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Over the past 3 weeks, my Jack Russell has been regularly attacking my Cavalier King Charles. Without warning and without even being provoked, he has suddenly taken to grabbing the Cavalier by the throat and shaking him violently, snarling aggressively in the process. I am then forced to separate the dogs, and although the Jack Russell never tries to attack me, he does continue to snarl when I'm dragging him outside. This has only become a problem in the past 3 weeks, and it's scaring me as I'm 37-weeks-pregnant, and I really don't need this shit. I'm taking him to see the vet this evening to eliminate the possibility that he might be ill or in pain as I know that this can cause aggression in dogs, but I know his vet is going to suggest neutering him. But that bothers me as he doesn't roam, he doesn't try to escape, he doesn't even try to mount other dogs, he's very submissive with humans, and well behaved, hes even won obedience competitions with me, and allows our cats to rub up against him, and in other circumstances he allows my second dog to cuddle up beside him. Hes also very protective of our house, and will alert us to strangers and protect us from other dogs on walks. Last year he attacked a dog which was going to attack me. I feel quite safe with him. I'd just hate it if I had to neuter him, and I'm worried it won't make a difference to his aggression towards the other dog, and if anything just make him listless, and take away his personality and zest for life, maybe even make him put on weight. I know what vets are like - they'll bleed you for every penny you've got. Does anyone else have any advice for me? Have any of you got neutered dogs? Does it help? ↓
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| Name: lindalu | Date: Aug 15th, 2007 9:18 PM |
Yes neutering your dog does help. He may be fine with people and other animals but he can also be dog aggressive. Dog aggressive doesn't always mean that they are aggressive to all dogs it can mean that they are aggressive to some dogs. If you have him neutered it will not only help with the aggression, it will also prevent prostate cancer and future behavioral problems due to not being neutered. If he is active and fed a proper diet he wont get fat. My dogs are both neutered it hasn't made them lazy it has only made it easier to train them and made them a much friendlier dog.
Are both your dogs male with one being younger than the other, possibly just reaching that mating age? ↑ |
| Name: briseis | Date: Aug 16th, 2007 9:23 AM |
| Yeah both are intact males. The Cavalier is just over 1-year-old. ↑ |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Aug 16th, 2007 4:27 PM |
| I think the jack is trying to establish his dominance, that can be bad! In some cases the more dominant dog can really hurt and even kill the weaker one. The dog doest know he is doing wrong,he is just going on his instinct and that is to be the higher up. If you have them neutered it will help, they will lose a lot of this behavior. Try looking up a dog behaviorist they will be able to better explain why this is happening and how to change this behavior. It is real hard to explain what should be done via a chat. You should really have some one you can sit face to face with, some one who can see the two dogs and make an accurate assessment. ↑ |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Aug 16th, 2007 4:30 PM |
| I'm sorry, I got the two dogs backwards. I meant to say the King Charles is trying to gain or maintain dominance over the Jack Russell. ↑ |
| Name: briseis | Date: Aug 16th, 2007 7:41 PM |
| Well it's definitely something I'm considering. In the meantime the Jack Russell is going to have a hormone suppresser injection (which has the same affects as neutering, only it only lasts a month) to see if neutering will stop his aggression towards to Cavalier without doing anything permanent just yet. Thanks for your advice. :) ↑ |
| Name: lindalu | Date: Aug 17th, 2007 5:14 AM |
| Good luck hon! Hopefully it all works out. Keep us informed as to how it goes. ↑ |
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