Changes in bitch's behaviour - Page 1

My friend's dog developed pretty severe maternal aggression following her first litter. She actually killed a neighbour's yappy Maltese terrier. However, once the pups were weaned and gone to new homes, she went back to being her old sweet self.

Now, after whelping a second litter 6 months ago, she still will not tolerate strange dogs anywhere near her, nor can I let her near the daughter I kept from her first litter. We were at an agility class last night, and her owner had to be careful not to let her too close to other dogs.

Is this change of behaviour fairly common in bitches? Should my friend try to get her over it, or just accept that that's the way it's going to be from now on?

I would never breed her again!!!

My guess is that this was a trait that was present and perhaps not observed or missed. Now the dog is older and her true character/behavior shows it. It would be reasonable to have her thyroid checked to make sure she is not having some medical problem contributing to her behavior. Regardless, the chances of your friend "getting her over it" are slim to none. If the dog already killed a dog, regardless of how "yappy" the small dog was, this is a clear warning sign. It should not happen again. Your friend should act accordingly and NOT give the dog the opportunity to be aggressive. If the dog kills another dog, the chances are very high the female is going to end up getting impounded, declared a dangerous dog and destroyed. In the process, it would not be surprising that some human tries to intervene and gets bitten and your friend sued. It is not worth that risk. She should make sure the dog and people around the dog are safe. That means keeping the dog away from other dogs, period.

 Hodie is right.

I personally wouldn't breed a very DA dog unless it was so phenomenal that I felt I had to, but I don't know the whole story w/the Maltese, so I won't say she necessarily shouldn't breed her again. I see bitches get more PROTECTIVE toward other dogs when she has pups on premises, but as far as aggression, I don't see this improving spontaneously. I have heard of bitches "waking up" some after a litter, or X number of heats, or just at a certain age...too many variables to hazard as guess as to what, exactly, is going on, so the safest is to not trust her one iota w/other dogs and manage her responsibly, once you rule out a problem like thyroid, which can definitely cause aggression. 

Also, have the bitch checked for EPI as EPI can cause agression.

To explain what happened with the Maltese, the bitch was out in her yard with the puppies, and the Maltese came charging out of its house, barking its head off, headed right for the fence. Mama went ballisitic, and went right THROUGH the fence. One bite, and it was all over. :(  Animal control investigated, and said that what happened was understandable, and there was no reason to declare her a dangerous dog. Her owner paid to have a better fence built, and paid for a replacement puppy for the neighbour.

She is fine with strangers her owner introduces her to, and with dogs she's around all the time. However, last summer, when we let her run loose with my 10 month old pup (her daughter from last year) she bit her on the face. It was more of a nip than a bite, but it did draw blood.

Louise, thank you for the suggestion. She does seem to have chronic loose stools! I've suggested this to her owner before, but she's always come up with some other excuse for it. If it IS epi, it's mild, because she got back to a normal weight not too long after weaning the puppies. It was a large litter (9) so she certainly didn't look her best while she was nursing them.