Help!!! Post spaying aggression!

[Angel Puppy]

Hi everyone!

As I wrote in the other thread, Angel was spayed 10 days ago. It all went fine, and we took the e-collar off about 2-3 days ago. She is pretty much healed, but there is ONE HUGE CHANGE!

Since we took off the e-collar, she's been a monster... She is VERY aggressive. She is always biting our hands, and even our FACES!!! And even when she's lying down really tired, and we'll pick her up she'll growl and try and bite us...usually when we pick her up while she's lying down (to put her in her crate) she's very quiet and calm. This doe is not longer calm, she is very very aggressive...she attacks toys like never before, she attacks us, she barks in a more high pitched way, and she even does her business almost anywhere...

The biggest problem is al the growling, barking, and biting...

I thought spaying would lead to her being calmer...

What is going on? Why is she being this way? and what can we do to change it?

Thank you so much!

A_P

[shandoggy1]

Spaying NEVER calms them down it just keeps her from getting pregnant, pyometra, and mammory tumors. Have you called the vet and inquired about her way of acting. And is she play biting or aggressive biting? I know my 5 month old pup loves to growl and nip when he feels like playing. Maybe she is just sore. I would call your vet and ask. Good luck!

[yesiames]

It seemed as though Sammi was a little the first day we took the ecollar off - she seemed a lot more... hrm... i guess you can say aggressive, but that sounds too harsh... anyways... she's better now... and i guess she just had a burst of energy because she was restricted from play for so long... hope things get better, like shandoggy1 said, you should call the vet and ask to make sure...

[CTDog]

Agree with the above.

[Angel Puppy]

The vet recommended more exercise and said that it could be due to restriction as you all said...but it doesnt seem the case...she's a 10 lb puppy...we walk her for about 3 hrs a day and she's still like this...we let her free around the house to run around as she pleases...her biting is of both sorts... she does play bite, but she also has the aggressive growling biting that she does now...you try to pet her and she's ready to bite your hand off...

We'll give it a few more days and take her to the vet if not...can it be some complication from the operation?

[Carrie]

No, I seriously doubt it has any direct connection with the surgery itself. Lots of dogs get spayed...I've had a few girls-all spayed and never noticed anything different. I might suspect that the e-collar could have frusterated her a lot. I've never had a dog who had to wear one. My dogs didn't mess around excessively with their sutures, even after Jose had patella surgery. Have you been catering to her an extra amount since she had the surgery, hovering, letting her have her way more than usual? She may feel defensive on account of the soreness. Do you mean you've been taking her for a 3 hour walk so soon after surgery? Has the vet seen her since the surgery? Just trying to get idea. Does she know any commands, like "sit" "come" etc?

[flyndog]

You say you thought spaying would calm her down. What sort of problems were you having before? How old is the dog?

[Angel Puppy]

The surgery wasn't done to calm her down, it's just something that many people were telling me would happen. She is a very hyper puppy (7 months)...

The vet is the one who recommended we give her double the exercise, since she may be frustrated...we dont take her out 3 hrs every day though...what i'm trying to say is that she gets her exercise...the only thing that changed during her recovery was the food we were giving her... we really spoiled her and let her have more human food (without the spices of course, such as boiled chicken) and more vegetables...nothing else really changed since she was still obeying commands....

the commands she understands are "no" "stop" "sit" "down" "jump" "walk" "beg" and so on...

[CTDog]

Originally Posted by Angel Puppy

the commands she understands are "no" "stop" "sit" "down" "jump" "walk" "beg" and so on...

So when she is biting at you, tell her "no" or "stop" and make her "sit." If she is simply being a fresh puppy and biting at you for attention, simply standing up and ignoring her may do the trick if everyone in the house does it consistantly.

[mrsgrubby]

I would guess she began to think she was the boss after her spay because you babied her. Now she needs more structure. If she is getting plenty of exercise you could try some other things to get her to behave. Are you currently doing NILIF with her? If not I would be very stict for about a week with that. Don't let her get anythign without earning it.
Also, she might be going through a chewing phase. It seems that our puppy began chewing more at that age and if she didn't have ample chew stuff she would use us. Do you have chew things like toys, stuffed kongs, even a bully stick to chew on. Small dogs can chew pig ears for days without actually eating them. (Just be careful she doen't start resource guarding her chew toys).

[Angel Puppy]

Funny that pig ears were mentionned...she gos through 5 a week... she loves those things and they keep her quiet...only problem, it takes her about an hour to destroy the thing, and then she stinks...

but I will be more strict with her...it's not so much the biting (she has MANY toys) but the barking...at least with biting, we can alienate her...give her some alone time where she cant bite anyone, but her barking has gotten VERY nerve-wracking. She will not stop barking high pitched...she's not in pain, she just knows that it gets us going crazy and trying to find a way to make her stop (by giving in)...we cant ignore it since we live in an apartment building...

The only way to calm her is to take a laundry basket and put it over her...it has the same effect as limiting her sleeping space...the basket we use is the same one as you see in the pic..still...i dont want to have to resort to that all the time, since I think it cruel to keep her under there for more than 5-10 minutes...

[CTDog]

I wouldn't give her 5 pig ears a week that is way too much for a small dog. Be careful with them....one of my dogs developed pancreatitis so no more pigs ears allowed here.

The barking is related to the out of control behavior. Consistant training and exercise to cut this behavior down.

[Carrie]

Please, please, please don't give her pig's ears or any rawhide. One of my dogs almost died from a pig's ear. They're hard, sharp and a shard of that thing got into my dog's intestines, cut them up and she had bloody diarrhea and vomitting for 24 hours. I seriously thought I'd lose her. All that stuff that they can break a hunk off of and swallow is dangerous, can cause blockages, perforation of the intestines and they have chemicals in them which were used in curing. I recommend sticking with a hard Nyla bone or Kong.

Don't be strict with a puppy.....as in harsh. She doesn't know. I think the best thing is to ignore the dog, (no speaking, looking at, touching, nothing) when it's biting at you, walk away and end all playtime and give a suitable teething toy instead. Taking yourself away from your pup is the ultimate disappointment. Reward calmly when playing nicely. Give a little treat.

At 7 months, she should be settliing down a little bit. How much obedience practice is she getting? Have you tried a little bit of NILIF? Give her a job and try to redirect that energy toward skills that she can be proud of.

Have you enrolled her in a puppy obedience class with a positive method trainer? That would be great fun and very good for her.