Hi All. I’ve got a real problem with my little monkey, this is Coco, she is now 2 and 3 months, and over the last 3 to 4 months her behaviour has changed, out walking prior to this away from any roads of course, she could be off the lead and was friendly towards Every body and every dog we came across, yet recently she seems to have changed, she is still very fussy and friendly with humans inc children. But almost every dog we pass now she wants to fight and gets very aggressive, there is also some subtle behaviour changes at home where she used to come and sit beside us wanting cuddles all the time and now she seems to have a fear of mobile phones and if my phone is anywhere near me she just skulks off to her bed. The aggressive behaviour on walks now means she is on the lead constantly and it spoils it for her and me. Has anybody else experienced this, I will of course take her to the vet for advice to ensure there is no underlying cause but she appears perfectly healthy, playful, happy and loyal as ever apart from the circumstances described above. I have read that the age could be the cause and she is going through adolescence, but I’m not convinced.
Hi and welcome. Is there anything they had happened whilst being on a walk such as another dog growling at Coco? Or a car backfiring? Or a loud noise? It can seem to us that it's nothing, but it sounds like something has affected her on walks. Could you meet up with other dog owners and let them greet briefly on lead then carry on past them? For the phone, I had a similar thing with the Hoover. I started by treating her for being in the same room with it (switched off), then moved treats closer over a few days to try and make it a positive thing. We now often hide treats and she will happily take them off the Hoover. Again, it could be that something has happened when you've been on the phone that has spooked her.
Hi there may be something like that but not that I am aware of, I do allow the greets but she is on lead and I ensure other owners know her current temperament. And I will I think keep the phone close by with treats and at some point the treats will prevail as too tempting and Phone will be ignored I’m sure.. thanks for your advice.
At over 2 years old your dog isn’t going through adolescence. She is now grown up pretty much and perhaps what you are seeing is a problem that is emerging in the adult dog - so take heed everyone that thinks they have the perfect sociable puppy, myself included... Labradors puppies are, in the main, the life and soul of the party. They socialise themselves with other dogs and people (given access) but as they grow up, socialisation has to continue and they have to continue to have positive experiences with other dogs, otherwise they might ‘de-socialise’ – a few bad experiences, which you may not have even noticed, or isolation from other dogs, can grow into a problem which emerges as the dog matures and loses its puppy behaviour. Obviously, if you fear she will be aggressive around other dogs then you can’t just expose her to any dog she meets on a walk as that is completely unfair on the other dogs, and plus you have no idea what the other dogs are going to be like. But you could try to contact a trainer or behaviourist that has ‘stooge’ dogs. These are generally very confident dogs that your dog can meet (through a fence at first if necessary). My – totally perfect, in my view - adult dog went through a bad patch after being attacked, and it was a lot of work to get him hundreds of positive interactions with very friendly dogs. I was lucky to have people, who knew and trusted my dog, that could make these friendly dogs available. Although he never quite returned to the dog he once was, I did recover the situation by about 90% I’d say.
