Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 3/1/2010

Question
Hi,
I have a Welsh Red Collie bitch, Poppy, just coming up to her 3rd Birthday.
She was born deaf, and has a cleft nose.   We have two other collies (one bitch, one male) and a poodle (male), and Poppy is the youngest of the dogs.
We have been looking after a friends very old dog for one or two days a week, for a number of months now.  The very old dog is very grumpy with all other dogs, not just ours.  

Poppy is very possessive and guards my wife and her possessions as a matter of habit.

This morning, my wife was taking all the dogs out for a walk, and was just leaving the property, when the old dog started to get grumpy and showed her teeth to Poppy - Poppy, struck back, biting the old dog and causing a nasty cut to the leg of the old dog.
We have taken the old dog to the vets and she will require anti-biotic and several stitches to repair the wound.
That's the background - now to the question.

Would having Poppy spayed change her habit of protecting and guarding.???    She is a very friendly dog nearly all the time, and she normally gets on well with other dogs that we meet with when out walking.

Kind regards

David Sleeman

Answer
There are even more compelling reasons to get her spayed as well as helping calm down her territorial aggressions.
Her health is at stake if she isn't spayed. The more heats they have the higher their risk of breast cancer and uterine infections gets.
Deaf dogs also shouldn't be bred, but I am guessing you know that, especially if they have a defect like her cleft palate. So there is no viable reason to keep her intact.

The older dog probably feels threatened by Poppy and thus shows her teeth often. But a lack of manners and territorial aggression is what caused her to strike back.

It will take a few weeks for the changes in her behavior to really show but it will have a calming effect on her to a point. At three years old some of this behavior is acquired, not just hormonal, and it will take some training to reverse the behavior.

If the other dogs in the house are also intact that has contributed to her aggression. They should all be spayed and neutered.
Sexual aggression is almost worse than the territorial type. Both can cause serious injury to not just the dog, but your wife as well should be accidentally in the way.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!