Hi,
This is the first time I've posted to this forum. I'll appreciate anyone's advice!
We have two dogs: a two-year-old neutered Bichon male, who is quite mellow with other dogs and gentle with other animals in general. We have a 11-month old Maltese/Yorkshire female who is in heat for the first time (we are getting her spayed after her heat is over). She's been in heat for about two weeks now, and the two dogs have been getting along just as well as ever, if not better. They have been living together well for 7 months now.
Today, our female suddenly attacked our male (who is twice her size) while they were eating. We didn't see what happened until it had already started, but he was yelping in pain and when we picked him up, she came up in the air with him, hanging on to his rump with her teeth! We put her in time out for a while, and everything seemed to be okay for a few minutes (they greeted each other) and then suddenly she attacked him again when my daughter was petting him. Again we put her in time-out, but switched her to her crate, thinking that maybe she wasn't feeling well and might feel better in the crate. After about 45 minutes, I took her out to pet her and see how she was doing, and she tried to make a bee-line to where our male is hiding under the couch. As I stopped her, she snarled; I realized she was heading toward him to attack him again.
Now we've got a male dog who won't let us see if he's got any wounds because he's hiding under the couch, and a pint-size in-heat female who seems intent on attacking him unless she's confined:confused:
Just wanted to reiterate that she has been in heat for two weeks now and there has been no trouble between them--in fact, they've been more affectionate with each other than usual.
Any insights or advice about how to diffuse this situation?
