Re: agressive female

In Reply to: agressive female
Posted by:  Jill
Posted on:  May 30, 2001 at 08:34:33

: We have an 8mon old JRT that is showing increased aggressive behavior towards our other dogs. We have another JRT and a min. poodle. The 8mon Jack taunts and then attacks the poodle then the other Jack joins in. The 8mon has not been spayed and has just in the past week come out of heat. I've been bitten while breaking up fights and am at my wits end. During the day the two jacks are crated and the three dogs are never left alone without proper supervision. Will spaying the pup help with her agression? I'm not especially keen on the possibility of surrendering her to rescue but I need harmony in my house again. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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Hi, Jill,

You should spay your Jack Russell. It should have been done two months ago, but hopefully if you do it now it will help your situation. She's still young. People who choose to keep terriers intact in their house need to come to terms with the fact that their terriers are going to have emotional/hormonal highs and lows, and will become more dominant and "bossy" than those who are spayed early. It's worth taking a try, wouldn't you say?

And terrier females will become even more unpredictable when they're in heat, but one that bites humans should be spayed. No two ways about it.

After she's recovered from spaying, be sure she gets plenty of exercise. If she's crated all day, she may be at her wits end, too, because she'll need an outlet for her energy, especially as she reaches maturity!

Good luck!