Rough Collie ... what would you do?

[lilacben]

I have two rough collies and would like to ask what you would do in my situation,?
Yesterday the youngest ,boy 9 attacked my other one,bitch 11 for no reason. Infact it should have been the other way round. My bitch left her breakfast and moved away,laid down. The dog started eating it really fast, he saw me coming into the room and just fly at my other dog and attacked her . I grabbed him off and shouted at him. My poor little girl had a big piece of flesh out of her nose and a cut in the corner of her eye. His teeth must have caught her.
I did think at the time when I was pulling him off he was going to have a go at me but he didnt and I held him down to the floor.
What should I do about him.? This is the second time he has done this..

[rinkins]

Can you get some behavioural advice from the vet? Maybe he is in pain. We had a springer once that got grumpy and snappy all of a sudden and it was because she wasn't very well. Let's face it we all get grumpy when we're feeling under the weather don't we?!

[another-view]

The second time? Put him to sleep before he attacks a child next.

[barking-mad]

Have the two dogs always lived together and got on fine until recently?

Is the male castrated?

Has the older one been displaying signs of aging/infirmity? Perhaps she has always been the top dog and he is now trying to move up the heirarchy as he sees her weaken. If that is the case, you could enforce that (and negate further attacks) by placing his food bowl down first, greeting him first when you arrive home, etc and see if that calms the situation.

Do be be very careful if you have young children though and ensure he recognises their authority and never leave him unattended with them.

I think it is worth a visit to the vet as rinkins advises. You need to rule out any illness that may have provoked his aggressive behaviour.

[lilacben]

Thankyou for your replies.
Barking-mad although I had the bitch first he has alwas been the top dog. He even tries to be with me but not my husband. Also he has alwas been very hyper with barking and I have tried everything to calm him down , without any success. Collars,sprays,water,noise, even two dog whispers.
A couple of weeks ago he had a fit. And as far as I know it was his first one. But one of these attacks to Amber was before that.

[gelda]

What a stupid answer another- view

[kita1]

The first thing is you need to get him checked by a vet.

It could well be linked to the fit that he had (maybe he had had other fits before).

Secondly you need to see a reputable behaviourist. If you do the wrong thing now (like holding him down on the floor) it could well escalate the aggression and you could end up being badly bitten.

You could post on this forum:

http://ttlntl.co.uk/forum/

They have behaviourists on there that will offer advice - it is totally free to join.

This is one case on there (about a rough collie):

http://www.ttlntl.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic= 1301.0