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I have been trying to keep them separate for 3 years. I have 8 dogs. But I cannot be 100% on all the time. Navy is fine with the other dogs, supervised only because he misdirects when he hears sounds and one of ours dogs doesn’t take kindly to his misdirections and does fight with him. So Navy lives with 4 other dogs, and Cobbler lives with him mom and sister. Even if I muzzled both dogs when I am moving them around (they each get alternate time in the backyard every four hours, there is no guarantee that will prevent a fight. One also have to wonder what kind of life that is for a dog that all his free time is in a muzzle.
But yes I guess I could muzzle them during the change, then take the muzzle off only when they are in the room that leads to the doggie door.
In two fights Cobbler had a muzzle on but Navy ripped it off. Cobbler is an exceedingly skilled fighter and Navy is no match although he fights until he collapses. A fight last October lasted 45 minutes in an open field, had nothing to tie them too. Every time I got Cobbler loose Navy latched on.
Navy has very bad knees, hips, valgus deformity, his body is giving out and he has extensive behavioral issues as well. We are literally in a position where we cannot go anywhere because they are too dangerous to have a pet sitter handle (2 initial fights with Cobbler – 1 with another dog besides Navy) happened with a pet sitter who disobeyed our instructions. In one fight the pet sitter bravely tried to separate 4 dogs going at it, yelling, screaming and kicking and got badly bit in the process. So that was the end of us every going on vacation. It has been going like that for 4 years and I don’t know how much more I can take without some kind of help. I’m at my witt’s end, and I have horrible dreams of the dogs attacking each other. I live in constant fear in my own home. When it happens when I’m alone like this morning, I cannot break them apart. I succeeded only by attaching a leash, dragging the two of them close enough to a heavy table to secure the leash too.
I worry that even if I muzzled both they’d still be able to latch on and remove the muzzles. Does anyone have input on that?
I just feel so guilty all the time because the last 2 times which happened over a span of 3 years have been my fault. I try to manage them as best I can but even I make mistakes, and I’m very regimented. Navy had surgery yesterday, he would not come out of anesthesia so I spent the night every two hours waking up taking his temp and listening to his lungs , taking hr/resp rate to make sure he was OK so I was exhausted and that’s when it happens. With my BF gone I have been exhausted managing the pack by myself.
I have to decide by 1 pm to do the surgery. Yesterday was 1800 (for a mass on his head, probably scar tissue from another fight), today is 2000.
gutwrenching decisions. Any help appreciated.
