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Hi Judy, My Ziya will be turning two on February 20 and is still intact. I honestly don’t know if I am going to get her spayed after two or not. I am still on the fence about it. My contract with the breeder says I have to wait until she had had two heats or turned two whichever comes first. She has had two heats already and I am waiting for her next one.
She is very compliant and don’t have any major issues with her. But I have noticed that she is becoming more assertive with other dogs (when we go to Playland Dog Beach) even some males, telling them that she does not want to be bothered by her body language and her barking at times.
What I am trying to ascertain is, is it because she is coming into her own, turning two soon or is it because she is still intact? Or both? We have a GS group made up of five GS (including Ziya) three out of the five are females. Ziya knows two of the females from when she was a pup. One of those GS is ‘her buddy” and they love playing and sparring together. Get along really well with one another.The other female GS used to bully Ziya when she was a pup. I would remove her from the situation as I never wanted to Ziya to have a bad experience. Ziya would play with her at times but in the end, this other GS would become too rough and I did not want Ziya involved in such play because it can quickly escalate. I have had numerous conversions with the handler/owner being brutally honest, telling her that people tend to leave (those others with GS) when she arrives because her GS charges at other dogs, in an effort to play but also I think … to display dominance, which she never corrected … only halfheartedly .
Anyway there has been a change in temperament with Ziya now and this other female (quite honestly even some male dogs too) which I would not expect since it was a male and not another female. They never got in any kind of altercation (as I am very strict with Ziya and make sure to monitor her 100% when at the beach) so I don’t know why the change with this one specific dog?
But it seems roles have reversed now and Ziya is showing dominance over this other female GS? We were all at the beach other other day and this once bully GS (who is a beautiful black-jet GS) did not want to be near Ziya in any way or wanted anything to do with her. She actually left her handler and tried to leave the beach which surprised us all. Ziya was vocal with her and her body language said to me that she is now showing this other female that she is not afraid of her but always wanting to play too. I watched her intently as she interacted with this female and saw behavior from Ziya that was a play bow with her barking with this GS, to charging at her showing dominance which I quickly corrected. I do not tolerate such behavior from Ziya, when she does do it. Normally she just wants to swim and get the ball and does not really pay any mind to other dogs when I bring the swim toy. She does not exhibit this behavior to the two other females who are much bigger than her …
Is it because she is still intact? Is it because she is finally maturing? Or both? Can it be she has a “puppy imprint” from this specific dog from her past experience of her being too rough? She does not display this type of behavior with the other two female GS, and neither I, or the owner of this dog can figure out why the change all of the sudden.
Any thoughts on this would be great.
Thanks.
