Dogs dont recodnise my oldest dog anymore?????????

[bigboarstopper]

Recently one of my 16 year old retired hunting dogs was beaten up pretty bad by the dog whos lived with her longer than any of the other dogs I have. Both dogs are female and have NEVER been in a fight before. They have been kennel mates for 7 years or more.

I kennel most of my dogs together and rarely have a issue if any. Since that fight some of the other dogs have become agressive twards my 16 year old dog.

After feeding the dogs one of my newer dogs was wandering around the yard the other day and poked his head into her dog house. He litterally grabed her by the neck, dragged her out of the dog house and began to chew on her as if she want even alive. It was really strange. It didnt even look like a dog fight.

Its almost as if the dogs dont recodnize her as a dog anymore. Or they dont think she is alive anymore? Is my old dog throwing off some kind of death scent now? Whats the deal? This is a new one for me.

[kordog]

thats a hard one . sometimes dogs do something ,because they can .old dog doesnt put up enough of a fight.i guess i would ask myself if there was a passive small dog put in that same pen that couldnt protect it self would it survive your dogs?at 16 she probably is putting off some funky smell. dogs are smart enough to know their pack members regardless. dogs will gang up on a dog losing a fight it is pack mentality. dogs will do things we as humans just shake are heads at .they grab skunks ,porcupines in their mouths ,and think nothing of it.i would just seperate your old dog so she can live in peace for what little time she has left.this is just a shot in the dark at why your dogs are doing this.

[CasB]

I had a similar thing happen but neither of the dogs were that old. I had a female blackmouth cur and my wife had a German shepherd. They had been raised together as pups and kenneled next to each other for several years as well as getting to run around loose together. When they were about 6 or 7, that BMC twice decided to try and kill that shepherd and had her by the neck, shaking her like a rag doll. Needless to say, that BMC was culled.

As far as your old dog, if she was good enough to have around for that long, then she should get the chance to spend her days out in peace. Put her in a seperate kennel where she won't get harassed.

[Mike Leonard]

This is more common among female dogs and it can be a case of repressed aggresion from incidents that you were unware of in the past. Remember dogs have a sense of dignity about their social order but they also value their space and as their postion in the pecking order changes so does the attitude on sharing. the animals world is not as touchy feely as Walt disney makes it out and many times older indicidual in the wild are killed by their own relatives to eliminate their competition once they are past the breeding age. Just cuz the dogs is the oldest in the pack doesn't mean he or she is still the alpha or leader or most revered any longer.

seperate her and give her some of your personal tyime that is most likely what will make her happy now as she crosses that last divide.

[fox hunter]

hey shay i think this is common dogs liveing in a comunal kennel are like a wolf pack they have a social hyerarchy when and old dog becomes week a younger one becomes empowered to show their dominate and the old dog is powerless i would beat the other dog half to death to show i was the only dominate member of my pack i mean bring the stink out of them and move the old bitch out to live in peice because if you kept her this long she should die happey not whipped

[coop74]

All the fights i have had between dogs turned out to involve a dog that was ill from something.Had a plott tear into an old bluetick, bluetick had cancer and died shortly after.Had a pair of male walkers kept going at it, shortly after found one of them had diabetes, lost him about a year later.Sounds to me like your old female has something going on inside. Seperate her and let her go in peace.

[briarpatch]

I agree with Coop74. I have seen this a few times over many years of "dogging". It almost always involves an old dog which has some sort of illness (which may not be apparent to you) and it seems that the younger dog must be able to sense the problem and is trying to eliminate it.

briarpatch

[bigboarstopper]

Thanks Travis, Mike, and everyone else who replied. I spend a lot of time with my dogs and this situation really made me step back and think. In the circle I hunt with ive historically been known for having decent hunting dogs with a great disposition and handle. So ive certainly been questioning myself over this one.

Some thought she may have cancer or some other kind of ailment. Im sure she probably has something. Shes closer to 17 years old at this point. She looks really good for her age and is pretty mobile but the mileage is pretty high.

Kordog, you brought up a theory about what would happen if a smaller, younger dog was introduced to my pack. Would it get the same treatment? I would have had the same thought as you. I have a 3 month old pup in the pack whos been with the dogs since she was on solid food. Funny thing is the little pup terrorized my dogs from the begining. She has drawn blood from most of them, chewing on their ears without being checked by any of them. She eats out of all of their bowls and they either let her eat with them or just give up the food alltogether. So I would have to rule that one out pretty easily.

If I said I wooped the dog that hurt her it would be an understatement. That 16 year old dog earned her keep and earned her spot at my house for the rest of her life a long time ago. She is laying next to the fireplace as I write this. Mabye she got beat up because of her farts? They are making me sick to my stomach.

[pegleg]

I've had similar incidents occur. I think there maybe two things that come to mind first sickness. mine didn't attack over it but would run up and sniff her over like they had never seen her before and showed a a little bristling but not exactly aggressive more a weird excitement. then they would immediately check out all the other dogs.
the other is the loss of rank in the pack. a good ass whipping as a puppy and most dogs don't retest rank very hard. here a good bluff goes a long way for keeping a dog's rank. but those dogs that really reach old age maybe don't feel like even bluffing anymore. opening the door to being pushed down the ladder by everyone able to do it.
A as a last thought some hormonal changes "not normal ones"have been noted as having very strange effects on dogs.

[ChasinTail]

Mabye she got beat up because of her farts? They are making me sick to my stomach.

I just about pissed myself just now! Haha! That wouldn't be good either because i'm on a flight to Dallas as I type this.... gotta love in flight internet!

As others have said...packs evolve.... what you're going through sounds like a changing of the guard so to speak.... Alpha female is up for grabs it sounds like.

[hndhunter]

I thing Coop 74 is right n the money! I've seen dogs that get sick in the kennel and for some reason dogs start to pick on them. I say if shes given you that many years retire her by the fire and let her live out the rest of her life.

[bigboarstopper]

The old girl crossed over on sunday. Im gonna miss her.

[fox hunter]

sorry to hear that shay it always sucks watching a good one get old and slip away

[DC DOGGIN]

Sorry to hear that bud, You spent many a years with her and she actually lived a long life, for a hog dog. Take card DC.

[Paul Conway]

Sorry to hear about your old girl. never easy to lose one, no matter how much time we've had with them it's not long enough. Paul Conway