Hi guys
im really sad and depressed over the past few weeks crystal has become a little aggressive,2days  ago i told her to stop chewing her bed cover as i got close to her she put her head forward and bit my hand,not enough to break skin but it scared me so much i cried,why oh why is she doing this,she isnt ill,vet gave her a clean bill of health,im just so scared that things arnt  going to change,i have 5 kids and other dogs,pets and im worried incase she will hurt them,some advice would be great as im at a loss
she tryed snapping at me again today,yesterday she bit my other dog Merlin on his foot he couldnt walk for about an hr,we also kept one pup and im worried incase she will hurt him,today shes been ok with them but im worried sick help please
thanks
Mandy 
ps she had pups 12.4 weeks ago,she had a c-section and spay at same time.do you think it could be hormonal?

Hi Mandy,

What age and breed is she?

sorry
shes a jack russell terrier and 21/2yrs old

Under what sort of circumstances does she do this?  Is it mainly when she's being told off?  Or does she appear to do it for all sorts of reasons?

Does she have  a history of chewing her bed cover or  is this new? :)
Is her behaviour a total change or did she show similar behaviour before  this episode?
Does she normally get on well with the other dogs?

Lots of questions but background is vital to this sort of problem!! :)

Lindsay
X

Ok
she has never done this before,chewed bedding and she normally loves all other dogs and was always friendly to all,
its a real change of character,its normally when she asked to do something its just so not normal for her to do this,i love her to bits and its worrying me like mad, do you think it could be a jelious thing?
any advice on how to try and solve this problem?
thanks
Mandy

In my experi4ence bitches that have had a litter can get a bit above themselves, after all only the alpha bitch would normally hqave4 pups in the wild, so this elevates her position in the pack.  You confirm this elevated position with all the special attention she naturally gets whilke she is rearing pups, and oif course she has authority over her litter.

Then you try and boss her about, and she thinks hell no how dare this upstart try to knock me off my well earned alpha spot.

I think you have to get smarter than she is, demote her in subtle non confrontational ways.  Rahter than try to take something from her call her to you, for which she will earn prais or a treat, after she does something like a nice sit or down stay.  then remove the items she cannot have.  Take away al toys or chews that she guards to stop her lording it over the others.

Take her on her own and start on short training sessions, which she should enjoy (the praise attention or treats, whatever motivates her) and this should get your relationship back to where it should be, you firmly at the head of the household.

Some of it of course could also be acsascerbated by lack of hormones, as spayed bitches can sometimes become a little more aggresive through lack of female hormones.

I am planning on getting my own alpha bitch spayed in about 3 weks once her milk has gone, she is nearly 7 and I hope it does not affect her too much, but she knows that I am boss.

I think this has diddly squat to do with "alpha" bitch etc; more like she is location guarding.  Get yourself a copy of Mine! A practical guide to resource guarding in dogs and that will equip you with ideas on how to approach this behaviour.

If this is new behaviour, which the poster says it is then I think the resource guarding may be to do eith the hormone and status issues involved with having a litter.

One says it is alpha problem and one says it is not....I would suggest trying Brainless' idea and if that does not work then buy a copy of the book Tohme suggests...

The good things of these forums is to give people many idea's on how to deal with problems and what we may think it is...It could be an alpha thing and then again it could not be but no one know's for sure cause this is not our dog and we do not live with it.....But atleast Thumper has some idea's to go ny to help her rid the situation she is in with her dog.

Another good book that I have found to be a great help is:
Good Owners, Great Dogs
By: Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson

There is alot of helpful stuff in this book, I for one have found it to be a great help.

One good thing to teach a possessive dog is the leave it and out command, work on this. Really work more on your basic obedience like sit, stay, come, leave it, out commands keep them short and always praise/treat and have a short play time when session is done...maybe do them 5 minutes thro out the day gradually working up to 10 min ect. Don't always do them in the same order or else they will know what your going to say and do the command before you say it. You can also keep your dog on leash this way if you want her to stop chewing something give the leave it or out command, if she doesn't listen simple grab the leash and remove her you will be at a safe distance and only tell her once. Have you tried offering her something else to chew this way she will not have a problem giving up chewing her blanket? I have found when taking something away praise for them letting you take it then give it back, this way if you take away and not give back they will be more possessive over their stuff and less likely to let you have it. if your dog is already growling at you over the blanket you can ignore that and give another command like come and praise your dog right away, because if you are fighting with your dog about chewing the blanket and she is growling your only going to make it worse. Have your children do some command and if the dog does not sit by them when told you make dog sit but the child praises/treats the dog so they know they must listen to them as well, also have your children feed the dog this helps to.

me personally I would really work on basic obedience and find her place in the pack with the family as well as the other dogs. I have 5 dogs and they all have a place, I treat in a specific order/walk/pet ect and this has seemed to work very well. I do not leave dog toys laying around cause they are all mine and they only get them when I say so. I know alot of dogs that chew their bedding, I have one that likes to put big holes in his blanket even tho he has a chew bone but guess thats a small price to pay since thats the only damage he does and its his blanket. Mt breeder has a bitch the literally sucks on the corner of pillows and a blanket and she's 4 years old and has done this even before a litter....As with the puppy you kept do you do alot of affection to this puppy and make a big deal about it? If so this could make her jelious

Good luck and I do hope you are able to get your girl sorted out.

Hi all
thanks for your advice Crystal seems to be doing very well so far,(fingers crossed)
she is top dog in my house hold and always has been,
all 3 of my jacks are getting time out from each other and having one to one attention
and so far its working great,
none of my dogs sleep on my bed or even in my bedroom thats my space as they know,they dont get on the furniture either,they have there own beds and thats where they lay
thanks again
Mandy