Dear Dr. Diane, I have two Irish Setters and three rescue doxies. One of my doxies came from a puppy mill and she has aggressive issues with my female setter. She got into a bad fight with her – the doxie was taunting the setter and about the time we realized it was too late- the setter turned on the doxie and now we have to keep them separated as my setter is terrified of this little doxie. Is there any hope of keeping the doxie – she has had 8 homes in her 7 years and we had her for 7 months before this happened. We worry about letting her go as we feel that she could be in danger or just keep moving to different homes instead of trying to help her?
I know it is a very difficult and painful situation to love all of your dogs as you do and to see that some of them don’t get along.
I have several puppy mill doxies of my own, and it is evident that they have suffered a great deal. Were I you, I would do my best to keep the little doxie female that’s had 8 homes in her 7 years. If she gets along with the other doxies, why not just let her play with them and keep her separate from the female Setter that she finds disturbing. Let the two Setters live and play together and the doxies live and play together. When you want to bring the two groups together, keep the puppy mill doxie in a crate in a different room.
It is obvious that this poor little girl has been traumatized. If you can, keep the little doxie – just maintain the peace by keeping her away from the Setter. You do not want to risk the possibility of either of the dogs being hurt!
Dr. Pomerance is an animal behavior specialist and an expert on topics such as deciding which puppy is best for your family, how to pick out a rescue, and on healing from the loss of a pet.
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