Dog Fight Club is not nearly as cool as Cat Fight Club

Not Block related, I know, but this is what's going on in my life today, and I had to get it off my chest (hehe)(see? everything's NK related somehow!)

So some of you have already seen what we refer to affectionately as Cat Fight Club

And I know, I know, don't talk about cat fight club, right? Well, dog fight club happened on Thursday. It wasn't nearly as cool.

Zoe is my baby. My 10 year old baby. Well, she'll be 10 in February. We've been together longer than Bruce and I have, longer than most people outside my family...and the NK guys, I guess. Zoe's a basenji mix, and she weighs about 40 pounds.

Zelda is our black lab puppy. I say puppy even though she weighs 60 pounds. We think she's about a year old. She's a rescue dog so we don't know for sure. She's a good head taller than Zoe and much more muscular. We got her just before mother's day this year with the purpose of training her as a canine cotherapist. I built the logo for my new private practice around her.

They were playing with their Kong toys the other night and Zoe's slid under the couch. Zelda, being too curious for her own good went to check it out, and Zoe growled warningly at her. I should note that Zoe is not real thrilled that Zelda has joined the family, and she's been having some adjustment issues which mostly manifest themselves in growling over food, toys, the cats, etc.

This time a full on dog fight ensued. Zelda pinned Zoe to the ground. The fight lasted about a minute and I really thought Zelda was going to kill or seriously injure Zoe. It ended with Zoe's ear getting bitten twice and bleeding, but other than that no visible injuries. Since then Zoe shakes or growls any time Zelda comes near her.

As their mom, I feel horrible for not preventing it. But more than that I feel horrible because I want Zelda to leave. Most of the time she's a sweet, passive, submissive dog. But I can't have her attacking Zoe, much less our three small, defenseless cats. When I saw her attack Zoe that way, I wanted her out of the house immediately. And now I'm finding myself angry and lacking much affection for her. I can't forgive her.

I know some of you are probably thinking "they're just dogs." But they're not to me. Zoe is my family. Zelda has become a part of our family. But I don't think they can be around each other anymore.

We had talked about going away for our anniversary this weekend and boarding the dogs. I would never be able to do that now. I'm really nervous about my parents coming up for Thanksgiving and bringing their 2 small jack russell terriers.

I'm not really sure what to do.

Bruce is amazing. He's being really proactive-reading online about dog aggression and dog behavior modification, and trying to teach me the techniques he's picking up.

And all I can think is that I want Zelda out of my house and away from my baby girl. I know it's crazy, but that's how I feel.