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I have a female lab/border collie/ hound mix. I've had her for a little over three weeks now. She came from a local shelter and the only information we were given is that she was about 1 year old and brought in as a stray. She's been to the vet already and was declared healthy.
Overall my pup is great. She is well behaved, plays with her toys all the time, she's nondestructive, immensely friendly to both my boyfriend, me, our roommates, and my mother. She's housebroken and knows basic commands. She shows no food aggression and plays nicely with other dogs.
However, when we got her she had absolute no manners on a leash and was constantly pulling. Through research and the purchase of an easy walk harness, I've been able to get her leash walking to a more acceptable level although it still needs work.
Here comes the real point of the post. My dog has fear based aggression towards other adults. I've noticed that it is mostly males, as well as tall females. It involves growling, her ears pull back, and she barks as well. She will make attempts to lunge at the person but does not actually do so even when off a leash, it's more threatening in natural. However, as soon as the person she is having an issue with sits down, she immediately rushes over to sniff them and seems to calm even to the point where her tail is wagging and she is licking the person's hand. Whenever the person gets back up again, it resumes. If they leave and come back, it's as if she forgot who they were entirely. This has occurred both within my apartment as well as in other people's homes. This occurs while on walks but in those cases I merely have to distract her and attempt to keep moving along. She's not a mean pup but I don't doubt her ability to be mean and I do not wish for this to continue.
For now, I say "no" and "calm." I instruct the other person to not make any sudden movements and to sit if possible. On walks, I attempt to relax her by getting her to sit for a few moments. I praise her highly when she walks past someone without having a fit of barking and growling. I'm wondering what else to do. As I believe this is fear based aggression, I am uncertain how to or even if it's entirely possible to "untrain" it. As I don't know her history whatsoever, her fear may be justified but her behaviors are still scary to me. The last thing I would ever want is for her to bite someone.
Overall my pup is great. She is well behaved, plays with her toys all the time, she's nondestructive, immensely friendly to both my boyfriend, me, our roommates, and my mother. She's housebroken and knows basic commands. She shows no food aggression and plays nicely with other dogs.
However, when we got her she had absolute no manners on a leash and was constantly pulling. Through research and the purchase of an easy walk harness, I've been able to get her leash walking to a more acceptable level although it still needs work.
Here comes the real point of the post. My dog has fear based aggression towards other adults. I've noticed that it is mostly males, as well as tall females. It involves growling, her ears pull back, and she barks as well. She will make attempts to lunge at the person but does not actually do so even when off a leash, it's more threatening in natural. However, as soon as the person she is having an issue with sits down, she immediately rushes over to sniff them and seems to calm even to the point where her tail is wagging and she is licking the person's hand. Whenever the person gets back up again, it resumes. If they leave and come back, it's as if she forgot who they were entirely. This has occurred both within my apartment as well as in other people's homes. This occurs while on walks but in those cases I merely have to distract her and attempt to keep moving along. She's not a mean pup but I don't doubt her ability to be mean and I do not wish for this to continue.
For now, I say "no" and "calm." I instruct the other person to not make any sudden movements and to sit if possible. On walks, I attempt to relax her by getting her to sit for a few moments. I praise her highly when she walks past someone without having a fit of barking and growling. I'm wondering what else to do. As I believe this is fear based aggression, I am uncertain how to or even if it's entirely possible to "untrain" it. As I don't know her history whatsoever, her fear may be justified but her behaviors are still scary to me. The last thing I would ever want is for her to bite someone.