Unaltered female aggressive w/ other females and smaller dogs

[svspag91]

The reason for my post: I bought a female beagle/australian cattle dog pup (now 6 months old) and I'll be visiting my mom in December with my new dog. I want Tala to meet Alba without attacking her. Dominance is ok because Alba has been submissive with all large dogs she's met and non aggressive, only rough play with certain dogs.
What's a good setting or approach to help socialize the two?
I'd like them to meet somewhere neutral (non territorial for Tala), but that's the only idea I have. I'll be visiting for two weeks.

Background:

• We've had Tala since she was a 2 mo old pup and she has been beyond wonderful. However, since she turned 6 months old she's always been aggressive with smaller dogs and females which made socialization tough. We had to give away our male pekingese to a family member because Tala became the alpha dog and it got nasty.

• She's not spayed because the breeder wanted to keep her as a potential breeding option. It hasn't been a problem in the 7 yrs we've owned her except maybe it's the cause of her aggression with other dogs, especially females (?)

• She's not people aggressive; she will "bluff" which scares people at first, but when Tala gets up to the stranger her tail is wagging like crazy and she's all over them with excitement lol. With dogs however she's stiff, intense, curious, and out of no where she will be on the attack...I don't know what sets her off.

• With males her own size she's submissive which makes sense. And it's only these dogs she will play with. Any female dog (lab, poodle, rottweiler, etc) she challenges...and the smaller ones she will try to make a meal out of, it's really scary. We've thought that maybe it's because the first two small dogs she met were females and they bit her causing Tala to react instantly.

• A couple months ago she was in the yard (I don't know why not on a leash), someone walked by with their dog and she attacked it with no warning. The dog had to get stitches

Also, my mom is established as the Alpha (and secondly myself) but in the doggie world Tala thinks of herself as the Alpha. I don't know if this means anything but when we bought her the breeder referred to her as the Alpha female of her litter.


Thanks!,
Solera

[hunterisgreat]

You can't get two intact bitches to like each other if they choose not to. I have a hyper dominate female, and two years later I got her mom. Fights ensued, I dropped the hammer in terms of policy enforcement for a few months, and we've had no fights in a year. Still have katya dominating Aska, albeit with posturing and no biting. They do play and groom each other, and get along, but katya doesn't allow Aska near me when katya is right with me, doesn't let her on the bed, doesn't let her have certain toys, and if I am giving "too much affection" to Aska she comes and makes Aska move away lol. That's the way it goes with bitches

[svspag91]

I'm not trying to work a miracle in two weeks, it will take time like your dogs, but I need advice for while I'm visiting to help associate the two. Alba is spayed, that might help. Also, Alba has been to classes and has lots of dog park experience. It's Tala I'm worried about. I understand her house her rules in the dog world and that's ok, but I don't want it to be aggressive/ harmful towards Alba.

[pets4life]

wow hunter i can't believe that fiesty black bitch pushes around her mother like that lol


Yes your dog is just a six month old little pup your adult german shepherd could seriously hurt her. I think You should just keep them away from each other if you get the feeling the female is going to attack its just not worth the risk. I have seen how quick a bitch can rip up another dogs throat in a matter of seconds. You know your female is like that so if you get that vibe Just keep them away from each other crate or something. Problem is once she latches on you wont be able to get her off its really hard. Your little pup is in that stage where if shes attacked bad its going to imprint on her. Its not worth it. See how you can just keep them apart. I would not let my adult bitch meet another bitch like the one you say no way in **** would i let a puppy meet it.


was she in heat when she attacked the other dog? i know females in heat can be extra bitchy it seems. They might attack and bite when they normally don't.

She does not seem like shes going to share please dont subject your pup to this.

[Jag]

In that position I'd be either boarding my pup, or doing the crate and rotate bit the entire 2 weeks. This bitch sounds like she could kill your pup in a matter of seconds... far quicker than you could even react. Why would you even entertain taking such a risk knowing that the other dog isn't going to behave?

[codmaster]

Keep them separate! Only two weeks is doable and MUCH safer!

[svspag91]

If I could afford a kennel for two weeks I would do it and if I knew someone reliable/ responsible enough to watch my dog I'd try that too, but I just have no other options. I'll be using extreme caution. I'm bringing Alba's cage, and Tala is restricted to one half of the house already, so there will be boundaries. I guess I was just wishing there's hope and a "dog whisperer" way for this work out
I'm in no way trying to force this and put Alba in a harmful situation. I just wanted some experienced answers and socialization suggestions because there's no way for me to avoid this.

I wanted to add in my post: all the smaller dogs Tala has ever met have either growled, nipped, or lunged at her (aggressive/ defensive). Our Pekingese was solely a house hold dominance issue.
Unfortunately when Tala was 8 months my cousin's Australian Terrier leaped up and bit her in the throat during their first meet and greet. Everything was going great before that happened. So, from then on we just kept her away from almost all other dogs not taking any chances. Tala had never broke the skin until the one accident I mentioned and we've never had to forcefully pry her jaws off of any dog.
I mean on walks she doesn't even notice other dogs...even the golden doodle that snaps and growls from behind his electric fence practically foaming from the mouth, she just goes on about her business really well behaved.

Thanks for your answers!

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by svspag91

If I could afford a kennel for two weeks I would do it and if I knew someone reliable/ responsible enough to watch my dog I'd try that too, but I just have no other options. I'll be using extreme caution. I'm bringing Alba's cage, and Tala is restricted to one half of the house already, so there will be boundaries. I guess I was just wishing there's hope and a "dog whisperer" way for this work out
I'm in no way trying to force this and put Alba in a harmful situation. I just wanted some experienced answers and socialization suggestions because there's no way for me to avoid this.

I wanted to add in my post: all the smaller dogs Tala has ever met have either growled, nipped, or lunged at her (aggressive/ defensive). Our Pekingese was solely a house hold dominance issue.
Unfortunately when Tala was 8 months my cousin's Australian Terrier leaped up and bit her in the throat during their first meet and greet. Everything was going great before that happened. So, from then on we just kept her away from almost all other dogs not taking any chances. Tala had never broke the skin until the one accident I mentioned and we've never had to forcefully pry her jaws off of any dog.
I mean on walks she doesn't even notice other dogs...even the golden doodle that snaps and growls from behind his electric fence practically foaming from the mouth, she just goes on about her business really well behaved.

Thanks for your answers!

Actually, dogs don't suddenly do anything like this unless they have learned to . They always (except very rarely!) give off signs that they are not pleased. Very often however, we humans either don't see the body language or ignore it.