Yesterday morning, Freya romped with the pups a little too boysterously, and a pup yelped. Samantha barrelled in and jumped on her, pinning poor Freya to the ground. She bit her hard on the front right leg before I was able to get to them, and Freya retaliated with a slightly less hard chomp to Samantha's front right. I tried to grab them, but they were wayy too serious this time to pay attention to me. So, I grabbed the lead on Samantha (we've kept her on a lead to keep her from digging out) and yanked her off as I simultaneously grabbed the sprayer and hosed her and Freya down. This immediately cooled their ire and I was able to examine both dogs.
Thankfully the injuries were not serious, but did break skin, so had to put on antiseptic spray and a bandage for Freya who was sore and limping. Samantha's was superficial. With the girl pups close to being in full heat, Samantha is becoming too cranky to trust. Poor Freya's leg was swollen and she only put light weight on it. Looks like the bite bruised a good part of the muscle with two puncture wounds that we will be keeping an eye on. I let our vet know yesterday what happened so she will be aware if we have to bring in Freya. So Jim had to take Samantha with him when he dropped our son off at school so they could be kept apart without fear of Samantha getting out to where Freya would be. (She's a bit of houdini in dogflesh)
When I got home I kept a close eye on both girls and did some anti-aggression conditioning even though there is normally no animosity between them. Samantha has been on edge since the pups began to mature and put out heat pheramones. Freya seems unaffected by them, but is now slightly scared of Samantha who keeps trying to intimidate her. Sigh... each ruff up has to be dealt with immediately, and Samantha is made to either sit or lay down any time she attempts to intimidate Freya.
When it was time to take Princess to classes, I had James separate the girls since Jim had gone to look at buying a used truck to transport the dogs. Princess is finally getting used to traveling, and near the end of the hour long drive, she was snoozing in the passenger seat. When I got to the farm, though, there was no one there even though there was normally a 7pm class ahead of us. The other girl with her puppy showed up too, but no trainer. Guess we weren't notified of the cancel. Meanwhile, Jim's car battery died...So, we were all having a good day...By the time I had gotten home, Freya's bandage was able to be removed and the punctures had scabbed over.
This morning, the swelling had gone down on Freya's wound, and Samantha was much less obnoxious towards her, but at least James does not have classes today and tomorrow. Jim and James will be able to keep an eye on the girls to make sure there are no more altercations and to check on Freya's leg. I've asked Jim to put Iodine on the wounds to ensure there is no infection, and put antiseptic spray for dogs on it to seal it. I've also given him instructions regarding Samantha's behavior, what to watch for and immediately correct and how. I'll check them both when I get home and do some more anti-aggression conditioning to be on the safe side. If Freya is up to it, I'll take them for a walk in the woods for some positive reinforcement.
Just shows you how no matter how much best of friends two dogs can seem, sometimes their worst behaviors can be set off. Much like siblings, it is easy for rivalry, jealousy, and possession to set in and far more on a primal level than sibling rivalry. But with lots of patience, love and know-how, the situations can be diffused. We will still be on our heightened guard though until the girl pups are through their first heat, continually reassessing the situation.
Meanwhile Jim called me today to tell me he witnessed an interesting and funny event. The puppies were apparently playing a game like tag, each taking turn to tag another pup when old G'kar decided to mosey on down to see what the puppies were up to. Princess who was "it" decided he needed to play the game too, and ran up to him, and tagged him on the butt with both paws. G'kar was NOT amused.
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