Bitch with seasonal aggression?

[nickycnc]

Hi

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of this. I've got 2 bitches (Darcy 3yrs old spayed and Charley 1yr old having first season) and Charley has become increasingly aggressive towards Darcy. I'm trying to find excuses for her and have read something about bitches getting aggressive whilst on heat.

I want to have Charley spayed before her next season but have read also about this possibly increasing the aggression..is that just for dogs that are generally aggressive or could that apply to her?

Darcy is very submissive towards Charley and has become very nervous around her so we have struggled to see any pattern as to what is sparking Charley to attack Darcy, although tonight Darcy got abit frisky whilst playing which sparked WW3. I'm thinking of getting some of this bitch spray for them to try and mask her scent a little.

Any thoughts/experience? Thanks

[Bluebell]

 
I have a feeling that Poppypuppy09 - on the forum - had a bitch who used to get very stroppy when in season, it might be worth PM ing her
CSJ do a good range of herbal remedies, and it certainly wouldn't do her any harm to have them -
this one
http://www.csjk9.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=63&idcategory=3

Hope she settles down when her season is finished

[Eve]

Bitches will hump one another it is quite normal but I expect the little one is not feeling herself. Her hormones are all over the place and she is probable a little bit stressed. As it is her first season, she probably is frightenend what is happening.

Eve x

[Spangles]

I also have two bitches, one is spayed and the other isnt and the unspayed one is also in season.  She has been acting very odd for the last couple of days.  She can be fast asleep then wake up with a start, she appears to be thinking about something for a split second and then gets up, charges around the room (knocking anything over in her path ) finds another spot to lay, circle for what seems like forever and then lay down again with a big sigh.

She is also asking to go out into the garden quite often where I obvioulsy have to accompany her due to her season.  Then she just heads for the dog kennel (which I might add has never been used by either dog but is used by my cat to shelter from the rain) and just sits in it looking all sorry for herself and will not emerge from this for a very long time.

I have put all this strange behaviour down to the fact that she is in season although I have never experienced such odd behaviour from either dog before even in past seasons. 

She is also ignoring me when I have a cup of tea - which is complete unheard of.

Thankfully it has not altered her loving nature - even toward Lottie.   

[Poppypuppy09]

I have a feeling that Poppypuppy09 - on the forum - had a bitch who used to get very stroppy when in season, it might be worth PM ing her
CSJ do a good range of herbal remedies, and it certainly wouldn't do her any harm to have them -
this one
http://www.csjk9.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=63&idcategory=3

Hope she settles down when her season is finished

Here I am and yep...I had a girlie in the past who was the most gentle, kind cocker until she came into season....then she was nothing short of evil going as far as biting me and being almost unapproachable, she was so miserable in herself it was awful to see  She would hide away, not eat and be completely the opposite to how she normally was    picking fights with her sister, doing things like actually pulling toys from her mouth and generally getting in her face, despite her sister being the boss dog  We knew there was no option but to spay her and the good news was that when we had her spayed my gentle little girlie came back to me and we had no real issues then for the rest of her life 

If I can help any further pm me  I really hope that the spaying helps little Charley 

[Pip895]

I guess one possibility is that your younger dog is maturing and making a bid for the Boss dog position.  I only have one, so I can't really advise, but I would be supprised if an older dog is always "top dog" long term.  Perhaps someone with more experience with having two girls together might be be to advise. 

On the other hand Saffi was pretty snappy with other dogs - male or femail whilst in season and returned to normal shortly after her season finished.  I would have thought that its most likely to be just a temporary hormone thing and things will return to normal after her season.   

[Nicola]

It could well be a hormonal thing, or equally it could be Charley hitting maturity and challenging Darcy. I think you'll have to wait and see how she is once she's out of her season again. Did it start when Charley came into season or just before it?

Caoimhe (2, not spayed) is very domineering towards Tilly (6, spayed); she isn't really aggressive as such now, she doesn't have to be, but she could be at times when she was younger and establishing herself as the boss. Tilly has always backed down to Caoimhe and has never even really attempted to challenge her. Caoimhe isn't really worse during her season, this is just how it is with them, but it did start shortly before her first season, she'd have been about 9 or 10 months old when she decided to let them know she was in charge. I don't know if I'm making it sound worse than it is, don't get me wrong they are far from pally but they coexist absolutely fine 99% of the time, they are both just very clear of their place relative to each other.

I do watch Caoimhe for bullying tendencies, I guess Tilly is a bit nervous around her which isn't particularly nice from my human point of view; if Tills is sitting with me and Caoimhe approaches Tilly will instantly jump down and move away but there's no confrontation, Caoimhe only has to stare right at her and Tilly overtly avoids eye contact and moves away. However, Tilly is not unhappy, she's not a clingy dog and she still gets plenty of attention - Caoimhe gets only individual exercise and training and obviously also spends a lot of time with her trainer. I've pretty much let them sort it out themselves and don't really interfere in their interactions unless it gets out of hand (which is hardly ever). It's not ideal, of course I'd like them to like each other and for Tills to not always kowtow to Caoimhe, but this is how they are with each other and I know from experience it could be a heck of a lot worse; they've sorted it out themselves and as long as they can live together mostly peacefully and they're happy then it's fine.

As an aside, how is Charley's training going? Is she doing well?

[nickycnc]

Thanks for your replies everyone, they're pretty reasuring.

Charley seems to have improved slightly since I last posted. It climaxed with Charley attacking Darcy 4 times in 1 day. Its so horrible to see especially when Darcy hits the deck in fear. On monday and tuesday she only attacked once and so far today she has only warned. Charley has pretty much been topdog since she arrived as a pup, which I think Darcy is quiet happy with. When they play together it's lovely to watch, but hopefully she wont turn into a jekyll and hyde.

As an aside, how is Charley's training going? Is she doing well?

As far as Charleys training is going she is a dream....well I say that, I think she would be amazing in the right hands. I haven't been taking the gundog training as seriously as I had intended to. She got abit ball obsessed and I didn't do anything to stop it so I've got to work on the dummy retrieving during the next few months (in between being spayed). Her recall is spot on along with her response and direction to the whistle, she's got an amazing nose and she is totally focused on me when we go out...just a shame she runs full pelt into me when bringing the dummy back - I don't think she came with brakes!!