We have an eight year old Cockapoo, who kind of lives in her own world. She isn't super aggressive and is afraid of almost everything and everybody. Up until now, she was a very overweight dog. We didn't know she had a thyroid problem until a year ago. Since we started treating her, she has lost over 10 lbs.
She's been with us since she was a puppy. She was a fuzzy little black ball when we brought her home from the puppy mill at all of 2 lbs at 10 weeks. She was our first little dog. We brought her home to a 75 lb black lab and orange cat we called Kitty.
As Lucy has grown up, she has gotten very OCD. She has really only gotten aggressive with food. Our rolly polly little dog couldn't jump on the bed, but could crawl up on the table and jump two feet to the kitchen cabinet to get tomatoes, strawberries, grapes, potatoes, cucumbers, etc. She definitely leans toward being a vegetarian.
About three years ago, her shenanigans cost us dearly after she tore her ACL and had to have it rebuilt. Besides that, she's been fairly healthy except for a bought with ear infections.
Something she's always done is chase smaller animals like birds, mice, squirrels, and bunnies. Sure, she's caused some casualties. It's always happened outside and never with a lot of aggression. She never growled or showed her teeth. She never tore anything apart. Mostly, she'd bite, the creature would bleed through the mouth and nose and then die. Not a huge deal, those things are usually annoyances.
When we arrived at my in laws last week, the first thing I did was let all the dogs into the backyard. I saw a group of kittens and a couple grown cats. I didn't think anything about it. She has been around small kittens and of course small dogs. Remi was a tiny guy and she has never been aggressive with him.
She immediately attacked the group of kittens. All but one got away. By the time I got to them, it was too late. The cute little kitten was bouncing around, spewing blood everywhere. The mama cat tried to move them, but she found them again. Later that night, she killed another. Again, if you didn't know what happened, you'd think they died naturally. There wasn't even a bite mark on them.
I'm a bit puzzled and concerned with her behavior. Honestly, I was horrified for two reasons.
I love all my dogs, but I don't know what to think of one who will kill a kitten. I suppose it is a natural progression in the circle of life, but I don't want her to turn on the other dogs or even a neighbor's pet. I don't think she would, but now I feel like we have to be super careful with her around anything that might be helpless.
The other reason it horrified me was that it, in an instant, sent me straight into a PTSD meltdown and flashback.
My dad used to kill animals and make us watch. It was terrifying. He used this to torture us and make us believe he was capable of killing us. It was every bit as horrific as you could possibly imagine and probably more.
The blood flying around as the first kitten died was more than I could process. It sent me back to a replay reel of so many memories. It was hard to function the rest of the evening and I had awful nightmares each time I closed my eyes.
It's kind of crazy how things can be going well and something kicks me in the butt like that.
I'm not sure what to do about the dog. It makes me glad that we chose now to get a puppy and not wait until she is older and grouchier. I'm also glad our puppy is growing fast and lets us know if the other dogs aren't playing nice.
I've had dogs for the last 21 years. Most of the time, their personalities are easy to read and adapt. Sometimes, like with this, I'm kind of at a loss. The only theory I have is that the cocker spaniel in her is a natural hunter and things in the yard are fair game. That's all I got!
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