About 4 months ago I got a GSD female puppy, she is very energentic. My 6 yo GSD female at first did not accept the puppy, then after a week she started to play with the pup and would try to correct her for things like going near her food or toy. But they were living and playing together happily. About a month before my 6 yo went into season she started to attack the pup without warning, then she started to pee in the house and to mark over the puppies pee in our yard. Last week 3 of our cats got into a fight when our 6 yo was free in the house and she attacked one of the cats to the point it needed to have it's eye removed. I am at witt's end with this dog, where should I start to correct all this? I now keep the dogs seperated in different crates.

I don't have a lot of advice for you regarding your 6 year old however living with intact bitches... I have found that when one is in heat they are ALWAYS separated (I have only had 2 intact bitches at a time) they seem to always get more growly/hackly with each other. I also found that when I spayed my "momma dog" things got SO MUCH better just having one intact dog though I still sometimes have to separate when my intact one is in heat as she gets more pushy which makes her mom get growly so I just don't let it happen. I guess my advice is unless you feel the need to breed your 6 year old have her spayed and that should help at least the hormonal in heat part. As for the agression with the other dog and cats, I think you are just going to have to have rules for the dog that are strict.
Hope this helps

We brought a 8 wk old pup home to a 3 yr old female. It took months before we let them together for any length of time, and that was always under strict supervision. The pup is nearly 9 months old now and is bigger than the female, but she still will try to correct him if she sees fit <img src="http://www.leerburgkennels.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> I agree with Annie on the spay of the 6 yr. old female, unless you are going to breed. Close supervision of the dogs would be a must in MHO. Otherwise use a crate for seperating them. I don't know about the cats <img src="http://www.leerburgkennels.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Thank you for the advice. Having her spayed is definitely going to happen whether or not I decide to rehome her. I will also be setting up an appointment for her to get a complete physical just in case something is wrong with her. She just hasn't been herself this past year, my sister moved out and she was mainly home with her during the day while I was at work. A little after she left my 6yo became depressed and more agressive towards the cats. Someone told me that she may need to be put on meds for depression (she always had bad nerves anyway). She has never been aggressive towards anyone in my family, but she is getting pushy with her toys and going outside. The cat she injured was like her best friend, they would go out in the yard together and cuddle on her bed, I think she was trying to stop the fight between the 3 cats and the eye injury was not intentional. Now I'm afraid to have her near any of the cats, but she is kept crated when I am not around to supervise (actually both dogs are).

Kimberly:
How much exercise does your older dog get?

Sadly not as much as she used to, but that is my fault. I used to take her to state parks for exercise but I stopped those outtings because she gets very car sick. Now I take her to a small park, but so many people have their dogs off leash there so I have to be very careful (this is where she swims). So I decided to take her to a old railroad property near me, but this is now overtaken by people on atv's.

I decided to make a definite schedule for her exercise (I only just started yesterday). I figure a few times a week swimming in the river near me should tire her out including her regular walks. Her decline in regular exercise has probably added to her problems, but I am definitely going to keep the schedule I setup for her to see if it helps any.

Oh one other thing, she has stopped eating for the past 2 days.

Dogs don't eat, in my experience, due to health issues or stress (ie: health issue). Take this dog to the vet or at least call. Could be a simple gastritis. BUT...I am not a vet!!!

From what I've read and seen though, health issues can sometimes dramatically change behaviours in dogs. My dog has shown some (out of character) aggressive behaviours recently and he was diagnosed with kidney disease in early March.

Have you ever had a blood panel done on this dog? I think I was told 6-8 years of age in the dog (depending on breed) is a good time to get a complete blood work up. At least then, you will have a baseline for now and for any future health issues that may arise.

In March, I actually pushed the blood test with the "stand in" vet, (my vet was at a conference). The stand in said it wasn't necessary, but that we could watch symptoms. <img src="http://www.leerburgkennels.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

We ended up doing the panels and glad we did. After some heavy research and a good homeopathic vet, (with support of my regular vet) I am now on course with a treatment approach and will maybe have another 5-6-7 years? with this dog!

I am so glad I didn't put that blood test off.

Thanks for the blood work advice. Yesterday I made an appointment for her to get a complete physical, so she will be going this upcoming Tuesday. I have noticed her urine is pretty dark and she doesn't pee as much as she used to (only a little bit at a time recently that reminds me of marking). That makes me wonder if she has urinary tract or bladder issues, she did bite some of her fur off on either side of her stomach where it meets her legs. I know sometimes dogs bite themselves in the area where there is pain so I will be sure to tell the vet about it. This dog has never been much of a eater and would go days at a time without eating. Sometimes the only way I could get her to eat is to mix meat or cooked eggs with her kibble. I guess I'll know next week what could be going on. I have taken her out for extended walks and exercise the past two days and she is acting a bit happier, but I still think she has something physically wrong with her. I'm just hoping it's nothing too serious. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Update:

All her blood work came back normal. They did find high levels of epithelial cells in her urine though, but we aren't sure if this is from her recently being in heat so I will be getting a urinanalysis done again in a month. She also tested positive for lyme disease with high levels.