So I had typed out this laborious post yesterday on the topic about how pregnant females might kill a cat or other critter, especially an outdoor cat, and it may be some type of seek and destroy mission that the hormones give her at that time to prepare for the safety of her pups -- anything that might be a threat has to go.
And, of course, intact females might decide they hate each other. Bitches fight for breathing rights, and all that.
Other than that GSDs can learn to live with other critters, etc.
And then I just backed out of the post, as it really didn't need to be said.
Then I went home.
Babs was barfy so I had put her in the outdoor kennel after cleaning up the bathroom, my bed, and the study yesterday morning, so I took Heidi with me, and decided to get her groomed while I went to work for a few hours. Jenna had something going on and was at the vet the day before, and I had her in the in/out so I could give her meds. Moofie was in the other in/out, and Heidi was so clean and good smelling, I thought I would just keep her in for the night.
The worst thing, is I noticed her tail go up as she sniffed through the baby gate at Jenna.
When I went down there to give Jenna her meds, she slipped through the baby gate with me and attacked.
I got her back through the gate, but their jaws were locked onto each other, and it was like a blood bath in there. Given the opportunity, one would have killed the other last night. Jenna is my alpha bitch. But being under the weather, and nine years old, Heidi thought it was a good time to overthrow the queen.
The thing is, Jenna rarely fights or snarls or anything with anyone. But if someone does start something with her, which has happened once or twice, she finishes it. She carries herself as an alpha, and everyone just accepts it. Heidi got the worst of it. Her face is all swelled up. I'm giving her cephalexin.
This isn't dog aggression -- Heidi was at the groomers with scads of dogs yesterday, and Jenna has no problems with outside dogs. This is same-sex inter-pack aggression, and those of us who want to keep multiples of the same sex, intact, have to manage them. And if we slip up in that, as I did yesterday, then we really cannot blame, punish, or kill the dog.
Well, we can.
If the dog has an issue, and is no longer useful to us. And we want to free up space or time for youngsters that we care more about, that we might have a use for. But then, we should call it like it is, the bitch is old, or has XYZ condition, can't use her for breeding, can't work, time to go see the vet. Killing a dog or bitch because we cannot manage some of the very traits that we want to see in them, is pretty low.
That is mostly for people choosing to keep intact dogs for work or breeding. Pet owners should really think long and hard when they want to bring in another dog that is the same sex. They need to know the general disposition of the dog they have, and maybe put a number of years between them. If their current bitch is an strong (dominant to other dogs) 8 year old female, and they have a four year old male, they might be ok getting another young female, If she is happy to be a follower, all can go superbly. But they need to be prepared with a plan in case it doesn't work out when the youngster reaches sexual maturity. Playing musical crates or kennels forever isn't what most pet owners want to deal with. And, rehoming one of them may be best for everyone involved including the critters.
So how do I feel toward the bitches I had for 8 and 9 years that just tried to kill each other? I love them. I feel sorry that I didn't prevent what happened. I know exactly how bad it looks and feels when a dog you love is trying to kill another dog you love. I think that if we anthropomorphize them, we can feel hurt, and angry, and may want to put one of them down. When we see them as another species, whose instincts and drives and characters are only partly understood by us, we are more likely to feel disgusted and angry with ourselves, and feel bad that our dog now is in pain, is going to have some scars, needs to take meds or have their face shaved.