I have no idea what to do now. My dog Cleopatra Ann (a pure bred English Black Lab) had puppies last October and we gave them away at the end of December. However, since then her loving personality has changed into very aggressive behavior. We have two other dogs in the house and she tends to go after them for no reason. I’m not just worried about the other two dogs in the house; I’m also worried about our 6 year old son. Is this behavior normal after puppies are taken away, or is there something deeper. I don’t know if we should get rid of her, because most of the time she is her sweet self. It’s just that her temper can change at a drop of a dime and she goes from being sweet to baring her teeth, attack mode. I know that getting her fixed may help with some of the aggression, but I’m not convinced that it will take it away completely. We tried distracting her when she goes into these modes, but it does no good, mainly because we actually are afraid to go near her when she gets like this. If anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

EXACTLY what is happening when it is triggered?

Is she now separated from the other dogs?

Has she shown aggression to humans too?



The whole oops litter thing belongs in another thread, but I just hope with all my heart that you have taken steps so that it will never happen again. Are the other dogs intact males?

The problem is that nothing is happening to trigger this behavior. The other dogs can just be laying down doing nothing and she will turn around and attack them. We do separate Cleopatra from the other dogs when no one is at home, however we want her to interact with the other ones, actually we were hoping that it would help her become more comfortable with them around. There has been no aggression towards people yet, but I know that if she can go after the other two dogs, then there is always that chance that she could turn on one of us as well.

I do want to make one thing clear, the other two dogs in the house are both female and the litter was not an oops, we bread her, having homes lined up for all the puppies before hand.

You do understand that a) dogs don't need other dogs for companionship and b) many females do not get along with other females, correct?

Inter-female aggression is really common.

For the sake of all the dogs, and children in the home, it is probably best to keep the dogs seperated.
A fight could erupt, and not only could the dogs be seriously injured (or killed), but so could any of the humans in the area. Including your son.

You have three females. You are creating a dog pack- and a very volatile one, at that.

I just wanted to point out that just because she is aggressive towards the other dogs, that in no way means she will turn on you.

How old is she? Have you taken her for a physical since having the pups?

These are all good inputs from you guys. And I am really happy to be here and see that a lot of people are talking a lot of sense.
This behavioral change may very well be because of her pregnancy and having to lose the litter which has caused some stress or frustration. But whatever it is that's trigerring this behaviour it must not be allowed to happen. Constant vigilance and corrections should be followed should you decide to let her mingle with the other members of the pack. Dogs live "in the moment". Whatever it is that's trigerring this behaviour, she will to deal with it and you will help her by being a calm dominant force. An attack doesn't happen all of a sudden. There are subtle signs that some people don't see before it does. Even the other members of the pack might trigger an attack when they project nervousness towards your stressed dog. If she gets fixated and tense towards them, this might be a sign of an attack coming. Snap her out of this fixation with correction.
This website has very good articles on becoming a pack leader. At the end of the day, it all boils down to that. If in doubt consult a professional.
Hope this helps and good luck to you.

I would think it had more to do with hormones than the fact that her puppies found homes. I have heard of bitches becoming aggressive when they have new puppies to protect but never when the pups are old and gone. I wouldn't think the aggression is related to the pups - other than maybe hormonal.

I assume she has been to a vet to rule out physical problems? Sometimes pain or illness (thyroid problems?) causes sudden personality change.

As an aside, I think Connie thought "oops litter" - as I initially thought, because you said you "gave the puppies away" rather than sold them.