Heat related aggression?
Hi~I just found this sight and have read so much good information already! I have brother/sister duo of Pems, Ginger and Lambeau. They are 1 1/2 years old. We got them when they were 7 1/2 weeks old. We just love them to death. They are so cute and full of personality. We also have a Min Pin who is approx 11 years old. He was a rescue that we got 10 years ago. Anyway, we brought the pups home and introduced them to our min pin and they all got along just great. They actually brought some of the "puppy" back out of our old guy! :) We didn't spay/neuter right away because my husband really wanted to breed them (not with each other, obviously!) I was not at all interested in breeding Ginger because I had done some research and had read about complications with deliveries, etc. I just didn't feel we were qualified and I didn't want to put Ginger in any danger. Ginger had her 1st heat in January when she was 9 months old which was uneventful. In June, my mother was babysitting our kids and something set the corgis off and they attacked our min pin and mauled him. My mom acted on her instinct and unfortunately stuck her hands in the mix to try and rescue our min pin and she got bit. Maverick suffered over 2 dozen puncture wounds and needed several stitches. My mom didn't require any stitches, thankfully. I was just heartbroken when this happened and I cried for days because I thought I was going to have to get rid of them. I couldn't even look at them for awhile because it just tore me up that they were capable of such a terrible thing. A few days after this incident, Ginger started bleeding so we realized she had gone into heat again. We wondered if that had played a part in the attack. I called a "dog whisperer" in our area and she came out to our house for an afternoon. She was helpful but her methods are very rough and it's hard for me to do some of the things she suggested. The alpha roll is a big part of her method. So anyway, I had Lambeau neutered in August. The dog trainer told us NOT to neuter Ginger because she is already so dominant. She said that by neutering her we would be taking away her female hormones and she could become even more dominant. Since the attack happened in our kitchen I suspected food may have been involved so we feed them only while being supervised. Same goes for treats and chew bones because Ginger is very possessive and always wants what the other dogs have even if she has the same thing. Everything has been fine in our house with the dogs until this past Monday when another attack happened. I had to swat the pups with a broom to get them off of Maverick. Lambeau only needed a swat or two and he ran away. Ginger seemed relentless and it took much more effort to get her away. Maverick only had 3 puncture this time thankfully and no stitches. 3 days later it happened again but I was right there and able to stop them before they injured him again. The next day Ginger went after Lambeau. Since it had been about six months I wondered if she was going into heat again. Sure enough last night when she came in from outside I saw a few drops of blood on the kitchen floor. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced aggression like this when their female was going into heat. I'm sorry for the long post-I just wanted to include as much info as possible.
Thank you and Happy Holidays to everyone!
Lisa
Thank you and Happy Holidays to everyone!
Lisa
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hi Lisa, having 3 dogs in the same house during heat season can be quite a handful, will you consider separating them for the next 3 weeks? heat cycle usually starts with 1 week of non bleeding, and finishes on the 4th week. This will reduce the fights between the pack. Try feed them in their own separate room and do not let them interact with Ginger. I agree with Debbie, you may want to consider spaying her after this cycle :)
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Permalink Reply by Sam on
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Managing "intact" dogs is not easy. As you can see Ginger is most likely to attack before she goes in season. This should be proof positive to you that raging hormones can cause a multitude of problems. Not quite sure why your "trainer" suggested you not spay her but I am telling you to spay her as soon as she is out of season. This will permenantly stop the rising and falling of her hormones and probably help her be a more even tempered dog. Corgi bitches are notorious for not giving up once they start a fight. The hormones enforce that as instinctually mother nature is preparing her to become a mom and will increase her possessive drive as she prepares to have pups and nurture them. This will most likely wane greatly when she is spayed.
May I also add that when one has a multi dog household it never makes good sense to feed the dogs when they have access to one another. Corgis are quite the possessive breed and even bigger food hounds. If they have shown that they have the desire to take anothers food they probably always will. Having six dogs of my own I well know the importance of this hard fast rule. My dogs are fed in crates or separate rooms. All bowls are picked up after eating. End of problem. You must also become aware of what other items your dogs may choose to possess. These items also should be only offered when they do not have access to each other. I have one dog that would take a special treat and sit under the bed for hours just guarding it and waiting for another dog to approach. I have learned that she is not allowed certain treats unless she is contained.
The attack on your senior dog generally is because of the level of excitement the dogs have achieved. Once they hit this level they are just biting and have little concern for who they connect with. This is why often people get bit when trying to break up a fight.
I can assure you if you spay your girl and keep them separate for food/treats you will live a much easier life. Good luck.
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Permalink Reply by CaptainCorgi on
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Since she increases in aggression before she comes into heat, in my decision, I would spay her because her coming into heat is obviously making her aggressive. That would be the fist thing I would do. And maybe their fights start because of unseen body languages you might be missing? Having an intact female dog in the house with two males (even fixed) might cause problems as well.
My corgi girl had two heat cycles before she was fixed, but she was never aggressive like what you're explaining. Do you notice the males doing anything to Ginger when she is about to come into heat? They might sniff her a lot or try to mount her which could trigger her to tell them to back off because she isn't ready to mate. She might do so, but takes it to another level by full out attacking them. Do you notice anything like that? Or does she just go for them without even being provoked?
But personally, I would get her fixed. But they do say if a dominant female is spayed it reduces the amount of estrus within them and raises the amount of testosterone. But I think it's a chance that it might happen.
I hope everything gets better! Happy Holidays. :-)
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