It sounds like she needs to be the only dog in her home. The presence of the collies obviously set her off, but if she is this aggressive, I would tend to think she won't be much help to the blind dog and may just tend to make him increasingly fearful. I would give her back and look for a sweet natured companion for him that won't intimidate him.

You won't be giving up. You would just be accepting that your home isn't right for her and she isn't right for you. I think anytime you bring animals into the home with existing pets, that possibility will exist.

She has already exhibited aggressive behavior at the breeder's home. Giving her to you wasn't a very nice thing to do.

The dog has dominance issues and you will either have to take immediate action to train her out of this, or I would give her up immediately for the sake of your other dog and yourself, as she tried to bite you as well.

Another lesson - do not have any food or toys laying around when other dogs come over. That's asking for trouble.

Terriers fight. They just do, given an appropriate trigger.

What with the female finding herself relo'd to a new home, 2 additional strange dogs suddenly underfoot, a bone to get protective over (leaving that around was a BIG no-no, IMHO), and your own uncertainty about the situation (which I'm sure the female picked up on), it's not surprising that the most submissive dog got his clock cleaned. I would bet that something had already been brewing between the 2 Cairns, and it just took the confluence of the other factors to trigger the attack.

It's up to you whether you want to try to work this out. If it was me, and I already had a submissive, blind dog who has now become a target for abuse, I would return the new dog to your groomer, thank her for the offer, and tell her it is just not going to work out because it's not fair to your first dog to inflict this level of stress on him.

I found myself in a situation several years ago where I had to give up one Jack Russell to preserve the safety of my other two and the sanity of my husband and myself. In retrospect, I let the situation go on WAY too long, trying various training techniques, visits from an animal behaviorist, medication, separating the house into strict zones, and so forth. It was a big, scary, bloody mess.

What helped me overcome feelings that I had "failed" the problem dog, was realizing that I had made an earlier "for life" commitment to the other two, especially the older, geriatric dog (the love of my life) who was taking the brunt of the attacks.

So I chose to honor those commitments, and the old girl is now in the twilight of her 16+ years, approaching the Rainbow Bridge with dignity, in her own good time. She is deaf, slow, arthritic, and is being treated fairly successfully for doggie Alzheimer's. I'm grateful for every day that she wakes up and is happy and ambulatory. She is such a good, funny old girl, sleeps 20 hours a day, loves to bark at all kinds of interesting stuff, still chases (half-heartedly) the cat now and then, and meets me at the fridge several times a day. I look at her sleeping and snoring beside me now, and feel that I have succeeded in making her life a good, safe, long one... I don't think about having failed the other dog.

If you do choose to get your male a buddy, try a non-Terrier type, as laid back and happy-go-lucky as possible :o) But your guy may be happier being an only, with all of your attention.

Good luck.

Susan

Thank you for your advice so far. I hadn't even thought about the bone laying out since neither of my 2 Cairns ever pay any attention to it at all. It had been sitting there for so long that I forgot about it all together.

It feels very hard to give her back since she can be very sweet. On the other hand, we got her to make the male dog's life easier, not harder. And we were told she would be fine with other Cairns. This is hard.

I agree that give you the aggressive dog wasn't such a great gift. I hope she wasn't breeding with that btch that she gave you.

Does anybody think this could have been a 1 time thing and that it will pass and not happen again?

No, the probability lies far to the side that it WILL happen again.

I wouldn't even take the chance that it was a one time thing. Personally I think it was nasty of the groomer to *pawn* the dog off on you. The groomer knew the dog had temperament problems and now you're feeling guilty(rightfully so) about wanting to return the dog.

I'd return the dog, find a new groomer and rest happy, knowing your dog can be happy.

I agree with Minibim. I think it will happen again and I don't think the groomer had your best interest in mind when she gave you a dog that had attacked other dogs. To say it only attacks other breeds seems silly to me. A dog doesn't know what kind of breed it is.

The fact that she came out of her cage trying to attack again would have me very nervous. Back she would go.

It's never easy to give a dog up, but you have to do what is best for your little blind guy, in my .02.
Sher

Update:
Last night my husband and I tried to let them be back together after I had them separated since Monday night. She immediately tried to bite his neck, then throughout the night lunged at him 3 times. We caught her each time before anything started. Does anybody think that this could be a physical health problem on her part? He was just sitting there -- no food or toys or anything involved at all. Nothing to provoke her.

I don't think it's a health problem or something she'll get over. I think she has just come to feel that is her home now instead of a place she was visiting and now she's trying to establish dominance.

The fact that your other dog's total submissiveness doesn't diminish her aggression is the reason she should go back to the breeder. She could easily be above him in the pack, without all the violence but she inflicts it anyway. I don't think she'll ever stop. Even if you get her to accept you as leader, she'll probably still beat on him whenever she gets the chance.

I had a dog who was very submissive to me and other adults, but believed himself to be above my son who was four at the time. He would behave perfectly around my son as long as I was nearby, but the minute I left the room, he would bite him. My son had been raised with dogs and our others loved him, so I don't think he had ever mistreated him.
I discussed it with a trainer who told me that the only way to correct the problem would be if my son could be strong enough to discipline the dog by himself. We tried that, but eventually I rehomed him to an all adult home. I just couldn't keep risking injury to my son.

I think a similar thing is going on between your two dogs.

deb's right..........you have a dog that should be in an adult only, no other pets home.