Grumpy Dog

Question
Hi,

I have a 3 1/2 year old female Sheltie. Over the past couple of months she has been getting grumpier with other strange dogs at the dog park. She lives with a 9 month old Beagle that she gets along great with, just as a little background info.

Zoe (my Sheltie) has never been great with strange dogs, she would snap (show her teeth, give a high pitch bark and threaten to bite but never actually bite) at them if they came around me while she was close by and also when she has been at the park for a long time and was tired. Other than that though she would sniff the other dogs and let them sniff her, but never really ran with them or anything.

But over the last couple of months she has been very aggressive with other dogs from the minute we get to the park. As soon as another dog approaches she snaps at them. She is still fine with Buckley (the Beagle she lives). Nothing traumatic that I know of has happened to her and she is still great with people.

I was wondering if this is common with aging or is there something training-wise I should be doing? I enjoy going to the park with her but now am afraid to let her off her leash because she will snap at any dog that comes close.

Thanks,

Matt


Answer
Hi Matt,

Well, that is unusual behavior.  The real question is are the other dogs reacting hostile or playful to her behavior?
Important because if she is genuinely threatening they can tell, or maybe she is being assertively playful?  It's hard for me to tell based on your description, so I have to ask.

Now, to the rest of my thinking:
When you think of old grumpy dogs we are usually at the 12+ year mark, so we can rule that out.  

The fact that she is completely comfortable with Buckley and people leads me to think that maybe something you were not aware of has happened.  It also leads me to think that there is nothing physically wrong with her such as lyme disease (painful and makes them grumpy) or even more extreme of rabies.

If you are certain that she is well and nothing has happened to bring about negative emotions then I would ask if she has been spayed?  Perhaps the sex of the other dogs plays a role in who she is or is not hostile with.

Possibly she sees the other dogs as challenging her in some way, or maybe she is overtly assertive when playing.

The last component is the herding threat.  Maybe she sees other dogs coming to you and feels threatened or feels threatened for you.

I will say this, I have 2 boys and a girl.  The girl is by far the most aggresive showing teeth and growling when she plays.  It could just be the sheltie ladies are like that.
I had always suspected it was because the family we rescued her from was abusive to her.  Now maybe it isn't so much that as the females are more assertive when being playful?  

I think you have left me with more questions than when we began.  I hope this analysis helps you.  

As far as training: try using a prong colar when at the park.  When she is too assertive give it a mild tug coupled with a loud, negative "NO".  Immedieately love on her and do positive reinforcement when she is good around other dogs.  Carry a treat to reinforce the good behavior too.

I hope that helps!

'sneezes
Dave