My dog killed one of our puppies . It happened so fast , with no warning . The pup was a greaT little dog . He is not agressive. . He has scolded the puppies when they werw driving him crazy . But neveranything like this . Anyone know anything abourt 11 year old male dogs .

Man I'm sorry. I've got a 6yr old male (neutered) He doesn't spend any time around puppies, but he sure gets wore out by my two girls (5 and 1yrs old). They get to pulling on his lips or petting (poking) on the eyes (1yr old) he just gets up and moves. I imagine the response could be wildly different if he wasn't neutered or a different breed or just a different dog of the same pedigree. Like people, I guess they all have their limits along with different responses to crossing those limits. Did you see what was going on just before he turned on the pup?

We've always given our dogs treats after we ate . Table scraps. They would always all clean up what we put down , all of them together at the same time sometimes all in the same dish . For 10 years there hasn't been growl 1. I keep a pretty rein on the disicpline . As our dogs are well fed and well loved its been easy to keep the peace. My wife had come home and after a while she had put a dish with some scraps on , he was eating and the pup walked up to the dish and he nailed her.just 1 bite . He crushed her chest . She was gone in a minute or less . . He has had daily interaction with th pups and was just the classic old alpha dog . Scold them mostly with growls when they bugged him . Rarly a nip after Lots of growling . This was totally different ..

Sounds like he was the first one to the dish and had "claimed" it? That's about all I can think of...

Ya I don't know.

IMO...you have a dog that is not (dog) socially well balanced. A properly tempered dominant male does not kill a puppy...it may rumble, growl, role the puppy over, nip it, etc but killing the pup is not what a secure well tempered dog does. It is not unusual to see dogs as they age become aggressive..it can also be a sign of disease.

I would avoid situations with small dogs, puppies or other dogs that might make your dog feel he's being challenged. I don't know your dog but I would also monitor your dog with small children...the dog has told you that something has changed.

At that age it could be a sign of something wrong in his head. Tumor or him just going a bit senile.

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At that age it could be a sign of something wrong in his head. Tumor or him just going a bit senile.

Bakes, I have been thinking about this since it was first posted and your explanation absolutely makes the most sense. That dog has a serious health problem.
Peter.

I have kept the other pup away from him since it happened. And take him with me to work every day. As it has been cold this winter I keep him inside and he's not furred up like he used to be. It has warmed up reciently so I take him in the brush with me. I have wondered if he was loosing his marbles but he does OK. I do think he's got overloaded with puppies this year. We don't have any kids so that's not a problem.
Thanks for the replies all
. I appreciate it.

Dogs don't get overloaded with pups mate. Normally a dog will just move away or put the pups in their place, not kill them. If it was me I'd get him checked out by a good vet. Hope it all goes well in any case.

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Bloody Queensland where every thing is 20 years behind the rest of

Not to mention the recent influx of water! Were you affected or have you already answered this question?
Gumboot, I sincerely wish you the best with your dog. That is a tragic occurrence.
Peter.

We were a bit Peter. I've put a post in the Aussie/NZ forums. My town got flooded and we were evacuated but our house came through OK.

That is terrible. While I don't know what caused it in this case I know that when I was a kid my grandpa killed two of his great danes after they'd killed one of the other dogs after they started playing with it and got too excited. He didn't trust them any more after that.

I don't know all the particulars of your situation (i.e. maybe he's a hunting dog and has a purpose to which this aggression may be beneficial), so am not saying this out of hand as the solution. Having kids at home I'd have to put him down.

Either way I'm sad for your loss and that you may have one that is failing health.

Interestingly, my little house dog died last year, she was always mean to kids (abused before I got her) but the last two years of her life she got much more mellow even letting my kids pet her.

Red

Thanks all . He has selective, very controlled aggression. Only displaying any aggression if someone or something threatened us. Essespecially my wife. Any one new who comes to the house Oscar always keeps himself between them and the wife. Not being agressive just alert .He has run 4 brown bears off that were about to get me or the wife. He has paid his bill in full and then some. But this problem is different.

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He has paid his bill in full and then some.

I hope someone can say that about me!

Take him to a vet and have him checked out. For a few bucks you will have some peace of mind. Tough days ahead.

Peter.

I had a 12 year old Springer who bit my wife some years ago. A quick trip to the vet, (for the dog, not my wife, she went to the hospital for 5 days!) and it was discovered the old boy had a tumor and was on his last days. My wife said the bite to her foot was horribly painful. It certainly was terribly infective and the hospital couldn't find an antibiotic to cure the infection for a number of days. A real bad deal.