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Expert: - 1/24/2010


Question
I have a female Jack Russel Terrier that is 5 years old.  We have had her for almost 4 years.  She is super smart.  She had a 3 pups 1 1/2 years ago and we sold 2 and gave one to family because we were going to keep one but fell in love with the father and ended up keeping him.  She has always been a "queen bee", snappy at our other Jack Russell and our lab.  But it has seemed to get worse in the last year.  She used to snap at the other dogs but then walk away with her head held high like "so there!  I am the boss".  But now she will attack them.  SHe is really mean and will not stop unless we physically stop it.  No amount of yelling will stop it.  She is trained well except for this.  She will not stop and has hurt our old lab and the other Jack Russell to bleeding.  It is out of control.  We have an underground fence and tried the training collar, to no avail.  We are considering getting rid of her but our son is devistated.  She is NOT fixed, do you think that would help?  When we get her off the bleeding dogs, we tell her she is bad and put her in her kennel.  HELP!!!  Thank you so much

Answer
Get her spayed. It will help but they ALL need to be neutered. The male too. She is exhibiting sexual and territorial aggression and she won't stop unless she is spayed and they are fixed as well.

No amount of yelling will help this. You must stop that as it only makes them worse.
Get her spayed and then re-bring her back into the fold slowly. She needs time to heal also. You can also try medication if things don't calm down.

Amitriptyline is a fairly safe drug that can be used to calm the dog down. I would talk to your vet when you get her spayed about putting her on it for a while.

I hope this helps and she mellows out. Let me know how it goes.

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

Expertise

PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

Experience

I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

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Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

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Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

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Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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