8 month old female beagle in season and fighting

Hi,

I have owned my 4 year old male jack russel since he was a little pup. We bought a female beagle pup not too long ago and she is now 8 months old. She has just started her first season and over the last couple days our male and female dog have been fighting very, very aggressively. Reg (male jack russel) would start off the fights when Millie (female beagle) would be chewing her antlers (deer antlers that she loves) Reg would get very jealous that she is chewing them and attack. Its weird because we have ~4 antlers around the house for them to chew at any time and Reg only seems to like them when Millie is enjoying them. Before Millie entered her season Reg was not that bothered about Millie chewing the antlers but when he got jealous he would just growl at her and she would bark at him because he showed he was in charge and he stole the antler away from her. But now when Reg gets jealous Millie seems to stick up for herself and defends herself instead of letting Reg be the boss. I have thrown all of the antlers out but if they keep fighting over stupid things what should I do as it is very hard to separate them when they fight, they hang on to each others neck and wont let go.

If you have any idea on how to fix this fighting issue I would appreciate it if you could let me know.

Thanks.

Hi there!

Well beagle bitches are known for being feisty and yours has just become a grown-up. All the chemical signals will be telling your JRT that puppy days are over. Also, even if he has been neutered, they will be winding him up. He's a boy. You've done the right thing by removing the cause of some of the fights but say they row over 'stupid' things. Not to them it isn't! (have you never seen two grown-ups arguing over a parking space?) Dogs aren't people and have their own view of the world. So there's a bit of a battle for precedence here. I've always had two dogs and it can involve a tussle. Food, beds, sofa, access to 'their' people...who goes first though the door. I tried not to intervene unless absolutely necessary. (If you do, and only as a last resort, the safest way is to grab the back legs of the aggressor and walk backwards like with a wheelbarrow. And keep walking till things quieten. Don't put you hands in there whatever you do. Much as they love you you'll get bitten.) But my answer to most scraps is water. I always kept a jug of water in whatever room we were all in. A dousing over both heads can often bring them to their senses. You may find once the season is over things improve. Good luck. Mine always sorted it out in the end. Nobody got more than a nick or a mouthful of hair lost.

Fighting can look worse than it actually is. Resource guarding, which is what your dogs are doing, usually sorts itself out when one dog gives up trying to get the resource from the other dog. It is one of the perils of owning two dogs.

When they are having antlers or any other "disputed" item then it is best if they are separated. This can still cause difficulties if doors etc are left open. Crates can help with this if you use them.

If the issues spread to toys, sleeping areas, access to humans etc it becomes more of a problem It is best left alone unless it is too serious to do so. You will probably see that one dog will win over one item while the other dog gets to win over another item. It is all about how important each dog views each resource. The antlers were, obviously, very important to both of them at the time. This may resolve in time or it may be that they have to be permanently banned.

The situation may resolve itself once your bitch's season is over. Are you going to neuter her? If not you might get problems arise again. Of course things might not settle when she is between seasons in which case you will have to have lots of management techniques in place. Shouting is never helpful as the dog thinks you are egging it on!

You did the right thing removing the antlers, but the resource guarding may move onto new object/s.

If you are concerned, it would be best to get a behaviourist to come out to see you so that they can look at the situation as a whole and help put a behaviour modification programme in place. It would be best to nip it in the bud before it escalates any further and someone gets bitten.

There is also a good book on resource guarding called Mine! by Jean Donaldson.




Mine!: A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs