Expert: Have4Paws - 2/8/2011

Question
QUESTION: Ok, this may be long winded. Various members of my family bought four beagle pups from the same litter, and they visit each other often, or used to. This week one of my mom's two beagles is attacking his brother with no reason, and its pretty serious, skin has been punctured. His eyes go completely red and all it takes is him seeing his brother to set him off.
We are keeping them completely separate from one another, but would really like to know what's causing this.
Everyone I talk to says its unusual for beagles to act this way. They have (up to this point) been very lovable obedient puppies. What are we doing wrong?
Please help us help him

ANSWER: You are correct that this is not normal beagle behavior but it can also all boil down to breeding. If you did not get them from certified breeders and worse yet from someone who bred in their backyard or by accident who knows what undesirable genes were passed on. Some years back I had a neighbor with a similar issue, she had bought two beagle males from the same backyard breeder and the two males, although less than 3 months old would fight to death if allowed. Neither was mentally stable. It was the saddest thing I ever saw. She finally relented and gave up one. These poor guys were going to have to live one dog only lives as their agression ran deep.

Other than if there is some disease process going on it is most likely the same thing, bad breeding. They may be ok as singular dogs and may not. You didnt mention how old they are.... depending on the age they may be able to be trained by a professinal trainer who has experience with aggression. Your best bet right now is keeping them apart until you decide what to do but realize that aggression left unchecked only escalates. It will also escalate if you use punitive tactics like yelling, hitting etc. Aggression breeds aggression is the rule. Since it sounds like the one who is aggressive is your mom's I would not ever bring them together again but she needs to get him checked out for any disease process and then get a trainer in because aggression is also seldom selective, it will escalate to someone else. The fact that they are brothers means absolutely nothing to them. They do not have the sense of family as we do as humans, it is just another dog to him.

I wish I could give you a quick answer but this is very complicated and not easily solved.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: They actually came from a very respectable breeder. We know the owners of six out of the ten puppies from the litter and it seems, he is the only one with this issue. They are now 11 months old. Is there a particular disease I should tell my vet to check for?
Thanks again

Answer
Any kind of pain can cause a dog to be irritable but #1 suspects would be parvo or rabies, however you would have noticed wt loss, lack of appetite and other signs and parvo is highly contagious so the other ones would have gotten it too. So... still need to have him checked out medically to be sure, and after that it leaves behavioral issues. Unless there is some genetic mishap (which we would never know about or be able to figure out despite reputable breeding) that means this is a trainable issue. I would highly suggest that your mom get a trainer as I said to come in who specializes in aggression, this unfortunately will most likely get worse if unchecked. Is he fixed? that might help as well but even if he is, there is obviously a dominance issue going on and this needs hands on intervention, telling you through an email is not going to do it I'm afraid, they need to see first hand the behavior, how the people around him act, how the other dog acts, what the real trigger is etc. There are subtle nuances that only someone trained can pick up on. Whatever she does as I said before, tell your mom do not use punitive punishment for the behavior, it will escalate it and reinforce it. Best to keep them apart and when/if the behavior shows remove him to another room. In the meantime at 11 months this is just the beginning of something not good....