Beagle was attacked, worried about introducing dogs

jamie8dc

Oh no! Some of you may have seen my thread about my friend's new 9 week old beagle. Well my best friend has a 2 yr old Bull Terrier, sweetest dog ever, but he's tough and has gotten into fights with other dogs.

Anyways we're all friends and so today during the Cowboys game we introduced the beagle, Bentley, to the Bull Terrier, Scrappy. Unfortunately the beagle's owner surprised us by coming over, so he brought the puppy into Scrappy's territory. Well, all went well for about 45 seconds, Scrappy seemed really excited and interested in the puppy, tail wagging like crazy. The next thing we know, the puppy started snapping at Scrappy's heels, and Scrappy JUMPED on him. I'm talking viciously attacked him, he had the beagle's entire head in his mouth and was shaking him around.

I thought the beagle was dead. I grabbed my phone to call the Emergency Vet. The beagle was making the most horrid screams and I thought for sure he'd be missing an ear. Scrappy's owner hit him and scolded him and but him in the laundry room while we checked out the beagle. Miraculously, he looked okay! He was scared to death and was bleeding from the inside of his ear, which we freaked out about at first, but turned out it was just a cut on the flap of the ear, not inside the ear.

Anyways he's okay and I'm actually puppysitting him right now. Here he is, Bentley:

Okay but my real question is this. I'm supposed to dogsit the Bull Terrier and his girlfriend's Jack Russell from the 3rd to the 9th. Originally I thought it'd be a great opportunity for my puppy to grow up with them and bond with them, since I'm around them a lot. But my guy will be 10 weeks and now I'm terrified! I don't want to have to keep my eye on them and be waiting to break up a fight 24/7, I'll go crazy.

I think I'm going to tell them I can't keep their dogs, but I mean my Weim has to meet them sometime? Do you think it was just because they were introduced in the Bull Terrier's territory? Do you have any more suggestions for introducting my 10 week old to his 2 year old? He's normally SUCH a great dog, I had no problem keeping him for a week because he's such a well-behaved dog. But it only takes one time for both of us to have dead dogs, because I swear I'd kill him if he hurt my Weim.

Sorry this was so long!

Beth · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:39 am Post subject:

Oh RJ, that's scary! I'd postpone the dog sitting, that might be a bit much with the training you'll be doing with Jr.
You're gonna be a great doggy dad and I bet you learned something about dog intros this weekend too!

What's the hourly count down to now????

LunaBrown · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:57 am Post subject:

Oh that's awful! Glad to hear the little guy is okay!

I would also pass on the dog sitting... You will be worrying about the new pup enough (trust me) without the extra worry of the 'big dogs' too!

Oh not even a week until little guy time! How excited are you!?! Very Happy

jamie8dc · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:15 pm Post subject:

I'm going crazy! And I have 2 finals tomorrow so I gotta focus! And now I'm not even sure if I get him on Saturday, my breeder e-mailed me back saying she'd let me know my pickup date/time early this week. Confused

Beth · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:18 pm Post subject:

Are you kidding me??? I'd be pissed!!! What did you say to her?

Trene · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:20 pm Post subject:

hhmmmmm.... ask her are there any issues?????

Beth · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:21 pm Post subject:

She's not willing to work with you on the time and date???

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:29 pm Post subject:

reminder her hitler lost. Confused

ok, thats a bit harsh... sorry.
she should work out a time that works well for you too, getting a puppy isnt a dictatorship, and it isnt a one way arrangement.

i also would pass on the puppy sitting. if you have to beat the terrier to death, i would want his owner there for it - so they know you were in the right. had a german shepard jump a fence and come at me and the girls last summer - had his owner not gotten there in time, i think we could have taken him, and i would have killed him - its 3 doors down, that isnt safe.

riley bites the crap out of zoe... zoe just tolerates it, corrects her a bit as necessary, but has not shown any aggression... maybe a bit of annoyance at times, but no aggression. i would have kicked the terrier. is this friend of yours a numb nuts too? are you the smart one in the group?

Beth · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:34 pm Post subject:

weimdawgs · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:45 pm Post subject:

Poor puppy...I would pass on the dog sitting...and I would be VERY careful about that dog around your puppy. Maybe the intro should wait until your pup is older (bigger).

I am so glad that little beagle puppy is o.k.

I sure hope you can get your pup on Saturday...you've waited a long time....

anne · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:01 pm Post subject:

You should be worried. You said the Bull Terrier has already been involved in other dog fights. I also think it's way too early to introduce your new Weim pup to dogs with questionable temperament. It might be OK later, but I would be very cautious. Scrappy's reaction, even if it was on his territory, is WAY out of line. Dogs are all about ritual behaviors. He should have asserted himself by sounding and acting mean and scary, not actually shaking the other dog. Also he should have recognized that this was a very young puppy. Dogs usually allow "puppy license" which means they will tolerate a lot from a puppy realizing their age. The puppy license expires when they start getting older. This dog doesn't understand that, so I would not let my pup near him. And even if your pup is a little tough and can take it, he may pick up and learn that behavior. No thank you. Being well behaved and being good with people doesn't mean that a dog knows how to behave around other dogs.

jamie8dc · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:02 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the advice guys.

She'll work with me on the date I'm sure, she's just assigning pickup date/times so that not all the parents get there at the same time. I told her the weekend would work best for me and she said thanks for letting me know when works good for you, I'm going to assign pickup times when I assign the puppies (hopefully I'll know tomorrow).

As for the dog sitting, I agree. I feel bad cancelling when they've made plans on me watching them but this changes things. If he doesn't understand he can kiss my a$$. It's weird though, Scrappy seems to get along GREAT with some strange dogs and bad with others, it seems so random. He just met his owner's sister's new poodle puppy and they got along fabulously for an entire weekend, and she was 9 weeks old. I'm thinking the difference is that she was a bitch, and the beagle's a male. Maybe he feels threatened?

But since my guy's going to be a male screw that. And yeah, there was no warning at all, Scrappy just jumped on him as soon as the pup started snapping at him.

Thanks again for your advice! I'll update you on the puppy situation and post pictures of mine when I find out, hopefully tomorrow after my finals!

mooks7014 · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:35 pm Post subject:

I said ok to a neighbor who needed his staffy looked after for a week when Shelby was about 13 weeks old ( well before I found this forum for advice!)
I put Shelby in his crate and bought the Staffy inside for a sniff around, the staffy went straight up to the crate and tried to eat the pup through the bars!
I decided to put the Staffy outside in the backyard for a while and let Shelby back out of his crate. The staffy then tried to get at Shelby through the glass door, needless to say I marched the Staffy back to his own yard, his owner had already left for a funeral 6 hours away so I ended up just leaving him in his backyard and feeding/walking him from his own house. Even though Shelby was only a pup and the Staffy was on a different turf he still would have attacked him.
I would definitely see if you can just go round and feed and walk the dogs but leave them at there own house not yours!!!!!

Your Breeder had better let you pick up your little man this Saturday cause its not just you that waited long enough its all of us too! We can't wait any longer either!!! we are expecting loads of pictures on Saturday afternoon Surprised