Suddenly, without warning, Baron has begun to attack the kittens. The first time it happened, the attack was so quick (we had just left the room for a second) that we almost missed it. But when I noticed Shimmer huddling in the corner and went over to see what was wrong, she was all wet from dog slobber. But, I didn’t put it together right away. Had I thought about it, it might have stopped the second attack. But Baron was his normal happy doggy self and although shimmer was upset, I couldn’t figure out why. Baron has allowed the kittens to play on him, suckle his chest, pounce on him, rub against him and hasn’t even shown any aggression towards them.
The second attack, Baron got two kittens in one moment. Shimmer and Panic both were lying next to his side, when he turned his head and in a second, had Panic’s head in his mouth! When I screamed, he opened his mouth and took a swipe at Shimmer who was escaping. Mike jumped on Baron immediately and took him into the bedroom to his crate. I ran after the kittens. Shimmer was okay, but Panic is missing some fur. I saw blood, but not a lot of it. I could not find a bite wound.
I put the kittens upstairs and Mike and I talked it over. It has been decided that we need to find a home for Baron. This decision breaks our hearts because we love him so much, even though we haven’t had him very long. But, the cats have the priority here. We cannot have a cat or kitten aggressive dog as our dogs have full run of the house as well as outside.
It reminds me of Chewy, a German Shepherd we rescued about 5 years ago. The people who had him beat him, starved him, used him for target practice and kept him in a small dirty shed. He was afraid of his own shadow, thin, emaciated, and peed on himself at any noise or movement. His first meal with us, he picked up his dog bowl, made his way through the doggy door and went out into the backyard to bury his food. That broke my heart.
As he got better, stronger, gained muscle mass, he also became aggressive and sneaky. He would stalk us, the cats, the horses, the grandkids. One day, much like Baron without warning, he attacked the neighbor’s chickens. Our vet told us that the aggression would get worse and was more than likely a product of his past abuse. Not knowing Baron’s history, I suspect he is going the same route. Becoming comfortable here, knowing no one will hurt him, he is responding to past triggers or demons. As much as we love him, we have done our job to socialize him and get him to trust again. It’s time to find him a permanent home. One without cats or small dogs.