I have a yellow LabxCollie who is just 5. She has been the mildest and best dog ever. Very relaxed and good with other dogs/cats/kids etc. Never barks unless she means it. No problems at all.  However we went away for the first time since having her just for 4 days. Since coming back she has been showing strange behaviours. She has twice picked a full blown fight with another of of dogs who she was very good with.  The fight was bad enough for the lab to have small scrapes in her ear and a lightly swollen nose with a scratch.  Tonight I caught her eating a tin of dog food.....THROUGH the metal. A previously unopened tin of food. She had it so badly chewed it was crushed and her gums were bleeding and she has a cut on her tongue .
I would usually not be to bothered about it all....and put it down to coming back and settling in from being in kennels. But considering what dog it is and that she actually chewed a tin of dog food .....tin and food.  It had to be painful to do and she did it anyway.
I have her crated at the moment and I am not she what to think. I will probably make a vet visit on monday...but just want to know what you thought of the whole thing.

Thanks
Julie

I would be straight back to the kennels to ask a few questions!! namely any incidents/spats happened?? has she had a nasty experience.....
And the scavenging may be indicative of not being fed very well (if at all in such short space of time..4 days)
But yes, without knowing the big picture a trip to the vets will reassure you also.
do you know what triggered her fight with the lab (was food involved??)

I believe it was food both times. Lexi..the one in question is always a good eater. But never actually started any fights. The kennel she was in is a very good one and I trust there were no problems. But I am guessing if there were no one would say so if they thought something was wrong. The two iin my house who normally fight are my Belgian girlie and a sheltie/collie. It is the Lab and the sheltie/collie this time.
The fight was bad enough that neither one would stop when shouted at. They got into a crate and were  and fighting in it and only by lifting it and letting it bang on the floor several time did they stop. The lab ran into the corridor and the other went outside. 

Just strange that such a stable dog would do those things and the tin food eating is just a puzzle. I could see raiding the rubbish or the kibble bin....but a tin...just odd. Like I said before it has to be painful.

cheers
thanks
julie

It is very strange that it has started just now after the kennels visit, I would really recommend that you take her to the vet for a check up, to chew a tin like that makes me wonder whether she is in pain in her mouth area somewhere, perhaps biting down hard on the tin was her way of eleviating some pain somewhere.  It would also account for her suddenly snapping at your other dog, dogs in pain can turn snappy very quickly.

Take her for the check up to make sure, also check her jaw for any slight dislocations.

If she checks out all fine and dandy, then please could you list your dogs, breeds and ages and perhaps we can work out this sudden behaviour change and if there is a heirarchy problem somewhere. :-)

I think you need to inform the kennel anyway.  They may have hired on a new person who is not conducting themself properly.  That happened to me once with a well-reputed kennel.  Or someone may be accessing the kennels without their knowledge.

Not sure if it is of any relevance, but this summer I went away for the first time in one of my dog's lives and whilst I was away he staretd picking fights with another of my dogs. By the time I got back home it was so bad I have had to keep them separate ever since. (The old dog has been living with my mother in law.) There was a definite connection between me not being here and the young dog picking fights with the old one.

Why do you think this problem occurred?   This is the first time in all of my dogs lives that everyone went away. It was all their first time in kennels. I have 5 dogs of my own and one I am keeping a few months for a friend.  They shared two to a kennel each. The two who are fighting were in separate kennels.

My dogs are as follows in order of arrival to the family:
Lexi (female) : lab collie cross...5 1/2
Token(male): Belgian Sheepdog:  4 1/2
Esther(female): Blue merle sheltie collie cross : 3
Cody (female): Belgian Sheepdog 2 1/2
Freeway(male): JR/Corgi/collie cross  1
Laddie (male) : Collie 4 (just visiting)

Freeway is the only one who comes to work with me so we are I guess in separable. The others are more attached to the hubby.

In your case it was the young picking fights with the old. In this case it is the opposite.  Tonight they were together and Esther, the one who got beaten up, was licking the wounds of Lexi who started it.
Thanks for the replies they are helpful

Cheers
Julie

Thank you for the breeds and ages, it is very helpful.

I take it that Cody and Esther were not kennelled together due to their heirarchy issues, and that is understandable with Cody's age.

So Lexi will have been with Cody and possibly Token???

Leaving Esther and Freeway together? Is that right?

If this is the case my take on it is that Lexi being the older bitch will have taken Alpha position in that kennel, all the dogs are in a place that is not home and their pecking orders will become more apparant, Token and Cody would look to her for guidance and comfort.

In the other kennel Esther will have taken on the same role, so when all five dogs have then been placed back together, we then have two Alpha's needing to sort out their roles again.

P.S. I forgot Laddie, so it was 2,2, 2, wasn't it. Still the same response whoever Lexi and Esther were kennelled with they took the lead role. ;-)  The boys had no chance as bitches are always top dog.

Lexi has basically just put Esther back in her place again.

If the chewing tin is proven not to be medical, then it could be pure frustration.

I am sure things will settle down again once all the dogs have found their pecking orders and settled back into their usual routines.

Just a thought, is there any possibility that the kennel staff let the dogs out together as they come from the same household, even though they had them in separate kennels?

The kennel sharing was this:
Token on his own because he has seizures and the others would attack him just before or just after a fit.
Lexi and Cody
Esther and Freeway
And Laddie went to kennels at work (I work for a Rehoming centre)

But it does make sense in a way what you said. I am just very surpirsed at her as she never really showed an interest in being top dog before.

It is possible they were walked together. No free running at this kennel but they were reportedly walked twice a day on long leads.

cheers
Julie