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Beagles/Beagle Agression

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Expert: - 2/7/2009


Question

DOG
Hi!  We have a 1 year old un-spayed beagle/brittany mix named Juno.  When Juno was about 6 months old we added a 2-year old female un-spayed Shih Tzu named Sassy and more recently (last month or so) a male Shih Tzu named Romeo.  My question is, all of the sudden this past week or so Juno has been attacking our little dogs for no reason.  She will cross a room and attack Sassy while she is just laying on the couch.  This is brand new behavior and all three dogs have always seemed to get along well.  Juno has NEVER been aggressive to any person or animal before, even willingly sharing treats/food with our cats. I am thinking that maybe she is having her first heat and this is why but if it's not that I can't understand why this would be happening, and it makes me nervous now to leave the room because the little dogs are SO much smaller and less aggressive.  It is clear that Juno is the alpha dog, although she has always seemed to know her place with my husband and I. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer
HI there, I just love the picture of Juno's puppy belly!  :)

You have quite a little pack going on now and herein lies part of the answer, the other part having at least 2 unspayed dogs and can't tell if male was neutered or not.

So first off you do now have a pack and the dynamics change a lot when the 3rd dog is added. Way different than two dogs.... The fact that at least two that I know of are not fixed doesn't help the situation because the hormones may indeed be kicking in for Juno as you said which makes her behavior more pronounced. You didn't really tell me what "attack" means, is she just snapping at them or is she drawing blood or??? It is doubtful that she does it for no reason, there are tons of dog cues that we as humans miss and if she is the Alpha she may be regulating their behavior. I can certainly understand being nervous about leaving them alone but it depends on how aggressive she is being, if she is just regulating behavior with an air snap or growl then it probably isnt a concern, if she is making physical contact other than to maybe pin them or make them submissive to her that is different. The other issue is will this behavior escalate as I know you are fearful of....

I cannot stress enough getting them all fixed due to not only lessening primitive canine behavior/thinking that goes on, but also the health benefits. For both sexes it means eliminating concerns over cancer, whether mammary for females or testicular for males.

In order to figure this out you would have to become intensely, acutely aware of canine behaviors and the signs (for instance position of ears, tails, facial expressions)so you could ward off these type of conflicts. IF Juno truly is the Alpha she needs this reinforced by you both because you are truly the Alpha's, but she also needs to know when her behavior isn't ok.

I could write you volumes about dealing with this but in all honesty whenever an aggression behavior comes up the way to deal with it is always in person so since that isnt possible I really think you should ask a trainer to come in for a couple sessions to observe and teach you how to deal with it. You sound like very responsible dog owners and it would be foolish of me to try and do this via email because if you get some little part of it wrong it could inadvertently reinforce a negative behavior. Many people may tell you a quick answer but I am trying to honest and safe for you in telling you that this requires one on one handling so beware of other suggestions you get. Dog behavior is very complex with many nuances and this is why so many get given up to shelters because people think they are doing the right thing ad then make it worse. I know you would never intentionally do thi but as I said when dealing with any aggression issues always let a professional help you!

I wish you best of luck and hope this gave you some direction..

Have4Paws

Expertise

I am happy to answer BEAGLE BREED SPECIFIC behavioral questions. Please DO NOT ask CRATE TRAINING OR MEDICAL questions! I am not a vet nor an expert in the use of crates.

Experience

I currently have one beagle, a male age 5, an 12 month old Pit Bull, and a 8 year old min. poodle. I have had to let go of three of my dogs, 2 beagles and 1 whippet/rat terrier mix in the past 5 years, most recently my whippet mix. The two beagles lived to 15 and the whippet mix to 13.5, it has been hard to say goodbye to them. I have done rescue work on and off for years as well as fund-raising for the local animal shelter. I worked for a dog magazine in the past (Southern California Dog Magazine). Being a psychotherapist has encouraged me to do in depth studying of animal behavior as well. I have worked with many people to help curb undesirable behaviors in their dogs (or them!) or to form good behaviors. My life is devoted to and surrounded by my dogs........The picture you see here is Zeppelin but we also call him the "miracle dog". He was hit by a car April 2010 while out with the dog walker and had very serious injuries... 4 surgeries and $17,000 later my boy is whole again and back to loving life. He is so special to me and he weathered a lot of pain and trauma yet is still the sweet boy he always was! I also work to stop Breed Specific Legislation and help to get pit bulls adopted.

Organizations
HSUS, PETA, SPCA DONT SHOP...ADOPT!!

Publications
Dog Fancy

Education/Credentials
I am a Marriage and Family Therapist licensed in the state of CA and am also credentialed as a Certified Addiction Treatment Specialist

Awards and Honors
Honored by the Agoura Animal Shelter for my volunteer work.

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