change of behavior

Question
I have a 11 month old pomeranian mix. She has been well behaved since I got her at 2 months. We never had any problems with her. We took her to dog parks and she played well with others and loved people. But recently she has turned into a different dog. We moved in with my fiancees parents who have 2 dogs and ever since we were there and recently moved out she changed. She doesn't like any other dogs except our other dog. She will growl at any dog that comes close and she will bark at strangers now. She runs to me for protection when she is scared. I'm not sure what happened when we were staying with my fiancees parents or how to make her at ease again??

Answer
You didn't mention the sizes, types of the other dogs. Having been an only dog, like an only child, your Pom was the center of attention and had no competition for food, attention space etc. Without knowing what happened during the live together period I can only guess but it sounds like the Pom is now feeling insecure or fearful. You'll need to restablish that you are the protecting pack leader and she has nothing to fear. This usually involves a desensitization program using other dogs an d people to get her over her fear response. I sugges you find a local trainer than can work with you on this.

As with people, dogs are unwilling to accept strangers until a friendship bond is established through socialization. Anytime there is a change in the family makeup there is a period of adjustment and each dog needs to have a support system vs "let them work it out on their own." Now that she is alone again, she has trepidation about her space being invaded again by others. It would take investigative work to try and find the trigger encounter(s) from the group situation, or you can wait for the behavior to dissipate on its own.  I would be extra cautious if you change the family structure again to make sure the dog has time to adapt and accept.

Generally it takes 2-3 weeks for the adjustment period although there are many combinations that get together well very quickly, in a matter of hours or a few days. The other dogs recogntion as you as the pack leader, when introducing a new member to the group is a significant factor in the speed of acceptance.

I would like to offer more help but this really needs on site observation to solve directly.

regards,
Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC