[hannahmarie]

A few years ago I got this puppy out of an abusive home, she's a border collie and possibly mixed with something else (what that breed may be stumps even the vets) and she was an amazing addition to the family. She's about 2 1/2 years old now she's great with kids, great with other dogs and animals and she had no agressive tendencies at all, until recently. Sometimes if she's laying on the couch, and you sit near her or reach for the remote she starts growling, every now and again she snaps if you try to pet her and more recently she's been snapping at the neighbor dog every time he gets close to us (which shocked everyone - we had to build a doggy door in the fence so they could play because they kept digging and breaking boards to get to each other, they're inseperable!). She has yet to bite anyone, and after growling/barking/snapping at us she kind of holds her head down in shame and hides under a bed somewhere. This agression is getting more and more frequent and I'm really afraid that she may end up biting someone or start to get agressive with the kids, and the last thing I want is to ut her down.

I guess my question is, how do I handle this? Is there a way to train a dog to not be agressive? I'm pretty stumped, I've had dogs my entire life but they've never been agressive.

 

[Curbside Prophet]

A vet check is in order. Rule out a medical cause first.

 

[Cracker]

I absolutely agree with CP. Dogs don't just 'suddenly' go from well adjusted to aggressive without cause. Get a complete check up, including thyroid, lyme disease and pain testing to ensure she is not suffering from a physical issue before thinking about training and behavour modification. Once you have an all clear then look at how to mitigate the behaviours you are seeing.

What I would do for now is manage it the best you can, by looking closely at the situations that are happening, and trying to prevent the situation from coming up. Keep track of how often the behaviour is happening, what "seems" to be happening around you and her at that time, what time of day they happen etc. A good trainer or behaviourist will want to know as much detail as possible before coming up a plan.

 

[hannahmarie]

I didn't even think about that, she has a check up soon to get sedatives because fireworks scare the crap out of her, so I'll have to bring this up as well.

Which is another thing I was wondering about... if the firworks going off in the area could have anything to do with her recent change of behavior.

 

[Cracker]

Very possible.
Check out www.fearfuldog.com for some great info on behaviour modification for fearful dogs.