Shady
Well-Known Member
For once I have to be serious as i have a bit of a situation going on in my house and i'm not sure what to do about it, or want's causing it but ANY advice will be welcome as i am in no way a dog expert although i do my best and take ownership responsibility very seriously.
Some of you know I have 2 dogs. 1 is my lovely old french hound Jessie and she is now nearly 11 but in great health. The other is my Young Weim Nickel and he is about a year and a half. I also have 6 cats.
Jessie has never been an affectionate dog to dogs that live with her. Cats can touch her , dogs can't but i have never had any aggression , not with us, cats, or any dog. My last Weim was castrated young as i never thought to do otherwise. I was a cat person before so this is what you do. After joining this forum i considered the choice and have left Nickel entire. He is different in many ways to my last Weim and i have noticed that the older he gets the less he will back down and challenges Jessie a lot with all sorts of things. The last never did this, she was boss, he always gave way to her. So there is a different dynamic going on and she is older and has always been top dog i guess?. I step in where i can but how far do you take this. He is super with dogs in general, very submissive in fact, entire or not
Over the last 3 months i have had sporadic vicious fighting between them over ' food ' this could be anything from a horse turd to a speck of cat food and it is getting worse. It's unpredictable so i don't know how to deal with it and Jessie is getting hurt.
The other thing that has changed is the cat's behaviour in the house. Iv'e had cats all my life and balance them carefully in terms of breed and sex and this bunch get along just fine, or they did until a month ago , now they are fighting with each other every other day, different combinations and behaviour that i would never, ever anticipate from the breed.
My questions therefore are, is it connected to Nickel being entire? can you share some thoughts. Logic tells me that is the problem in part but would castration change anything? I am not opposed either way. My friend had terrible problems with her dog that literally changed over night when she castrated but i am wise enough to know that this is not always the case.
Thanks people! xxx
Some of you know I have 2 dogs. 1 is my lovely old french hound Jessie and she is now nearly 11 but in great health. The other is my Young Weim Nickel and he is about a year and a half. I also have 6 cats.
Jessie has never been an affectionate dog to dogs that live with her. Cats can touch her , dogs can't but i have never had any aggression , not with us, cats, or any dog. My last Weim was castrated young as i never thought to do otherwise. I was a cat person before so this is what you do. After joining this forum i considered the choice and have left Nickel entire. He is different in many ways to my last Weim and i have noticed that the older he gets the less he will back down and challenges Jessie a lot with all sorts of things. The last never did this, she was boss, he always gave way to her. So there is a different dynamic going on and she is older and has always been top dog i guess?. I step in where i can but how far do you take this. He is super with dogs in general, very submissive in fact, entire or not
Over the last 3 months i have had sporadic vicious fighting between them over ' food ' this could be anything from a horse turd to a speck of cat food and it is getting worse. It's unpredictable so i don't know how to deal with it and Jessie is getting hurt.
The other thing that has changed is the cat's behaviour in the house. Iv'e had cats all my life and balance them carefully in terms of breed and sex and this bunch get along just fine, or they did until a month ago , now they are fighting with each other every other day, different combinations and behaviour that i would never, ever anticipate from the breed.
My questions therefore are, is it connected to Nickel being entire? can you share some thoughts. Logic tells me that is the problem in part but would castration change anything? I am not opposed either way. My friend had terrible problems with her dog that literally changed over night when she castrated but i am wise enough to know that this is not always the case.
Thanks people! xxx