I'm afraid to bring her anywhere

by Pam

I Miss This

I Miss This

I have a 2.5 year old Newfoundland. She's always been the sweetest dog, and so tolerant (with children, strangers, animals, anything). I've done a lot of training with her and she's usually wonderful.

About 6 months ago she had a litter of puppies, she was two and it was her third heat first litter. She was great during most of the pregnancy but about 2 weeks before she was due a neighbors dog came into our yard when I was outside with her and she flipped and aggressively chased it down the street. It was probably just hormones because she'd never done anything like that before. She had her litter and was a wonderful mom. She was even fine with friends visiting and seeing her babies (she even fell asleep once when my 6 year old cousin she didn't know too well was in the whelping box with her and her pups, not nervous or aggressive at all). She'd always been like that, very laid back. After the puppies went to new homes we started taking her back to the beach more to see other dogs again. We kept one of her daughters and would bring them together. She attacked one dog at the beach, no broken skin or blood but there was some fur in the sand and the owners (including myself) we shaken up. That dog was leaving as we were entering the beach so we went on our way. We continued the walk and i had Poppy healing at my side (without her leash on) while her daughter was ahead of us playing. Her daughter started playing with a poodle mix and when the mix started getting too rough with her and pinning her down Poppy bolted from my side before I could say anything and pinned down the other dog. I got her off the dog and drove her home. Since then she's been aggressive with any dog we encounter.

When i take her on walks in the woods i get nervous and keep her really close and put a leash on her as soon as i see another dog. We own a lot of land and a groundskeeper/ maintenance guy lives in a cottage on our property. He has a female 1 year old shih tzu mix that Poppy gets really aggressive with. If she sees the mix she'll run at her, tail up, and if she gets to her she'll start growling and roll her onto her back, bite at her, and chase her aggressively. I can keep her away from the mix most of the time but i get nervous letting her out to the bathroom in case he lets his dog out too. I don't know what she's become so aggressive towards other dogs. It's the worst at home but she lashes out even on walks.

Please help I don't know what to do or why she's become like this. I'm having her spayed at the end of the month, will that help or make it worse? Whats wrong with my girl?

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Aug 04, 2014
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Nothing In Life Is Free
by: Adam G. Katz

Employ the "Nothing In Life Is Free" approach, so that your dog starts to view you as the "pack leader." If your dog doesn't see you as the leader, then your corrections will be meaningless. So, if you're doing subtle things (inadvertently) to undermine your leadership role around the house-- it will be counter-productive.



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All the best,
Adam

Adam G. Katz is the author of, "Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer!" -- which you can find at DogProblems.com.

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