Terrible horrible day

[babygirl6152]

History first. We have 1 yr old female mix adopted possibly pit bull/ yellow lab Dulcinea
We have 1 yr old male cocker spaniel. Jackson . These two young ones are best friends always playing. They follow doggie rules and let each other take turns playing dominant. Never had a bloody scuffle at all.
We have 15 year old Maltese female Sugar has little cysts all over and now had a big cancer removed from her head. Los has seizures.

The week before we had scheduled to have the cancer removed, Dulce had her haunches up sniffing Sugar, and  attacked her. I was with Sugar and we were walking inside after going out to potty.  Sugar had a seizure while she was being  attacked.
Dulce and Jackson had been for a nice long walk right before this. sugar had 4-5 bites all over, the vet saw her and cleaned them, started antibiotics.  After surgery all was well. Dulce sniffed Sugars stitches and wagged her tail and walked away. Vet said no to meds for aggression but suggested behavioral therapist. That's 800$ for 3 sessions. And since it is not consistently happening, I don't know how they couldn't help. For another 3 months probably nothing will happen, but I want to enjoy my last months with Sugar. I do know that. Separating Dulce from Jackson would be a bad idea. They are perfect together. No aggression over food, toys, space, anything.
Tonite Dulce was playing with a stick, she'd brought inside thru doggie door, it got wedged in the bridge of her mouth and my husband tried to calm her not knowing what was the matter at the time. She was just running round crazy, acting very odd, he petted her and thought she was calmed. Dulce came in and sniffed Sugar and tore her up, now Dulce still had this stick wedged, we had no idea. Then we started wondering (after we finally separated miss Attack dog from my old sweet Sugar) if something was in her throat maybe. That's when we found the stick, small branch. She was very trusting to dad and let him force the stick out, then she was fine.
I bathed Sugar so I could find all the bites, they were still bleeding slightly, but we were leaving her alone for the rest of the evening and will clean her better tomorrow.
I just hate this. Wonder if Dulce knows Sugar is dying and she is fighting for top dog place as female, DUH. She's the only female left when Sugar passes.
  Can she sense or smell the cancer on sugar?
Would you muzzle her part of the day so all the dogs can be together with us? My husband wants one to be alone in a room or outside or kenneled and they'd all take turns. It's pretty weather now but I don't like the idea of putting dogs out very long in the cold.
I'm really leaning toward getting D a muzzle. That way all our dogs can be with us and still be safe.

[ginger899]

P.S. I have also heard that dogs can smell cancer. If that is the case with Dulce, it could be that she senses some kind of threat....

[ginger899]

This is a difficult situation. Poor little Sugar must feel a bit weary right now, and Dulce is picking on her -even just sometimes....it's too much. Especially when it is leading to actual bleeding wounds, and veterinary treatment.

I am not a dog behaviourist, so would find it hard to give behavioural advice about this situation. It's possible that Dulce does sense something about Sugar. I have heard that sometimes in the wild, the old and weak do get picked on by other members of the pack....
That is why many dogs will do their best to 'hide' symptoms of illness.

But right now Sugar might be slowly dying and needs some peace.
Don't put Dulce outside, especially if it's cold. She is short-haired? Right?
The best solution, sad though it might sound is to put a soft muzzle on Dulce. But do give her times when it is taken off -such as when Sugar might be sleeping in a separate room? Make her see that she must only wear the muzzle when Sugar is around.

That might be the best thing to do under the circumstances.