quite different characters - patterdale likes her own space, she very rarely bothers with us in an evening and will take herself off to her bed in the other room where as new dog is very much a people dog. He has to be near you.

Nether are meant to be in the sofa/laps but if new dog had been trying to pinch her place I could understand but he literally just has to walk past or move and she attacks. There is zero warning to it either so it's not even like we could intervene before it starts.

Rehoming her would break my heart but if she stops being safe for the kids to be around I will have no choice. I love her to bits but she is a dog and the kids are far more precious to me than she is.

Why would you consider rehoming patterdale? She didn't have a problem until you got the new dog. I think for our ddog he is giving a warning but he scares the life out of me with his growl. It's loud and sudden and I can just be simply walking past bed, not touching it.

"Nether are meant to be in the sofa/laps but if new dog had been trying to pinch her place I could understand but he literally just has to walk past or move and she attacks."

You're saying that like resource guarding is logical to humans, it's so not...it makes sense to dogs, not us.

Just make her stay on the floor, problem solved.

Faux because she is the one nipping and being aggressive and is now the one I don't trust.