Sled dog breeding

[dainerra]

yes getting her more confident one on one is most important. even if you end up having to keep her separated from the other females, you can get her integrated again.

I've seen hormonal females do some crazy things - both dogs and humans lol
And it can really escalate same sex aggression, especially towards a dog she already disliked.

 

[Starfire669]

I had 2 theories about why this happened. Both hinge on Dawn being alpha female by default.

Theory 1. She wanted to go with me on a road trip and I didn't take her, the alpha. I took Rascal, the alpha male, Phantom the puppy, and Sasha the super submissive. This could have made her mad, and like a child throwing a temper tantrum she acted out.

Theory 2. Cheyenne just started flagging. Dawn and the pack knew before we did that she was fertile and receptive. Dawn was probably trying to tell Cheyenne "I'm top female, I breed you don't". And when Rascal and Fiona came to defend Cheyenne, Dawn was faced with a pack revolting against her leadership and went off the deep end.

If that wasn't bad enough, Dawn isn't cut out to be alpha. She is like a child with ADHD. She don't have the brains or mental strength to keep order and discipline in the pack. So I have a dog who is unsuited to for the leadership position trying to lead anyway, because dogs need that social structure, and now the pack may be turning on her.

I'm leaning more towards theory 2 myself. But maybe a combination of both theories is what's going on. Or it could be something completely unrelated.

 

[dainerra]

I've found that most dogs don't like an overly submissive dog. It's like they are wearing a huge sign that says "beat me" Signs of weakness aren't tolerated in the animal world and overly submissive animals seem to attract attention. The hormones flying and all the minor irritations can really set a girl off as well.

Hopefully once the hormones pass, you can get a handle on it

 

[Starfire669]

I've found that most dogs don't like an overly submissive dog.    It's like they are wearing a huge sign that says "beat me"     Signs of weakness aren't tolerated in the animal world and overly submissive animals seem to attract attention.      The hormones flying and all the minor irritations can really set a girl off as well.    

Hopefully once the hormones pass, you can get a handle on it

Isn't it strange how dogs are? Dawn don't like Fiona because she won't submit. But Dawn might not like Cheyenne because she always submits. It's a very fine line too.

If I'm right, Dawn is off balance and feeling insecure because the pack turned on her. I should be able to fix that.

 

[Starfire669]

I think I figured out what happened. Thanks @dainerra for helping me piece together the most likely scenario.

It is fixable, but I'm going to have to start with my hubby. I think he broke Dawn off Cheyenne in the wrong way at the wrong time, thus setting off Rascal and Fiona. I think Dawn was enforcing her dominance over Cheyenne, sensing she was reaching the fertile stage of heat and my hubby thought it was a fight, grabbed Dawn and publicly disciplined her. This unstabilized Dawn's role as alpha, and caused the fight my husband told me of.

So I'm going to rehab Dawn and make my hubby participate, as well as teach him how to understand pack behavior and language. This whole thing could have been prevented if I had been more pushy with my hubby learning this from the start. I don't argue when he tells me my car needs work (he is a mechanic), now he is going to do the same for me when I tell him how to handle the dogs.

My kids are going to help too. I have taught them some basic dog body language since they were tiny. The can tell an aggressive dog, a fearful dog, and a happy dog. We are working on more subtle signs, but they have ears, tail, and bristling down great. They can help my hubby understand these signs. I haven't taught the kids how to handle fearful or aggressive, simply taught them how to see that and stay away from those dogs. But the kids are further along with dog skills than hubby, so they can help teach.

 

[SternRose]

Hope it goes well, keep us updated.

 

[Americano Blue]

I don't agree with the "labs do it best" crap, Aussies or Border Colies do it best! Lol, but it's true BC's and As's do it best!

We had an agility comp today and Cindy and I took 1st for on lead!!! our time was 36 seconds but she missed the tire so it came to 41 seconds. but still we beat collies and assuies!
I repeat, LABS DO IT BEST!!

 

[Americano Blue]

Isn't it strange how dogs are? Dawn don't like Fiona because she won't submit. But Dawn might not like Cheyenne because she always submits. It's a very fine line too.

If I'm right, Dawn is off balance and feeling insecure because the pack turned on her. I should be able to fix that.

Dogs are totally weird. My black lab chow mix is alpha female but she is only authoritative with certain males. she always gets her way, except with me

 

[Starfire669]

Someone shoot me, i cant keep up with Phantom's energy.Phantom did 2 hours of agility today, when I tried to rest us, he dragged me back to the ring. And he loves the dang A Frame. He also learned the weave and did it flawlessly 6 times. After 2 hours of agility he did about 45 minutes of obedience before getting bored. He wanted back in the agility ring. He is like the energizer battery, he just keeps going and going. Rascal did the high dog walk balance beam thing beautifully. He loves the tunnels and chutes. I also took Fiona on a mile walk.

 

[SternRose]

We had an agility comp today and Cindy and I took 1st for on lead!!! our time was 36 seconds but she missed the tire so it came to 41 seconds. but still we beat collies and assuies!
I repeat, LABS DO IT BEST!!

My groups best time without fault is an Aussie named Mia her time was 25secs the top border collie is Abraham his time is 30secs. But your time was fast! But I REPEAT AUSSIES AND BORDER COLLIES DO IT BEST!!