Dog Behaviour Problems: Your dog's behaviour

Sexuality, Breeding, Neutering:

Question: My cocker spaniel, Toby is now five months old but, ever since we got him at eight weeks, we have seen some early signs of aggression and unwanted sexual behaviour ñ he will try and mount almost anything and then attack it.

When we play with Toby with toys, he can become very aggressive. If you make eye contact with him, he will growl, snap and sometimes bite. It is sometimes possible to calm him down by asking him to sit and calling him gently by his name, however his behaviour is very unpredictable.

We are taking him to training classes and the teacher there has suggested that, as Toby comes from trial winning working stock, he may be frustrated by his position as pet rather than working dog. Do you have any suggestions we don't know what to do for the best.

Answer: It sounds as though Toby may not have had the best start in life. Many cocker spaniels are bred for looks rather than their temperament these days and they can be very difficult for normal owners to rear easily.

The struggles you are having with Toby are not uncommon, but they are unnecessary if puppies are bred from stock bred for good temperaments.

Dogs that are bred to be working dogs can be even more difficult as they will have all the energy and persistence needed to win trials with an experienced owner. In addition, many working dogs are kept outside in kennels and not adequately socialised or habituated for life in a household.

I would suggest that you get professional help to sort out Toby’s problems now before they get any worse and he gets any older.

Finding positive, non-aggressive ways to deal with the problems will prevent his aggression developing.

Please contact a member of The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors or ask your vet to recommend someone in your local area.

You may like to read The Perfect Puppy which has more information on understanding & working with this behaviour.

Also see Gwen Bailey's article on Ingredients for the Perfect Puppy

Please also see Training for Life (everyday life) easy & fun training classes you can do at home, including:

• Audio tape of noises your dog must learn to be unafraid of
• Video on how to raise a friendly, well balanced dog that can cope with everyday experiences in the modern world
• Explanation of training using rewards, toilet training, learning to be alone, chewing, adolescence, setting boundaries and saying ‘no, solving behaviour problems, tricks, games and having fun.

Question: If I use my boxer to breed, will it change his temperament or behaviour? I don't want to change him but a lot of people have asked me to breed him as he is so lovely.

Answer: No, it won’t change his temperament.

It may make him more interested in bitches in season as he will then know how much fun they can be, but it won’t change him in other ways.

So many dogs are bred because they look good and the temperament is secondary or not even thought about. If you have a healthy dog with a good temperament, and there are homes of all the puppies, then you may decide to go ahead.

However, before you make the decision, pay a visit to one of the larger rescue centres and see how many unwanted dogs there are waiting for new homes!

Question: I have four Yorkshire terriers. A 5 year old bitch with two 6 month old pups and a 4 year old bitch who I have just had mated. Mum and pups get along fine, but my 4 year old won't stop attacking them all and the fights do get nasty. I have now got a small muzzle for her that I put on at the first sign of any aggression. Apart from the muzzle and sedation tablets, are there any other methods of preventing these attacks? Please help - I can no longer trust the 4 year old.

Answer: If this has only just started, it may be something to do with the change in hormonal status of the 4 year old, or perhaps there is competition for space now that the pups are becoming mature as well.

If she is pregnant, it is important that she has a stress-free pregnancy as, otherwise, she is likely to produce nervous, reactive, difficult offspring. Review her living conditions and, if necessary, you may need to separate her from the others until after the pregnancy.

You don’t say whether the puppies were males or females. If they are female, you may have too many females coming into season at the same time for a harmonious household.

You may need to consider spaying some or all of them or, at least, putting them on medication to surpress seasons until they have established a workable hierarchy between them.

If you need further advice for this difficult problem, please contact The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors

Question: Harry is 14 months old and is not showing any signs of cocking his leg. He was neutered at 6 months.

Answer: Dogs that are neutered early in life sometimes never cock their legs. Leg cocking is not learned, but induced by the surge of testosterone at puberty acting on the brain.

It is a biological mechanism that enables male dogs to place their scent where rival males and receptive females can find it. If dogs are neutered before the levels of hormone triggered this change in the brain, they don’t cock their leg.

Dogs that are neutered early often retain a puppy-like appearance and fail to develop the other sexual characteristics of an entire male. This makes them easier to live with and there is not real need for a pet dog to cock its leg – in fact, it is slightly more convenient as they tend to stop less often to investigate and leave their own scent.

Question: Hattie, my 10 month old Bull Terrier has started growling at Molly, my 3 year old Bull Terrier. It started during her first season, which has just finished. She has always shared her food, bones, beds and everything with Molly. Now, when Molly is sitting on one side of me on the sofa and Hattie is on the other, Hattie will growl. Should I leave them to sort it out themselves, or should I intervene? Should I punish her, if so, how? Molly is very docile and submissive, but I’m beginning to wish she would teach Hattie a lesson or two.

Answer: It is usual for bitches living in the same household to begin to compete with each other around season time.

Nature has equipped them with a desire to pass on their genes to the next generation and it is important to them that they are the ones to have puppies at this time rather than their rivals (in the wolf packs of their ancestors, there would usually only be enough resources available to feed one litter of puppies at a time).

This makes them difficult and competitive with other bitches in the household during seasons and accounts for Hattie’s change in behaviour.

During her puppyhood, she may have found that Molly is gentle and submissive and no match for her in terms of pack leadership.

As she has matured and come into season, she could have tried to take her rightful place at the top of the pack. You don’t report any aggression elsewhere in the house, or when they are left alone, so I suspect that Molly has either accepted this or Hattie hasn’t quite won the battle yet. I also suspect that you try to treat both dogs equally, and this may be upsetting the fragile balance that now exists.

This means that the dogs are okay with their roles until you interact with them. Then you probably accidentally reinforce Molly’s status by petting her in equal amounts to Hattie.

This effectively demotes Hattie which forces her to growl at Molly to try to retain her uncertain new role as leader. I would suggest that you reinforce Hattie for a while, putting her first in everything, particularly giving her attention and affection first.

Push Mollie away from you when you are sitting on the sofa and make a fuss of Hattie (if you feel bad about this, give Hattie lots of fuss, then take Mollie out and give her all the attention she needs behind closed doors. Make a fuss of Hattie when you go back in, before you let Molly in to keep the pack order stable.)

Try not to intervene too much in any squabbles, and don’t shout or punish as this raises the emotional temperature and may cause the dispute to escalate. Keep toys and bones out of the way for the time being until things have settled down.

It may be necessary to have Hattie spayed before her next season to prevent any further unrest during the next and subsequent seasons. Expect another 3 months or so of ‘difficulty’ between them while they settle down and establish a proper pack order.

They should gradually find their own stable pack structure, but if you have any further difficulty or fighting occurs, ask your vet to refer you to a good pet behaviour counsellor (or visit The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors for a clinic list).

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