My 18 month old beagle mix rescue has always been very protective of me with my husband. He feeds her loves her and me and we don't fight so I am not sure why she does this, and until today it really only happened if she was sleeping and he woke her. Today, she growled and lunged at him all day if he even came into the same room as me. Without me she played with him and was normal. She growled once at a neighbor today too, that she never has before. What changed? What can I do? And is she safe to have around my one year old like this ? Thank you.
I have two border jacks, sisters, One docile and sweet and the other is fiesty. and at times mean. She is aggressive to anyone she dosent know in the house or outside.. She chases bikes joggers anyone moving too fast and she attacks them, I got a muzzle for her for when we take walks but she still will go after people. How do i break her of this? I practice the alpha techniques however my children arent as diligent as me. Yet if she wants to do something she won't hesitate to growl and snap at me when i try to stop her (like laying on the bed) She seems to be getting worse the older she gets. They will be three in november
I wonder if part of this "sudden aggression" is just your dogs age - 18-20 months is typically when dogs start trying to challenge their owners for dominance/less boundaries. Try putting your dog in time out when she acts out (growls, anything). Is she speyed? You might consider this if not.
Keep having your husband feed her, but make sure he's the one to walk her, let her out, give her attention first, etc. Try and strengthen their bond. If she tries to come to you first, you should ignore her (I know it seems mean, but you want to get her and your husband to be ok for the house to be happy!). Both of you should praise her when she interacts nicely with your husband (and everyone).
As for your border jacks, bethann, keep on with the leash and muzzle for now. When you're on walks, try having her sit facing you as soon as you see another person approaching. Keep her attention on you by snapping your fingers, saying her name, etc until the person has gone. Just get her to ignore the person, and stay focused on you. You may, at first, have to give her lead a sharp tug (not to hurt her!) or something similar to get her to focus (it may help to bring a noisemaker of some kind on walks). And remember to try and pull off the path/walkway when you do this, so you're not in the middle of things. I had to do this with my own dog (he was far to excited to see other people and dogs when we first went on walks) and it worked really well! You just have to be diligent and pay attention to your surroundings.
Hope this helps both of you...let us know how things are going!
