[joelynk]

we have a 5 month old dashund that we had since she was 11 weeks old. we got her from a house that had two other older larger dogs that she seemed to get along with very well.
my question is when we walk her or go into a pet store with her and she sees other dogs in cages or outside she gets so nasty to the point where she growls and barks and attempts to go after the other dogs as if to attack them. it is not a playful manner and it dosen't matter if the dog is large or small.
is this normal for a puppy this young and how can she be broken of this. at times she even gets that attitude towards us if we ingnore her she turns into a brat and growls and barks at us and just goes nuts.
any suggestions?

[Sawyer]

Do you have her in Puppy classes?

[animalcraker]

Dachshunds are one of those breeds that can be very stuborn and become nasty. It is not normal for a pup to be as nasty as you describe, normaly it takes a while to build up and get worse. You may want to take her to the vet and see if there is something off with her. There are definetly some things that you can do to correct this behavor. And you should consult a profesional trainer now before the problem gets even worse.

[Cheetah]

It sounds like your pup wasn't socialized with other dogs at an early age. This can cause dogs to be fearful and/or aggressive towards any other strange dogs. Puppy classes could help with this, because the pup is around other puppies and able to get used to them on a regular basis. You could enroll in the PetsMart puppy classes, if only for the ease of socialization. >^^;<

[skelaki]

Stay away from PetsMart training classes unless there are absolutely no training classes available anywhere else whatsoever. Their trainers are generally inexperienced, especially in dealing with aggression, they are pure positive only, the room allotted for training is just way too small, and there are too many distractions to be conducive to a safe environment.

[Cheetah]

I think that depends on the store and the individual trainers. I haven't used their classes myself, but I have met two very good positive-only trainers who work at one particular store, and the training area for this store is way in the back in a low-traffic area. One good way to find out which trainers know what they're doing and which don't have a clue is to sit in during a class. This goes for all trainers, though, PetsMart or non...

The reason I suggested PetsMart is because they're pretty much everywhere, and I don't know where the OP is from. But if it makes you feel a little better, I can also direct them to the APDT: http://www.apdt.com/ - Classes will be a little more pricey most likely, but probably higher quality... But these days, you have to be careful even when selecting a trainer from there. >X.x;<