Lulu, who has turned into a very good dog that is actually lovie and usually well behaved, can NOT be broken of a very bad action...attacking Rigby when we get ready to leave the house.
Like most dogs, they get excited to "go." They're hyped up at the door and can't wait to go with us somewhere. Once we open the door, however, Lulu's excitement turns ugly and she starts lunging at Rigby, biting his ears, pulling him down the front stairs by his collar, jumping all over him, barking, growling, chasing him down and making it, basically, look like we're running Michael Vick dog fights in our front yard.
We yell. We chase her down. We push her to the ground and growl back at her to show our dog-like dominance. We've spanked her. We take her by the collar and lead her to the car so she's not free to make her way there herself. We've used the shock collar, something we rarely pull out, but have resorted to because none of the other actions are working. The shock collar wakes her up and gets her out of the attack trance she seems to go in to.
Once she's in the car **SNAP** she's out of attack mode and perfectly respectable again.
WHAT is the deal??
On Sunday, her attacking got bloody. I had taken the dogs to the lake to swim and go for a walk. On our way back to the car she for some reason got into attack mode. Once we've left the house it never happens again on the trip, but this time she turned on the antics.
I heard Rigby yip, was able to break it up and everyone trotted to the car. After I put them in I patted Rigby's head and noticed my hand had some blood on it.
Great. Where is it coming from?
After inspecting them both I found a gash on the tip of Rigby's ear - from Lulu's teeth - that was bleeding pretty good. I wiped it down with a towl and thought it was drying up so we got on the road.
When we got home and I went to let them out of the car, I noticed blood whipped down the side of the car where he had been hanging his head. It was dripped on the seatbelt, and sprayed on the back of the front passenger head rest. It looked like I had committed a crime.
AND when he got inside it of course dripped on our dining room rug and the floors. I grabbed the closest thing - a box of Band-Aids from under the sink - and sealed his ear up then tackled cleaning the car and floors.
And the problem with Lulu still goes on. She's toned it down some since Sunday, but still WON'T leave him alone out the door.
Thoughts on how to break this anyone?
(Don't mind the painter's tape on the floor. We still have to paint the dining room baseboards.)
