Desperate! Need help!

O

ownedbymonsters

Forums Regular
My sheltie Sadie and my pomeranian Breezy went into 1st heat a few weeks ago together and turned from playing cuddle puppies into raging, biting monsters. They are only a few months apart and scheduled for their spaying on January 4th. The attacks "happen" sometimes without even a trigger and are violent! They can be best buddies for hours and suddenly you can see them stiffen up and attack each other. I do keep them apart now, different rooms, or same room but in crates. They only attack each other in the house, not in the yard. They were never fed together as Sadie always has been very protective of her food. Today, the door bell rang and Breezy squeezed herself through the baby gate to be promptly attacked by Sadie in the excitement of saying hello to the visitor. I went in between and grabbed Breezy on her neck and swung her in my arm. Sadie jumped up, trying to bite Breezy while in my arm and since I turned around to shield Breezy, Sadie caught me with her bite in my back. Both know commands and usually behave obedient to me, but during this fighting, they don't hear or see me. PLEASE I need help. I can't get "rid" of either one of them. I lost last May my first sheltie Sassie on cancer. Does anyone have experience with that? Is there hope? Anything? Please!!!
 
Wow! You poor thing. I'm guessing the vet should weigh in here, but raging hormones can make any of us monsters. Hopefully after you have them spayed you'll regain control and peace in your house. Hang in there...
 
Welcome to the wide wonderful world of hormones. Not a thing you can do but keep them separated. You also probably want to move the spay to March-ish, because doing it when they are in season increases the risks (higher bloodflow to the area, etc.) My vet will do them when they are in season, but she doesn't like to.
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. I never had anything like that, my most important question would be: after the girls are spayed, will there be peace in the house again? Is there anything else I can do? Did anyone experience the same situation and they were able to solve it with spaying?

Thanks for the advice about the spaying later. They are no longer swollen or anything like that and at the very end of the season. The vet is aware of the situation and actually squeezed them two in her schedule. I trust her. I have no other choice, my whole household is actually in turmoil because of it.
 
Ember was a mean cranky bitch when she was in season. She scared Justice to death and even though he was intact, he wouldn't even think to go near her because she was so aggressive. She went though a total of 2 seasons and she was crazy during both of them plus the month before and the month after. I ask her breeder if I could spay her. a month after she was spayed she mellowed out and she was like a different dog never have an issue with other dogs again.

It is hard to say if things will retruned to like they were before. If it is due to the hormones there is a good chance. If it is becuase they are 2 girls and they are reaching social maturity, it might not. I would recommend obedience classes for both of them and starting a NILIF program.

Sorry to say that when 2 bitches start fighting it can be very hard for them to become friends again. My spayed JRT mix and my dads spayed Lab decided one day that they hated each other and started fighting. They could never be in the same room again without trying to start something. It became a matter of managing them with baby gates from that point on.

I hope it is all hormones.
 
Getting bit by accident is no fun. Danny missed the vacuum and got me in the calf. I am hoping it is all hormone related and stops when they are spayed. My in laws had two female dobermans and they would go at it for no reason. Extreme measures were used to stop them. Both were spayed too. I think only time will tell. All you can do is keep them separated right now and watch them like a hawk.:no:
 
I can't tell you. My girls get along, they don't even fight over puppies. But I have heard of fighting girls, so I think my girls are abnormal.

My boys OTOH... :rolleyes2: I think one of my boys has a rage syndrome, similar to spaniels. The girls ignore him, but my older male sometimes can't. When I went to my parents house, he had to go outside several times. He wouldn't do the dog door back in, so out he stayed.
 
I only owned 1 female Pomeranian before so I don't have real life experience to share but when we were picking out a dog for the family, the German Shepherd breeder we visited said that when boys fight they can still make amends, but when girls fight they will most likely remain enemies for life. :( Don't know if that's only for GS or applies to all types of dogs. So if it is only hormone maybe keeping them apart for now you will still be able to save their relation after the spaying.
 
I bred terriers and never had the problem even though I was often told to expect it. However, I had an Australian Shepherd that was the head dog in the house and a Belgian sheepdog that was 2nd in command. All was okay until the Belgian's litter was about 8 weeks old. She was chastising her puppy for something and the Aussie decided it was her place, not the mother of the pups place, to do the schooling. They got into a major fight. From that day until the Aussie died they hated each other and would growl at each other from either side of our bed. The only thing that stopped them was my voice. I am the head bitch so a gutteral growl of "cut it out" would stop them. When it started the Aussie was spayed but the Belgian was not. Even with spaying the Belgian there was no change. I think if I were you I would work on getting the dogs to focus on you with clicker and rewards, at first with one in the crate and the other out with you and then swap them. Try to be prepared every time you see body language from either of them. If the Pom starts to act out then get it to look at you by calling it's name softly and then as soon as it starts to look at you, click and reward. Do the same with the other dog when it starts anything. Do it a lot several times a day just because. The object is to get the dogs to change their focus from each other to you when you speak to them. Do not yell. It adds to the confusion. By the way. To avoid ending up with a dog that is as wide as a house, try putting half of each dog's meal in separate dishes to be used as training treats. That way they don't get overfed just fed in a different manner. Good luck.
 
what happens with the fight when you leave the room? I know it sounds bit strange question but it makes all the difference in the world. If the dogs continue to growl and get into fight with each other with owner leaving the room/ and I mean leaving the room before they majorly into the fight, just when they start growling and posturing/ then there in NO way those two dogs will ever be safe in same house and one will NEED to be placed out. If when two dogs start posturing and show off and stop when owner leaves the room, then there are some training can be done but like Clantyre said, it is management mostly.
Thing is dogs are not social animals with each other, they do not form parental units like father and mother with cub wolf. They social with humans but only tolerate each other in the house.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top