When I first got involved in Labs, I had all boys. I'm still fairly new to bitches and I'm confused by the behavior of one of my girls.

She is usually the sweetest girl in the world. Happy, fun-loving, and she gets along well with everyone.

She is 2 years old now and something "funny" is going on with this season. She's started to angrily yip at one of my boys when he comes up to the other side of the fence. Plus, today she "went off" one on the other girls. She didn't bite her or draw blood, but she did snarl at her and get her down on the ground.

She has NEVER displayed this type of behavior before. I'm thinking this it might be hormonal???

So here are my questions to long time bitch owners:

1) could this be hormonal?
2) will this behavior go away?
3) is there a supplement/nutritional element that may be missing that would cause this ??(in the same way that low calcium in new mothers can make them "testy")

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have never seen this kind of behavior and her temperament has always been wonderful. I'd hate to scrap her from my program if she just needs a boost of vitamin k or something like that.

CRATE THIS BITCH,away from other dogs , sure it could be hormomal , but I would only AI her , she is liable to take a stud dogs face off.

Yes, that does sound hormonal and although I do not often hear of a bitch going to this extreme it can happen. I would keep her away from all others dogs and bitches if you have another bitch. I do agree that when you go to breed her only AI her dont tie her. As far as supplementing her the one time I had this happen quite a few years ago we did not give her anything in addition to her regular diet and it goes away (went away) after the heat.

Kinda surprised she is like that with the other girls. As for getting snippy with the boys, that is 100% normal.

Where was she in her heat cycle? Was she not interested or ready to be bred?
If she continues this behavour outside of heat, what do others think about keeping this bitch in a breeding program?

We just placed a bitch that did this.... She was snippy until it was time to breed then we could get her bred and after we had to isolate her because she was dog aggressive. Sweet as can be with people but VERY dog aggressive. She whelped and was a fantastic mother but put her back with the other dogs she would be aggressive again. I would advise against keeping a bitch like that. I won't keep one like that again. She was dominate and consistently had small litters(litter of 3 and one of 4). Breeder preference but I know I couldn't do it again. Didn't matter what we put her on she had that awful personality :(

I would agree if your bitch did this even after being in season, but only while in season?

Original poster: Where is she in her cycle and has she improved? I would take a guess that it is hormonal. Just keep an eye on her and if she continues the behavior after her cycle, you know what you should do...

Good luck!

Update: Everything has been hunky dory since that day. Not sure what bug crawled up her butt for those 24 hours or so. She was barking at my boy for a few days.

She hasn't been barking at the one boy anymore (she never barked at the other boy), and she has been acting normal with all of the girls too. (might add: the girl she snarled at is quite young - and has an annoying puppy attitude - she didn't THROW her to the ground, the puppy just hit the pavement on her back when my girl got "testy" with her) I did see the puppy jump over her hindquarters before the snarl. I'm thinking she thought the puppy was mounting her???

I monitored their activity together on the afternoon of the 23rd and again yesterday and today. Nothing but wagging tails and happy faces. No sideways glances or anything to be concerned about. In fact, it's like a dirty movie in my backyard now with congo lines of humping bitches.

My girl was around day 5 of her season when these behaviors started (and stopped).

Thanks for all of your input. I'm just thinking that she's not sure what these hormones are and how to deal with them. She doesn't have a mean or agressive bone in her body otherwise.

Over the years, I've had several whose personalities totally change while in heat and in 1 line it stays unpredictable while pregnant. I keep all my bitches separate during heat and when bred. They run together and get along great when not in season or not pregnant.

You can never be too careful. Too many have a whole different personality when hormones rage. I do not even give an opportunity for issues, just keep them separate. I have a separate play area, etc.