Sudden aggressive behavior

Question
We have two male labs (brothers) that are approx 1.25 years old.  Recently they have killed a cat, a puppy and attacked a dachsund dog.  Our neighbors female dog is in heat, and I am not sure if this is all coming from that or not.  We live in the Philippines where there are no leash laws, and so all the dogs here roam free.  Any suggestions?  We don't want to have to kennel them all the time or put them on ropes?  If they don't change their behavior we will have to give them away to someone with a fenced yard.  They are not at all aggressive to people, and we have actually never seen them attack anything.  There are 2 male labs a little older that live down the street that they normally "play" with but with the female in heat, they seem to be fighting for the right to breed.  Is this normal?

Answer

Hi Marla,

You may have gotten it right when you said that you think the increased aggression is because of the female dog that's coming into heat.

Neutering your dogs will solve this problem once and for all, and prevent unwanted pregnancies. Even though there aren't leash laws where you leave, keeping your dogs leashed is a great way of preventing your dogs access to the female, and also prevent them from killing other people's pets or wild animals, or fighting with other dogs.

Female dogs go into heat twice a year on average, and last about 21 days long. Again, neutering your dogs will end the behavioral problems associated with sex hormones, which are only going to get worse over time.

Best of luck,

Patti