# Personality change after pups??



## kath2003 (Oct 3, 2003)

Our Blossom is 2 years old, right after she had her pups she started acting different. That was over two months ago. Now she seems like a different dog. She is jumping fences, barking like a crazy dog, going after the chickens, biting the sheeps legs. Its so bad we have her chained up now.
The only thing that quiets her down is a few shots fired in the air from a 22. What in the world is going on? Any thoughts please?


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

I would say a complete workup by the vet is in order. There may be something going on hormonally, could be thyroid, could be any number of things up to and including "rage" syndrome. This is about the time that would appear. If you don't come up with anything at the vet and want to talk to someone about her background I know some rescue folks that have a great deal of experience with lines in the area and can tell you if they've had problems with any other dogs from that breeder.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Females will often become more aggressive when their mom hormones kick in, but it generally arrives as more confidence. This is not normal behavior, and as longshadowfarms wrote, most likely is symptomatic of a deeper problem.


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## darbyfamily (Mar 16, 2005)

Oh dear! Our Bella is 1 yr old and she does all of the AFTER behaviors your dog does... now. So if we breed her, and she has pups, will she settle down? (Praying)


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

darbyfamily said:


> Oh dear! Our Bella is 1 yr old and she does all of the AFTER behaviors your dog does... now. So if we breed her, and she has pups, will she settle down? (Praying)


Probably not! You've also got a good chance of passing on that aggression to her pups so multiply that problem by 10 or so.


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## darbyfamily (Mar 16, 2005)

aw... shes not so much aggressive as just hyper... she's just a year old though and still a pup, even if she's massive in size. She just needs some training is all, she gets so excited when she sees us she nearly pees herself... ROFL


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

NO! Bella will *not* settle down!! She will be even *more* aggressive when she has pups to defend! And as longshadowfarms said, you'll likely end up with 10 pups who will act the same way. Get who to a vet for spaying and a trainer for learning manners!


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

We must have been posting at the same time. Hyper will also be passed to pups. It's an old wife's tale that animals will calm down after having babies. After all, did your personality change after you had your first, except to get_ more _anxious and protective about things?


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## kath2003 (Oct 3, 2003)

No, No, shes not aggressive by any means, maybe I worded that wrong. She seems anxious more than anything. Shes not biting to break the skin, or trying to kill the birds, maybe bored? I have to disagree about passing on being hyper, some are and some aren't from the same litter. She broke the chain and ran right to the other barn where her Fred and all the kids are. I just put her back with her mate (fred) and she seems a little calmer, but I don't want to breed them again already. I'm wondering if she is upset that all the pups have been sold and she misses them terrible.


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

Sorry for any confusion, I was answering about Darbyfamily's Bella.

I agree with the other posters that your Blossom probably needs a checkup. Pregnancy, nursing and weaning wreak havoc on the hormones and can bring underlying problems to the surface. You're right in not wanting to breed her back so soon. Once a year is plenty. She could just need time for her hormonal and emotional state to settle. Some dogs are really done with their babies by 8 weeks, but some miss them and really grieve.

Best of luck with her. I saw her picture on your website and she's beautiful!


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## kath2003 (Oct 3, 2003)

Thanks otter, she really is a sweetheart, just seems so different. We have an appt. next week to get her checked out. My vet knows her real well, and loves her so she may see a difference right away and have some advice also. Thanks ,


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## kath2003 (Oct 3, 2003)

Now, this morning, she seems quiet, happy, content, now that she is back in with Fred. She is playing with him, jumping around in the snow. Only thing she is barking at so far are the huge snow plows going by every 20 minutes trying to keep up with all this snow. Oh, she hates certain cars also, must be something about the sounds. Some just make her nuts!
I don't know??:help:
She has about 2-3 weeks before shes in heat again.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Bitches should not be bred back to back, and most breeders keep litters two years apart. Hyper can be passed on if it is genetic in origin. The fact that some of the puppies are hyper bears this out. Some got the hyper gene, some got the calm gene (however that works out). It's possible that her anxiety is related to the snowplows, if you can see a causal between them. Some dogs are very sensitive to change, others to sound.


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

Maybe she just wanted things to go back to normal. Dogs love routine. If they were people, they'd all be Rainman. Lol


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## kath2003 (Oct 3, 2003)

I haven't had a single complaint about any of her pups, only thing I have been told by almost all is how intellegent, and quick learning they are. Most of the people that keep in contact can't beleive how lovable they are 
Back to normal isn't possible though, when she comes back in heat. I guess she will have to adjust, or "WE" will, LOL


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

kath2003 said:


> Now, this morning, she seems quiet, happy, content, now that she is back in with Fred. She is playing with him, jumping around in the snow. Only thing she is barking at so far are the huge snow plows going by every 20 minutes trying to keep up with all this snow. Oh, she hates certain cars also, must be something about the sounds. Some just make her nuts!
> I don't know??:help:
> She has about 2-3 weeks before shes in heat again.


Interestingly enough, both of my last two Pyrs HATED plows, loud cars and motorcycles. Both of them are/were hard of hearing.


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## kath2003 (Oct 3, 2003)

oh yah, she definetly hates loud cars and motorcycles!! She starts jumping and running as far as the fence line will let her. I'm not sure now how to handle this whole thing. She sure isn't going to be the one to run the show around here, LOL:hand:


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Your right, many breeders skip a season or 2 in between breeding a majority of the time...the reasons are several:
1. if the litter took a lot out of the *****, it gives her body time to recover
2. It gives time for the puppies to mature so you can evaluate what she produced and IF it is worth repeating.
3. they have another ***** they desire to breed and do not want 2 litters at the same time or very close together (as most bitches kept together will cycle close together).
But it is actually healthier for the ***** according to repro specialists to have her litters back to back (if the ***** got through raising her pups without losing condition) and then spay. The reason is that each season is an assualt on the uterus and every unbred season increases the chance of pyo.
Personally, I have bred a ***** back to back twice when she had pyo'd previously as going without getting pregnant after pyo is a risk of getting pyo again. After that she was spayed. Other than that reason, I personally, will usually wait 3 yrs between breedings as I want to evaluate what was produced at maturity and I have other bitches I want something out of. I will say I will not let a ***** go more than 3 yrs without being bred as I find those are the bitches that tend to get pyo. So my program is to breed at 3 yrs old and again by 6 yrs old and spay. Another scenario that I have rebred next season is if the litter was very small (like a singleton). The litter in those cases had no effect at all on mom's condition and it was such a small number, the evaluation of the resulting pups, would not be a good indicator of what she is capable of producing. That said, my bitches cycle about every 8-10 months. If my bitches went 6 months or less, I would not think she body would have enough time to recover fully (even with a small litter) and would choose to wait till the following season.
Temperament can be passed on and usually is...be it good or bad. That said, I have seen people cause temperment issues (conditioning, stress during imprint periods, etc) that are not passed on to puppies. For instance, I had a calm, easy going ***** who was temperment tested and her score related to what I saw. I sent her away to be shown for a few months and though her care was wonderful, when she got excited it was encouraged and thought to be "cute". The ***** I picked up was way different than the ***** I dropped off. She could previously stack and hold position wonderfully when sent...when I got her back, she could not keep her feet still. She got so excited to show she would whine and fidget. She got the nick name Miss Happy Feet and was compared to a sheltie many times. She also used this as a tool to gain attention. This was never passed on to her kids or grand kids. In her case it was a matter of conditioning that once set, I was unable to break. 
Now I know of a lovely show line, with issues. The breeder buried her head in the sand about the male aggression and shyness she saw. Most of the puppies from those dogs and thier grandkids from the ones out of them with better temperment...were shy and/or dog agressive. I have one of the grandkids- a neurotic rescue...and her litter she produced (before I got her) produced the same. Her grandsire was taken to be put down after the owner/breeder passed away due to him tearing up another dog on a walk...the vet took him and keeps him away from other dogs. That is just going back as far as I personally know....I would assume the temperment issues had started long ago in the line though. Just something to think about.



Maura said:


> Bitches should not be bred back to back, and most breeders keep litters two years apart. Hyper can be passed on if it is genetic in origin. The fact that some of the puppies are hyper bears this out. Some got the hyper gene, some got the calm gene (however that works out). It's possible that her anxiety is related to the snowplows, if you can see a causal between them. Some dogs are very sensitive to change, others to sound.


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## YodelDogs (May 25, 2007)

kath2003,
I agree with those who have said that Blossom needs a complete vet workup. The changes in her behavior are not normal and you need to find out the cause. I would not recommend breeding her again until this is done as it may escalate the behavior issues and as others said, has the potential to be passed along to her offspring.

darbyfamily,
I agree with your assessment that Bella is still mentally very much a puppy who needs training. It will be training and maturity which will settle her down, not having puppies. Now if she continues to be hyper and wild after age 2 or so, I would not breed her as there is a very high probability of that being passed along to her offspring.


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