WE'RE IGNORING OUR DOGS

Ann mentioned briefly the dog fight that occurred here yesterday, when I got to the house they had stopped trying to kill each other and were seperated by Ann when I walked in the house. There was blood and hair everywhere...our stuff knocked out of the way, speaker wires ripped out, My disassembled rifle was scattered all over the living room.
The dogs blood was in sprays and splatters, on the floor, the walls, on components. Ann's was in drops, you could follow the trail of her efforts to seperate them just by looking at the tile.
They have never done this in my presence, and it bothers me to no end that Ann has to deal with this shit...again.
Apparently Theo (75-80lbs), curled up in his favorite chair, heard something out front and jumped out of the chair to investigate...Theo has hip problems and turfed out on the tile floor. He was gimping his way to the door when Sullivan (90-95lbs) saw his chance to dethrone Theo and pounced on his ass.
Irene (40-45lbs) hauled ass out the patio door into the backyard.
Ann called me about 5 min. into it, it took me about 10 to get home, so these rather large dogs were ripping at each other for just shy of fifteen minutes.
They have been separated since...all three of them.
We have been instructed by Anns boss to keep it that way, show no emotion what-so-ever (except for Irene) allow no interaction between them (Irene included...she is an instigator, or a stimulator or a somethinganator, even though they are all fixed). Meet their basic needs...that's it. food,water,potty...Irene is exempt from the withholding of hugs-n-love-n-stupid love you gibberish that we normally shower on all of them.
Here's some background on the background of our three black dogs (in order of aquisition):
Theo...his mother was ditched on the side of the road and ended up at our vet, puppies in tow. We had just lost skeeter, our Boxer, to an aortic anuerysm (that sucked bigtime) and thought ( at the encouragement of the staff at our vet) decided to take on another pet right away (manipulative on their part...impulsive on ours, but what are you gonna do?He was a cutie). He is, by default, the alpha, despite his disability. He was here first.
Irene...Found abandoned on my son's stepfathers ranch with her brother. Kyle asked if he could have a dog (he was living with us at the time) we said yes. Brother stayed at his mom's house. My son was going over fool's hill at the time, so his bid at dog ownership didn't last long...she quickly became my dog, and still is. When Kyle left our home, I was so concerned about him and his ability to care for her, I refused to let him take her.As I recall, when he said what about Irene,I said, you've got to be fucking kidding me.The cool thing is, even though Irene is somewhat people aggressive, whenever she sees Kyle she greets him like the savior he was.She remembers.And so do I.
Sullivan (Sully)... Brought to our vet, sick and abused, survived PARVO. When the bill came in, ditched by abusive owners. I went to pick up a turtle at my vet one day, and the tech said "you like black dogs...come see this one" . I was smitten,and took Ann (sort of against her will) to meet him.
She was smitten as well.
And there you have it...3 black dogs, all from heartache, all with issues.
It's like I'm running a treatment center again, only these patients can't talk to me and Ann, we have to become part of the pack and understand how dogs work out their shit.
Theo looks so pathetic, cuts all over his head and ears, like a prize fighter who just got his hat handed to him by a contender who kicked ass (sully) but walked away with some injuries he will remember for awhile.
I'm so conflicted and so sick of this shit. I spent alot of time today thinking about what to do...Theo is older, and handicapped, and in a pain a lot of the time...hip dysplasia...but the most affectionate dog ever...when he loves on you he LOVES on you. Do we put Theo down?
Sullivan is stout and vibrant and definately the smartest of the three but he is dog and people aggressive and impulsive/unpredictable, and at around 90 pounds this is a dangerous combination...he could easily overpower almost anyone without a weapon and possibly kill them...if
he wanted to.And while I like this in a dog (my dog Buddy was the same way at 125lbs, but completely under my control and would not act unless commanded or the situation was such that my or my own was in danger). Do we put Sullivan down?
Irene is exempt from this train of thought...she thinks she is queen bee and instigates shit, but is easily redirected and responsive.She has also been described as dog/people aggressive...I agree with the dog part, but prefer to call it people "wary".
But who knows really? They can't tell us what happened before they came into our lives or why we are different and somehow worthy of their trust and love and devotion, but we are, somehow.
So the thought of killing them because they can't deal rips my heart in two.
It's like "Sophie's Choice" only with dogs.
I think were just gonna sit still for awhile and ponder it.