I have 2 spayed bitches and 2 entire dogs, one of my dogs will not leave one of the bitches alone, he keeps following her all the time, licking her back and laying by her side. This has been going on for weeks.
Does anyone know why he is doing this and how I can stop him.
Sandie.

Have they been together for a long time peacefully previously?

If it is a behaviour change, and a sudden one with no explanation, it might be something silly, or may be worth a vet visit with the bitch.

Lindsay
x

We have always had the odd problem but its never gone on and been as annoying as the present, the dog even cry's when he cant get near her.
Would casteration solve this problem?
Sandie.

Sandie

>Would casteration solve this problem?<

Davdee
It might, it's well worth a try but neutering does not guarantee anything, it just makes some things more probable. Very often we overlook normal dog behaviour, some of them display both homosexual and cross species sexual behaviour, mounting peoples legs can be a problem if the dog is not obedience trained so it's hardly surprising your dog is getting attached to the bitch.

Personally I don't see anything which suggests any veterinary problem and just because a dog does something we don't understand it by no means suggests a trip up to the vets is required.

If on the other hand it will make you feel better by paying a vets visit I suggest you do that. I would STRONGLY suggest that you do not use a vet who is tied in with any behaviourist, they are commercially involved and the vet refers you to one of these people who in turn charges a fee, usually around £100 and is able to tell you no more than I have.

If it were my dog I would simply interpret it as normal behaviour for that dog in its interpersonal relationship with the bitch and get him neutered. If it did reduce the behaviour it would be a gradual process over around six months.

Because the dog has learned to relate to the bitch as he is doing it is unlikely it would stop the behaviour completely but it might reduce the intensity and might stop any increase in the behaviour.

I would consider a vet visit - it could well be that the male has realised something is wrong with her and is following her because of it.  Remember, dogs have been trained to detect cancer - and there are many, many stories of dogs repeating behaviours to alert their owners to something.  One that springs to mind is a jack russell that started digging at its owner's chest, and kept doing it for weeks - in the end, she went to the doctor's, to find out she had some infection or other that would have killed her had it not been found.  Another owner had a cancerous mole that the dog kept licking at.  So i'd get your girl checked out, just to be sure - dogs are so much more aware of everything than we are, I'd take his behaviour seriously - especially if it's suddenly started.

Let us know what happens!

Whilst I do agree with some of the points raised in the reply given by Davidee to your problem I do think this is a somewhat cynical view. I personally work within an canine rescue centre, dealing with in the main rescue dogs with perseved behavioural problems. I should also like to point out that I do not charge a penny for my work with these dogs I do so solely in the hope of finding good solid homes for those animals who have very often come into our care with psycological problems due to human ignorance or cruelty. However all that said to address your particular problem, I would first like to ask you a few questions to try and establish the root of your problem.
Can you tell me the ages of your dogs, and your bitches, when did you have your bitches spayed, and have there been any changes within your household which could have affected your dogs behaviour, for example have you moved house, increased or decreased working hours, has a child left home, or anyone new moved into your home. Is any one of your dogs a new addition to the family. In short try to think back to when the problem began rather than when you began to view it as a problem. If your dog is a relatively young male it could very well be that castration would help, it sounds as though the dog is probably suffering from some anxiety and very often castration which drastically lowers testosterone levels can be of benefit. However if you do not want to go ahead with a surgical castration either because the dog is elderly or for other reasons you could discuss chemical castration with your vet, this can be a good way to gauge how much benefit would be obtained from going ahead with the surgical procedure. Chemical castration is often used in breeding dogs to ease the stress levels in male dogs whilst bitches are in season.
Hope this helps ,Serena      

I would agree that it would be worthwhile to get the female checked out if this is a new thing. My spayed bitch has a lump on her foot that got infected at the weekend (she had it removed today) and my entire male was acting like she was in season, absolutely obsessed with licking her foot and mounting her. Since she returned from the vets he hasn't paid any attention to it at all. Definately worth getting sorted out.

I'm glad your bitch's foot is better, lucyandmeg. It's very strange how the smell of infection in others affects dogs. It was the way my boys were acting with my bitch that made me take her to the vet to be checked out, and we caught the infection in time. A few days later and she might have had to have her eye removed to get rid of the infection. I pay a lot of attention to their behaviour now!