Aggressive Behavior in my female animal

[Giselle]

No, her name is her name. She knows that. The name is simply used to get their attention. It's not a command that can be conditioned to contain a negative or positive connotation. It's not like how you can deteriorate a "Come" command if you always call the dog back to you for punishment. I think the reason for this is due to the sheer number of times you probably say your dog's name in a day. The proportion of how often you say your dog's name when you're in a positive mood is probably very high versus how often you say her name when you're disciplining (which, in turn, is probably very low). Thus, the positive really outweighs the negative.

Many "rebellious"/teenage dogs don't take to NILIF at first, but you'll all appreciate it in the long run. It's akin to raising teenage children

[bckrazy]

Hi Pekemom.

I am glad you joined PT for advice... Giselle, especially, is a freakin' dog training genius. I honestly feel that YOU need to step in more regarding the relationship between your dogs - YOU need to let Bianca know when it's time to back off, not wait around for your male dog to do it. He is obviously a more submissive dog, and not only does the bullying make him fearful of Bianca, he will also lose his trust in you as the benevolent leader and protector.

I would feed them in crates, seperated, at every meal if you cannot be right there supervising. DEFINITELY cut off free-feeding if that's what you do currently, because Bianca will end up pudgy and your boy will end up under-fed. For supervised meals, I would feed each from a bowl several feet from the other, and stand in between them. If Bianca goes for his food, quickly correct her with a "NO", block her from getting there, and direct her to her own bowl.

As far as the humping, my dogs hump, too. They hump when they're playing. It's just a dog behavior... it is for play, demonstrations of dominance, excitement, and even just as a way to expend energy. Let them do their thing, unless your male seems scared or agitated. Has your female ever hurt him? Does she start fights? I would definitely set boundaries with the female (and the male) - not allowing her on furniture, not allowing her to guard toys/food/beds, and practicing NILIF religiously should really help to calm her down.

I really only signed up for these forums to find ways to better care for my animals and not to debate ideologies. All I'm doing is saying that breeding is not my concern at the moment. IF I were to breed my animals it wouldn't be for another year or more anyways....One person can only do so much and I already have several causes in my life outside of making people knowledgeable about breeding animals. When 20% of our nation's poorest people are children (we currently have a 12.6% poverty rate...higher than most countries), I find I take a stronger stance of the needs of them over any stance on animal breeding. If animal rights (or whatever it falls into) is your stance, that is great (I'm serious...it really is great). I don't see myself as a bad pet owner for simply not making such things my priority in life.

The thing is... breeding practices DO concern "caring for animals". I'm glad you are waiting to breed, and not jumping into it. Dogs certaintly shouldn't be bred before they're 2+ years old and full grown, anyway. Plenty of people breed dogs the instant it's possible, when they're still pupies themselves, and it's great that you know better.

You are not a bad pet owner if you don't research responsible breeding practices. However, that would make you a bad dog breeder. Would you buy ANY kind of product, or service, from some one who had only a basic idea of what they were doing, who weren't dedicated to doing it reputably? To become a breeder is to become invested in breeding; it is your choice whether or not to do it responsibly, but you're invested regardless. Bringing lives into this world, social, intelligent, fairly long-lived (15+ years for Pekes) lives, really shouldn't be taken lightly. Pekingese in particular is a breed that is incredibly prone to health issues and birthing issues, in addition to being a breed that is rampant with BYBs who are breeding away from their original standard. Consider a $1000 c-section, an injured/dead Mother dog, etc, etc... just for the fun of breeding? All I advise you to do is THINK, long and hard, about the seriousness of breeding before you do it; research is a good thing, the more you know, the better. http://www.learntobreed.com is a very informative website.

I strongly encourage you to, when your dogs are 2+ years old and if you still plan on breeding, get their hips, elbows, patellas, and backs x-rayed, their hearts checked, and their eyes CERF'ed. To not do at least this is literally playing russian roulette with the lives of their unborn puppies. It is also important to consider the temperament of both of your dogs - an "aggressive", dominant, pushy female and a shy, flighty male? I don't know your dogs, you know them. Honestly consider, objectively, if they are good examples of their breed.

[Pekemom]

The thing is, I do step in when Bianca bullies my male animal. The problem is, she does it a LOT. He hates it, and will many times try to climb up to the highest parts of the furniture where she can't reach him (since she is still small). She is constantly trying to drag him into playing with her when he obviously doesn't want to...even if he has been playing with her and tries to stop the play, she doesn't let him until she is ready. We have stopped allowing her on furniture because it became an issue that she started getting on the coffee table and knocking drinks over. Koie generally waits to be asked onto the couch or recliners, but Bianca seems to think she owns them. We also stop her from "stealing" her toys if she becomes too persistent with the behavior-meaning, if she repeatedly takes things from him in a short period of time. I just hate getting up and interfering with it so much because he seems to think HE is the one doing something wrong. So, instead of her changing the dominant behavior he becomes even more submissive.

My fiance and I have been feeding Bianca on one side of the dog gate and the male on the other. We were concerned as well that she would begin overeating. We regulate the servings they get, so we didn't want her taking his since he's already such a picky eater.

The male used to be much more assertive before we got Bianca. With our Weim, he was much more dominant-never let her take his food, never let her push him around, and normally "won" playtime wrestles. He's always been laid back, but it's so strange that he quit being assertive when Bianca came into our home. We're doing our best though to regulate a bit better, and have read (and are implementing) NILIF. It seems like she's becoming very nervous though, so I hope eventually she gets more comfortable with it.



In response to BK, the reason why I wanted to wait in the first place is so my animals would be more mature. I've seen what can happen to females who are bred the instant the first come into heat, and I've seen that it can cause a whole litter of pups to die. I've done my research on Pekes, and what I've learned from it is that I need to do more. I would never breed my animals without being entirely prepared-whether it be financially or simply being knowledgeable. My point is, I'm still considering the option, but not pursuing. Neither me or my fiance have decided if we want to breed our animals. That is why I don't like being forced into a decision that I would like to decide for myself through research and serious consideration. I definitely see your viewpoint, and it is one that I will actively take into consideration when it is time to make the decision. On the other hand, we will probably decide within the next few months what we want for their future because there would be no reason postponing neutering if we decide not to.

[Giselle]

Ah, I see the problem.

Rather than stepping in and doling out constant punishment and corrections, recall Bianca. The recall takes care of both major issues: it stops Bianca from bullying Koie and it redirects her attention back to you (it gives her a positive, alternative behavior).

So, every time you see Bianca bullying Koie, immediately recall her. Reward her. Send her back out to do something else or redirect her with a toy, command, whatever. Initially, you'll be doing a lot of recalls, but that's perfectly normal and it's good. The more you recall and the more you reward her for a good recall, the stronger this behavior becomes and the less she will bully Koie. It becomes a transfer of value. The value of coming back to you becomes higher than the value of bullying Koie. As you can probably tell, you'll need a very strong recall to begin with, so start reinforcing your "Come's" now. Reward often and make it a game.

[Giselle]

By the way, Pekemom, I can see that you're putting a lot of thought into your pups and I really do commend you for keeping such an open mind. But the issue of pet overpopulation is just as bad, if not worse, down South/in the boonies. I was reading an article about pilots who fly pets from overpopulated areas into areas with less of the problem. Here's a quote:

The mission-of-mercy relocations are flown by general aviation pilots who have signed on with the recently formed Pilots N Paws, a Web-based message board where pilots can access information about animals in need.

Once the electronic connection is made, dogs plucked by rescuers from death row — mostly in the South where sterilization rates are low and pet overpopulation is rampant — are loaded onto small planes and flown one, two or six at a time to rescue groups and shelters that have available space.

Some food for thought

[Pekemom]

I don't exactly live in the "boonies" at the moment, but the problem is actually less in places like that because there are fewer people in more agricultural areas. The problem comes closer to the small towns where certain laws concerning animals aren't priority-mainly leashing. This allows animals to run around and do as they please. The South historically has higher rates of poverty and lower income households (mainly due to the coal industry and agricultural roots). This higher concentration of lower income families who cannot afford neutering and so forth allows for the animal populations to get out of control. That isn't exactly the problem of overbreeding that has been eluded to since people aren't choosing to breed the animals, the animals just aren't being controlled.

The area I live in now (towards the mountains) has less of a problem with what I just mentioned than the area I came from. You just don't see as many dogs running around wild here-I'm not sure if it's due to the mountains, more species of wildlife, or just stricter enforcement of laws and neutering. Areas like this are areas that house more breeders, but the types of breeds being bred here are mainly limited to a few varieties.

Honestly, I don't understand why shelters charge so much in adoption fees in areas that have problems like this. I have seen people whose animals have a litter simply give the pups away for free. People are much more likely to want free animals than pay for animals from a shelter (at least the lower income families I mentioned). I don't think this is anything bad on their part-they aren't purposefully encouraging certain breeding issues. I also don't think that families should be excluded from enjoying the happiness that animals bring to a home simply because they aren't as affluent or as knowledgeable as other families.

The only reason I'd want to breed my animals is that I enjoy them. I like the breed quite a bit. I've not found any Peke breeders in this area because they aren't a popular breed here. Many members of my family have fallen in love with the breed too, but they've not found any Pekes to adopt. I'm sure when I say I'd possibly like to "breed" my animals one day makes some think that I'd be breeding my animals twice a year and selling off litters of 7, 8, 9 pups...that isn't the case. I'd likely not breed them often....and like I've stated, I've not decided either way yet.

[mruffruff]

Shelters charge the fees they do because of the services they have provided for the animal. In South Carolina, any animal leaving the shelter must, by law, be spayed or neutered. All shots need to be up to date. And some of the animals have been housed and fed for some time, until they are healthy enough to be adopted. Adopters should not need to see a vet for the first year. In the case of very young animals, the adopters are given vouchers for the spay/neutering, to be used at the appropriate time.

Some shelters are willing to work with lower income families so they can have the pet they want. I know ours does. Ours also has 'two-fer"s where the price includes two animals.

"Free" animals aren't really free if you are a responsible owner. An initial vet bill for shots and spay/neutering can run over $150 in most places.

I have to agree that the leash laws aren't enforced enough. In fact, most of the animal laws are considered nuisance laws by the enforcement agencies.

Often in the 'boonies' the litters are disposed of quickly when they are born. Some are food for larger animals and some die of starvation/hypothermia, etc.

I hope that the litter you plan to have is pre-adopted. That is, that you have good homes for each of the pups before you begin the breeding process.

[dogsonly95]

maybe your femdog is PMS-ing or she feels suspicious of your male dog.
has he done anything to you or her in the past that would make her feel this way?