We adopted a female Dalmatian/Australian Shepard mix rescue, Dottie, two weeks ago. When we met her she was calm, friendly to everyone, walked nicely on a leash with lots of people walking by and stopping to say hi to her. She was a little timid, but did fine when we had several people over for Thanksgiving. This weekend, we had two male friends come over (a teenager and an adult) and Dottie began barking and growling at them. I told her "No." When my husband told her "No," she barked and growled at him with her ruff up and tail between her legs. I put her in her crate and we ignored her. While in her crate, she was quiet and laid down even when the two strangers were around. The teenager spent the weekend and Dottie did not settle down, I had to put her in her crate several times.
Dottie was sitting with the family this evening and my teenage boys came in from sledding. Dottie barked and growled at them. They spoke to her, thinking all the clothing was new to her. She didn't stop. Again, we told her "No and hush" and put her into her crate. What I am struggling to understand is that she has been fine with them all along, they take her for walks, and love her up. Suddenly, it is like she doesn't recognize them. My husband and I feed her and also, walk her. She pulls at the leash and we are working to get her to walk nicely. Currently, she is crated during the day.
All we know about Dottie is that she was found roaming in Georgia. She knows some of her commands, sit, stay, and come. Although, she chooses to ignore them at times. She has one blue eye and one brown eye.
I do not want to give up on her, but at the moment my husband thinks she is crazy. We need to be able to trust her with strangers and other dogs.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
