A blood feud between two Australian girls
Fighting between well-loved dogs
The brain is considered the most complex organ in the body. No one is perfect because, with 86 billion active neurons in the human mind (only 3-4 fewer cell layers in our pets’) there are a whole lot of ways for behaviors to be different or abnormal.
Polly is a 10 year old Australian shepherd mix who shares her home with Holly, a dog of similar age and parentage. They’ve lived most of their lives together and have always, sort of, hated each other’s guts. In addition to two doting pet parents, this active family includes one more dog and a cat. Their house is small; the furniture is big. When one dog wants attention, the other acts as though this resource may suddenly and permanently evaporate. Competition like this is a big enough problem; threats and violence take it to a whole new level.
Lots of dogs jockey for position while trash-talking each other in subtle canine-speak, never really acting on their juvenile taunts. But finally, Polly lost her patience with her subordinate Holly’s insolence. Holly immediately tried to communicate her lower status by leaning back and lowering her tail. She scanned quickly for an escape route but found herself trapped between a chair and the couch. Panicking, she reacted toward her superior with a growl and a snap, soon arriving on the surgery table getting a laceration sutured and multiple puncture wounds irrigated. Her skin healed but her brain was changed.
Fear is a major problem, not only for its emotional damage but as a fight or flight trigger. Dogs are man’s and woman’s best friends. They certainly belong with us in our homes but they are not fuzzy people. Their species
comes wired differently, with innate programming for survival without doting humans delivering their groceries. Polly and Holly were competing for perceived scarce commodities like food and interactions with their people, despite verbal assurances like, “We love you both equally” and “there’s plenty of snacks and cuddles for each of you.”
Aggression between household dogs happens because:
- Dogs are jealous.
- One believes that mom loves her best.
- Mom does love her best.
- There are many possible reasons; every case is managed differently.
- They were spoiled rotten.
Dog fights are dangerous
We want our pets to have peaceful lives, getting along with others in our home. Dog fights are deeply disturbing. Everybody wants these conflicts solved fast, simply, and reliably. Sadly, it’s rarely that easy. Every situation is different and complicated.
Aggression between family dogs, more often among females, is the most common problem treated by veterinary behaviorists. In an earlier life, prior to my residency, I surgically repaired some really heinous wounds. Most of these participants in canine domestic violence survived, a few, often involving big dogs assaulting smaller pets, did not. It’s hard thinking back to those tragedies.
Tensions can smolder for months or years. Coveted resources like food, toys, and proximity to a pet parent are common triggers. Many people try to quell the antagonism with equal rights. It may be important for children to get the same size cookie at the same time but egalitarianism can fan the flames of dogs who grind an ax.
The behavioral genetics wired into canine brains dictates who is higher ranking. That’s the big cheese who gets first dibs. The second fiddle is often stuck settling for what’s left over, which may be nothing. In the wild, these lower level pupsters might sneak behind their canine boss’s backs to chow down or cozy up to the supreme leader. This normal coping method was nearly impossible for Holly, who was stuck in a small house with Polly the tyrant.
Polly didn’t just claim her place next to their royal highnesses (the humans); to them she appeared drunk with power. In reality it was her anxiety that caused her to overreact. She didn’t just issue warnings; she struck terror in her minion’s heart. Holly began to fear for her life. Her defensive aggression intensified as the neural circuits in her brain, that supported her fear and defensive reactions, strengthened from repetition. When she suffered crushing bite wounds from her tormentor, the politics were forever changed. Holly, the lesser, was now motivated by self-preservation. She struck hard and fast with the first sight of Polly.
Answers to the quiz: Dogs aren’t jealous about what somebody else has; they compete to survive. Whether mom or dad loves one dog best isn’t part of their politics. “Spoiling” pets doesn’t cause behavior disorders but it can confuse them. The correct answer is d). A deep dive into the details allows us to individualize treatment.
Gimme a break
Polly and Holly, our canine pugilist protagonists, were first brought to me for help several years earlier. Their hostility had already become dangerous.
Most people are oblivious to the pecking order among their dogs. And that’s fine. Behaviorally normal members of this species communicate among themselves almost continually, nearly all of it with subtle body signals. Those with more stripes on their sleeves quietly require their underlings to step away from the food, toys, or leaders. Ego isn’t part of it. Those on the lower rungs of the social ladder frequently remind their betters that they are in fact so low they have to look up to see down. But with Polly’s anxiety-driven aggression and Holly’s fear of annihilation, none of this was happening anymore.
Holly badly needed a break. I advised her worried humans to separate their dogs with sheet-covered baby gates to prevent the swapping of threats and inappropriate gestures, not to mention the fisticuffs. They traded rooms often so they could enjoy their dogs without risk. But Polly was still highly anxious. She often paced and panted. Minor sounds caused her to startle with ears back, pupils dilated, and the hair over her shoulders standing up. Holly was no longer a competitor but Polly was still a nervous wreck.
If Polly and Holly, well-loved but crowded in their human domicile, had instead been scratching out their survival in the unforgiving wilderness they would very likely have never locked horns. If one dog menaced and lunged, the other would be able to avoid or escape conflict. Without the contrivances of walls, doors, and furniture Holly could, in the lyrics of Michael Jackson, “Just beat it.” She could take flight; she would not have to fight.
Each of these dogs was cherished; rehoming was never a consideration for either of them. Keeping them apart was a challenge their people could accept but watching Polly struggle with nearly continual agitation was unbearable. Veterinarians take an oath to prevent and relieve animal suffering. Modern pharmaceuticals can be life savers. They should never be a last resort.
If it’s hard it will take a while
Rather than indulging in frivolous ego-driven jealousy, like humans, our dogs live in the moment. They compete because they’re programmed to worry that food or proximity to their leader might vanish, causing them to wander aimlessly in the abyss, wither, and die of starvation, isolation, and heartache. Polly’s aggression was turbo charged by her severe anxiety disorder, very likely genetic in its origin. Her squabbles with Holly were already beyond name-calling and hair pulling; a shootout with life-threatening injuries, or worse, was right around the corner.
My clients wanted an immediate end to the hostilities but a close second priority was a peaceful life for the dogs they love. Everybody was safe when these combatants were separated. Holly the victim was definitely happier but Polly’s agitation just kept on.
Nobody can be taught to abandon their anxiety. Polly’s misery stemmed from a disorder of her neurochemistry. Brain transplants are not a part of our treatment repertoire (no suitable donors), so we rely on research into the medications we carefully choose to adjust their chemical transmitters. We understand what to prescribe for different behavioral motivations but we’re not practicing a perfect science. Genetic differences among individuals can require different meds. There are many dozens available to us. Fortunately, we usually succeed, to varying degrees, for pets like Polly.
This high-status but unstable dog behaved better during her first several years of treatment. But then her aggressive tendencies worsened. We’d been submitting annual lab panels all along, looking for early signs of internal problems that could hamstring our efforts. Then, a few months ago, Polly’s thyroid screening test came up low. A full thyroid panel confirmed that she had become officially hypothyroid.
Supplementing thyroid hormone with oral tablets often corrects classical signs of hypothyroidism, like sluggishness, hair loss, and oily skin. But aggression, a behavioral symptom with a long list of possible causes, can be the only indicator. We hit the mark. Within days of starting l-thyroxine (thyroid) tablets, Polly relaxed and began acting more civilized.
