Really need some advice here. My 3 male dogs were out in the field with me today (as we are every day) , all of a sudden my dally (1yrold ) attacked my terrier (3yr old) then my german shep (2yr old) joined in only lasted 20seconds they responded to my commands.

I was changing their drinking water in the kennel & my dally started ............blowing , then growling then really getting aggressive, snapping forward at me, it was so out of character i thought there must have been a cat or something behind me, but no it was me he was charging at!!! I stood still , spoke softly to him thought he might have been upset over fighting with the other dogs. eventually he came to me seemed to be fine.

Later this evening, i had them out chasing ball & the row started again, more intense i had to seperate them, my young kids ran to the top of the slide out of harms way. Then the dally started again, bared his teeth , ran at me, snapping & backing me into the house ???? at this point i had my son put him in his kennel where , my dally has isolated him self since, i went to feed him tonight , was talking as i entered, seemed fine, as soon as i went to open his door , he sprang at me full force , luckily i could get the gate closed as he attacked it!!! I am heartbroken i dont know what i have done wrong??/
he has never shown any behaviour like this before, he's not sick, not injured from the fight, but has taken a hatered of me i cannot explain. I am his primary carer, excercise him , feed him talk ,to him all day he has been a pleasure & now i am afraid of him. Can some1 please advise, i have rang the vet & he wont see him until tomorrow.

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Mother to 3 beautiful kids
3 horses
4 cats
2 dogs
& Wife to best husband in the world x

Only advice I can offer is exactly what you're doing, get him seen by a vet ASAP. I'm assuming this has come on very suddenly.

Does he appear disoriented or "out of it" or anything like that? Any funny movements or stiffness?

Good thoughts to you, hope you can get to the bottom of whatever it is.

Sarah1983,

Yes very sudden, he has never had any issues, was fine all day just happenned!!! I have noticed since that he is isolating him self in his kennell, not coming out when he hears any one , excpt me then he rushes the gate. He is such a friendly fellow generally, real loveable & playful, top of his class, won lots of rossettes, no problem with other dogs.
He doesnt appear sick in any shape ,way or form . All his shots etc are up to date. I feel i have let him down some how, but i dont know how???? its breaking my heart

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Mother to 3 beautiful kids
3 horses
4 cats
2 dogs
& Wife to best husband in the world x

I would leave him alone, reduce lights if any, keep quiet, provide water and take him straight to vet in morning.

If you have a muzzle, I would use it to give yourself confidence before I took him and have company if you cannot get dog into cage, seatbelt.

Are all the males Un neutered? At around a year old the Dally will be reaching sexual maturity, its possible something started them off at first maybe they both saw something and went for it. Males will compete and if he is around a year and un-neutered and especially if the others are too, then they could be starting to compete. Other thought any bitches around in season? even if not there they would leave a scent where they have urinated and males will smell a bitch in season over distances that can case males even if OK usually to compete sometimes.

If there were no other dogs around when you were changing the water in the kennel, and your sure it was solely directed at you, but was very soon after I can only assume that it may possibly be re-directed aggression where he was still keyed up.

Finally I can see possibly why they all had a fight again whilst chasing a ball,
toys are one of the triggers that will make dogs compete so that there could have been why it all kicked off again especially when adrenaline would be running high from earlier.

What isnt good though is the re-direction or the aggression shown to you.
Pain, illness, discomfort, and things like Hypo Thyroid can and do affect behaviour and make dogs aggresive. So he does need the vet to check him out deffinately. We have had cases on here with Hypo thyroid in a young Akita, Heart disease in a young rottie, that did cause out the blue attacks the akita on its female owner, and the rottie on I believe the brother or the owner who was staying so, illness can be a factor. So all might not be lost.

You need to avoud triggers between the dogs causing them to compete.
Main ones will be, Food, Chews, treats, toys, attention, confined spaces, times of hyper excitement like visitors coming and preparing for a walk.
Until you have him verterinary assessed I would keep him away from the other dogs, last thing you want is another fight and/or re-direction at you.
At least until the vets seen him. If you need to move him from kennel or run one room to another, use treats (Other dogs out the way and nowhere near)
to coax or throw the treats to get him through door ways and then close doors on him if you have too.Dont use sudden quick movements trying to grab his collar etc. Try luring with food and treats and cajole him to do as you ask keep things low key as possible.

Other then that I would speak to Dalmatian welfare they will give help and advice if you are having problems obviously you cant ring tonight, but they might be able to throw some light on the behaviour advise you better
Here is a link to the website details on there for contact
Dalmatian Welfare

Actually there is two Dally welfares contacts on this one too
NoEDC Welfare Service - Home

Sorry cant offer any more immediate help, there isnt a lot you can really do on the internet.

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Definitely get him checked by the vet then as it's so out of character. I assume the fighting with your other dogs is also out of character? Even if he's back to his usual self in the morning get him to the vets and tell them exactly what happened. Is there no way you can get him to the emergency vets tonight? Or get the emergency vet to him since he's attacking you whenever you go near him.

Thank u sled dog hotel,

I also thought it was redirected agression, until i went out tonight 4hrs after the last incident that he backed me up into the house, but his agression towards me has got worse. He is in his run away from all other animals, as soon as he hears me coming he runs at the gate , bouncing off it!!! i have never heard a dog make such a noise , its not typical gowling but sounds like blowing as a bull would do, if i stay still then it escalates, so i think its best that i leave him alone for the night. My husband says he will take him to the vet as to tell u the truth i am afraid to go near him.
There are no other dogs around here for 4 miles & my other 2 dogs are neutered, Monty My dally is due to go in after xmas.
I have never seen a dog so stressed out at the sight of 1 person , & it came on so suddenly its shocking, so see a dog u have usually lying on the couch with u or on the floor chillin out to salivate & attack a gate to try to get at you is just gob smacking. Only 10hrs to get through before he can get to the vets .............& counting

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Mother to 3 beautiful kids
3 horses
4 cats
2 dogs
& Wife to best husband in the world x

Nothing useful to add but just want to say I am thinking of you. Really hope you get to the bottom of this heartbreaking scenario very quickly. Best of luck at the vet tomorrow.

If he is salivating and attacking and Looks like he is completely out of it ie as regards to dilated pupils and the salavating, Im just wondering if he could have ingested something toxic or its some sort of epiform type of seizure.
There are many causes and types of seizure and animals will attack and bite during them. You can also get something called cluster seizures, that may explain the fear and panic and the behaviour.

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Not the same as yours exacty but sounds like the possible sort of behaviour
and that it could be a possible answer

Many months before Jaff ever had a Tonic Clonic or Grand Mal seizure he would exhibit strange behaviors with the most recurring one being that he would look up at the ceiling, duck his head and cower as though the ceiling was coming down on him. He would constantly look back up as though he was checking on it. He'd keep his head lowered and would just roll his eyes up to look.

It was very frustrating because I knew that something wasn't right but when I would describe it to someone or even my vet it was dismissed as nothing. People would say he heard something like squirrels on the roof or the heat turning on.

The worst case of psychomotor behavior that Jaff exhibited ended with us taking him to the ER vet. We simply could not control him at home. He must have had some Grand Mal seizures during the day while I was at work. Up to this point he had never had daytime seizures so leaving him had not been a concern. When I got home from work and realized what had happened I gave him the rectal valium and we kept an eye on him. He had a few more Grand Mal seizures that night but nothing out of the ordinary for him. Jaff seemed to settle down and be done with the seizures after a few hours.

But a little while later from a dead sleep he bolted upright, sailed over the sofa and ran head first into the sliding glass door. He was completely panicked and looked like he was being chased by the hounds of hell. We were finally able to subdue him and calm him down again.

We went upstairs a little later to get ready for bed and he started again. He walked into a corner of our walk-in closet and began climbing straight up the wall. I have never seen anything like it.

Once we all recovered from those 2 episodes we got in bed and tried to relax. We put a baby gate across the bedroom doorway. He rested for a while and then from a dead sleep he ran straight over and through the gate and was climbing upward as he was running. That hallway is actually a balcony that overlooks our living room. He just about had a paw over the railing before my husband jumped out of bed, tripped over the gate and tackled him to the ground. He had been seconds from making it over the balcony. He was simply out of his mind. It was tragic to watch.

Maybe he is having some kind of Psycomotor seizure. Incidently Hypo thyroid that I suggested that can be linked to aggressive behaviour and seizures, an Auto immune form can make an early appearance before 3 years and earlier.
Ive got one with it and hers started with Odd behaviour and then lead to grand Mal seizures

If you want to search the website aboves come from here is link
you may find more matches.

Canine Epilepsy and Dog Seizures Table of Contents - Canine Epilepsy Guardian Angels
Just click on table on contents. Even ingesting certain toxins can cause the sort of wild out of it behaviour.

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