Dog aggression following spay. Very long, sorry!

[Lucianne]

Hi, I know there's been a similar topic very recently on escalating grumpiness/aggression - I've read Danni and Freya's thread with interest, and found the links very useful - but I'm wondering why Bella has changed so much since her spay, and am hoping for some advice from you wish COLers about how to handle this.

Bella is 19 months old, and was spayed at the beginning of May, which seems to have gone fine. I didn't walk her for ten days afterwards, then eased her back into it. For a while we didn't meet any dogs who really wanted a good sniff, and she warned off those who wanted more than a cursory sniff. Then a couple of weeks ago we met a four month old flatcoat, who approached very boisterously. Bella greeted him ok, but then he bowled her over and she yelped loudly, then snapped at him. He didn't take the hint at all and she told him off thoroughly; lots of noise and snapping, but didn't bite him. The owner pulled him off, and we were then joined by an old English sheepdog, who started playing boisterously with the pup. Bella pressed herself behind my legs and barked/snarled if they got too close. I moved off with her pretty quickly, and felt that her behaviour had been understandable and appropriate, considering she must have still been tender, and the pup seemed to have hurt her.

Since then though, any dog sniffing or approaching her rear end gets snarled and snapped at. On Monday, a Finnish Lapphund was rather persistent, and Bella snapped at her. The other bitch went straight back, and there was lots of snapping and snarling and physical contact. The owner pulled their bitch off. I would have moved on, but the owner kept chatting and apologising, and the lapphund approach Bella again, despite me trying to block the contact. Same thing happened again (Bella snapped, and the other bitch retaliated) and this time the owner pulled the dog off and hit her repeatedly.    I moved on as quickly as possible, having pointed out that Bella had snapped first.

Then Tuesday we met a couple of dogs who greeted briefly without bum sniffing, with no problems, and then met a young and very submissive jack russel bitch, who was very keen to greet and play. Bella greeted her politely and moved away, but the little bitch just kept coming back and back. I asked the owner to call the dog back, as mine isn't friendly at the moment, but he just said "She just wants to play"!    Bella, inevitably, snapped at her when she kept persisting, and I managed to scoop the dog up and returned her to her owner with a few choice words.  

I rang the vets this morning, and described the situation to the veterinary nurse, asking if I should bring her in for a checkup. She said that it sounds like a behavioural issue rather than a physical one, but also to do with her hormones.

Just for background......
Bella is a tiny bitch and was quite submissive with other dogs as a puppy. Until this I'd been really proud of her manners with other dogs (I tried never to interfere with her doggy interactions) and she seemed to be very effective at using the right calming signals with other dogs, and greeting in a calm and polite way. She got less playful as she got older, but still did invite some dogs to play, almost always by play bowing and running round in circles, rather than jumping all over them.   She's always been scared of big fluffy dogs, after she was bitten (not badly) and dominated by a friend's akita malamute cross, but she would tend to scream and run rather than snap (though she would snap if cornered).

Bella had her first season in January (at 14/15 months), during which dogs and bitches showed a lot more interest (I kept her in in the middle, but in the very early and late stages), and she would sit down or move away, or tell off the more persistent ones. Bella then had a phantom pregnancy, during which the increased interest and her response continued as before. She had much less interest in playing and in dogs generally. She has shown a bit of possession aggression/resource guarding towards other dogs over her ball, or if she's on my lap.

So..... <deep breath....sorry for the essay!>  

• Is this escalated level of aggression likely to be due to the flatcoat hurting her, combined with residual tenderness after her spay?
• How much are changed hormone levels following her spay likely to be affecting her?
• How much of this behaviour is just normal behaviour for a mature, spayed bitch, especially considering the very interesting "He just wants to say hi!" article linked to on Danni and Freya's thread?
• What do I do now?      Do I handle it proactively, as Hannah described with Normy; distracting her attention and rewarding? But what about when other dogs are persistent?
• How can I re-socialise her to not view every dog as a potential threat? I'm really sad that she's always been so good with other dogs, and that now she's starting fights; I'm worried that she's going to get badly hurt.  
  

Thank you so much for reading all this if you are still with me at this point!  

[Goggins]

Sending you big 

Im sorry I cant be of any help as Im new to the c.spaniel breed but Im sure other more experienced people will be along to help you out...

[Lucianne]

Thank you Goggins 

[PennyB]

I don't know but it does sound though in one instance where she was scared of the boingy pup (some dogs can be) + as you've said she does snap if dogs are persistant which some are obviously being - so it may just be you are more concious of the fact re her spaying when some of these things were happening before anyway and she's being in a position where she has no other recourse other than to tell them off.

If a dog tells a dog off and they snap back rather than take the hint that can sometimes set up this cycle of an argument.

If dogs are being persistant at the moment re her rear have her anal glands been checked.

I would also have your 'radar' on now and not necessarily avoid contact but watch if it anything looks like it may happen and be proactive (Wilf hates strange large male dogs running up and shoving their face in his as he find its confrontational, especially when he's onlead so I distract him before it happens if I can and get him to turn, sit, and face/look at me or variations of whatever works in a particular situation).

[Lucianne]

Thank you Penny that's really useful.    This afternoon I took her to a nice quiet area, and we were approached by a little scottie who looked fairly chilled. I had some treats ready and just hovered. They greeted nose to nose very nicely, then Bella looked at me. I praised and treated, and then she (rather pointedly) went and sat round the back of the bench, facing away from the scottie. It looked like it might follow her, so I encouraged it the other way, and Bella came out again too. The owner called it away, and off it went. I was really pleased, and it confirmed to me that she isn't just indiscriminately aggressive; it's just when they pursue her. I'll keep very vigilant and try to keep her experiences with other dogs positive.

[spanielcrazy]

To answer your question, it takes a long time for the hormonal changes to be noticable (at least the interval between heats) so you wouldn't necessarily be seeng them after only a month. While spaying is routine, it is still major abdominal surgery from the bitches point of view, and they all have different thresholds of pain or discomfort. I can certainly understand her not wanting to be bounced on by a boisterous pup!                                                                            IMO she does not really have a problem with aggression, her (and your) problem is clueless owners with clueless dogs. :/ I think that while rewarding calm behaviour on her part is good, you need to become a bit more firm about shooing away problem dogs (and their problem owners! ) Be proactive on your dogs behalf. She should not be expected to make instant frienships with every dog she meets

[Helen]

She sounds pretty normal to me, and just grown up.

At around that age Jarvis (entire boy so completely different kettle of fish!) decided that he wanted to play less with other dogs and that dogs with poor manners should be told exactly how to behave....

Definitely watch it to see what triggers her and to stop it escalating but your dog in it's adulthood can't and won't like every other dog that it meets now - although all dogs were her best mates in puppyhood, now she's grown up she's becoming more selective 

Penny and spanielcrazy's advice is fab.

[Lucianne]

Thanks Spanielcrazy and Helen for your advice and reassurance; it's really helpful. 

I feel much better about things, although my main worry is still that she will snap at a powerful dog who will have a go back and really hurt her. How do I handle it if that happens? 

The Suzanne Clothier article really resonates with me, and I will be very vigilant from now on in ensuring that Bella doesn't get jumped all over. I found the full length version of the article here http://www.nesr.info/images-english-shepherd/He-just-wants-to-say-hi.pdf if anyone is interested.

[Ben's mum]

my main worry is still that she will snap at a powerful dog who will have a go back and really hurt her. How do I handle it if that happens? 

That always been one of my worries with Ben who has always been reactive to other dogs.  Sometimes its because of fear/anxiety he was badly frightened as a pup, and someimes its just plain grumpiness. 
Bella sounds like Ben in that she doesn't go looking for trouble, but does get quickly fed up if pestered.  After Ben had really snapped at other dogs a few times, I noticed that I was getting wound up very quickly if dogs I didn't know came towards us.  I know he was picking up on this, particually if he was on the lead.  I was advise to either let him off if possible or if on the lead to let it lie loose rather than tighten it up and pull him closer too me.  This really did help, do you think Bella senses you being unsure about how she is going to react?

I have also learnt mostly just to let him get on with it, as if he does tell another dog off it is mostly snapping and noise.  I have no doubt he would nip if he could reach the other dog, but it doesn't go further than that.   I make sure I warn other people not to let their dogs pester Ben and tell them he is grumpy, if they ignore that then fine I just let them get on with it and Ben usually tells them.
I do worry the same as you though about what would happen if we met a very agressve dog, if happened to me not that long ago and was frightening.  hope you find ways to deal with it