Hi,

great forum, first off abit of background on my current home situation;

1 desexed male staffordshire bull terrier 4 years old named Bronx / outdoor dog
1 intact female french bulldog 3 years old named Rogue / indoor dog
1 intact 11 month old Siberian husky named Indie / indoor and outdoor

and then there is me and my pregnant wife who is due in may =)

My question is and a concern of mine is the aggression Indie is showing towards Rogue, its her first heat cycle at 11months of age and Ive put it down to that. Our aim was to let her have one heat cycle and then get her desexed. Not sure if that was the correct thinking after what is currently happening. She is better when she is with Bronx but when she is with Rogue she becomes aggressive at random times towards her, both being intact females wouldn't help but id like to hear about others experiences with this type of issue and if the aggressiveness subsided after being fixed.  

Another issue is the excitement level when im trying to put on her lead, the neighbours must think im slaughtering her with the sounds she makes (and she gets walked regularly).. i pretty much have to run out of the house to get her to stop half way up the street. Ontop of that she whines and whines when she is put outside with Bronx for abit, we try to ignore her and only let her back in when she is relaxed and quite but that's hardly ever hahaha

Other than that she is a beautiful dog and very affectionate, obviously with my wife being pregnant there are some concerns on how she would be around a baby, but we are hoping all will go smoothly (with the correct precautions in place of course)

any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Two females can be hard to manage fixed much less both being intact. A female during heat can be very aggressive. My girl will beat up on my fixed male when she goes into heat, a female would being around would be a terrible burden. To an extent after being fixed things will calm down. On that note though every time the other female that is still intact goes into heat there could still be problems. When you get that many hormones fluxing at similar times each dog is different how they will respond to it. The easiest way to have a fully quiet household without hormonal spats is for everyone to be fixed.

I am working on excitement with my girl. She hovers at the door before going for a walk and paces and whines. Removing her from the door and running her through calming tricks like sit and lay down to earn her leash has helped me. The biggest help though was removing her from the door. It served as an amplifier for her excitement.

TwisterII wrote:

Two females can be hard to manage fixed much less both being intact. A female during heat can be very aggressive. My girl will beat up on my fixed male when she goes into heat, a female would being around would be a terrible burden. To an extent after being fixed things will calm down. On that note though every time the other female that is still intact goes into heat there could still be problems. When you get that many hormones fluxing at similar times each dog is different how they will respond to it. The easiest way to have a fully quiet household without hormonal spats is for everyone to be fixed.

I am working on excitement with my girl. She hovers at the door before going for a walk and paces and whines. Removing her from the door and running her through calming tricks like sit and lay down to earn her leash has helped me. The biggest help though was removing her from the door. It served as an amplifier for her excitement.

Now imagine a household of 5 teenage girls, cycling at once...

The whole excitement thing. That's Z'ev to a "T" with food! He sits but he rocks back and forth on his front legs, gets an erection (or "lipstick" as some have called it )and is completely wired. Trying to slow him down with "wait". Helps sometimes, sometimes not. We have had moments here and there where he actually lays down, relaxed, while eating. I'll be watching (and going through past posts) because I think Kenzi and Z'ev have similar temperaments. Correct me if I'm wrong. I also think Z'ev was only very recently neutered - he still has re-growing shaved area, a remnant scrotum and a green magic marker mark between the scrotum and his penis.

Same sex aggression has been reported with huskies. With that said, the issue may resolve itself once both are fixed. I too also have the issue, although not to the point of full on fighting. Miya will get very sensitive to my husband and my other female, who has been fixed. Until they are both fixed, and you can test the waters to see if the SSA issue resolves because no longer having hormones. The best solution I have read is crate and rotate, meaning one is crated and one is not and then switch, so they are never alone together. I am with my two always, or my husband, and we both know the signs when Miya is not handling Sofie well, so be watchful of them if you do not crate and rotate. If an actual fight breaks out, the best method of stopping it is to grab one of the females back legs and drag them. Unspayed females are called bitches for a reason, they will fight more ferociously than males, so watching for signs prior will prevent any full on fights that could lead to seeing a vet for injuries.

The excitement thing, what the others mentioned, get in a routine of teaching sit wait, watch me, breaking focus and calming down is the best way to get them leashed up.