Dog suddenly gone aggressive! Help!

[Anon5623]

I adopted a 1 year old staffy bitch last summer and she was described by the rescue centre as being very sociable with other dogs. This was true up until Christmas when a switch seemed to go off.

She's had no negative dog experiences while she's been with me and she was spayed in Sep. Now when she sees any dog she goes absolutely mad barking but it's an aggressive bark. Today she tried to take on 2 huskies and was throwing herself around in the air to get off the lead!

We're booked in to see a dog trainer at the end of the month (earliest appt available) and the rescue centre have said when locksown eases their behaviourists can have a look but it's getting worse every day.

Does anyone have any idea what may have caused this sudden switch in behaviour or how to manage it? When she's fixated there's no getting her attention on to me!

[sunflowersandbuttercups]

She needs to see a vet to rule out any medical issues. I believe thyroid problems can cause aggression in dogs.

Good luck and I hope you can help your girl!

[Neolara]

This issue features a lot on episodes of Its me or my dog. Have a look on youtubr. (I don't have a dog, but this program keeps popping up on my Facebook feed. I love it).

[BigWolfLittleWolf]

My thoughts are that within the rescue she was young and stressed so her true personality hadn’t developed and wasn’t apparent.

She has come to live with you, she’s comfortable and not stressed and has now grown up and reached adult maturity so you are now seeing her real, mature, adult temperament.

Staffies do have a reputation for being dog aggressive and at around 2 years old they are fully mature, emotionally and physically, if I read correctly, this started once she hit around 2?

If you think she might harm another dog she should be muzzled and regardless of muzzling needs to be double leashed so if one lead snaps or is dropped she can’t get at another dog.