Dog becoming a bit....snappy!

[TeacupTempest]

We have a beautiful terrier. She is as soft as butter with me, DH and our DD. We have socialised her since she was a puppy. She is also very well trained; sit, stay, paw, roll over, come etc.

We used to be able to let her off the lead in safe places to run with other dogs without an issue. Sometimes she would get a little excited and bark but that was the extent.

Today, off lead in a park she bit another dog!!!

Yesterday she was aggressive(barking) to a Rottweiler - both on lead in town.

We have just moved. Spent last few months excercisng on her own on moors but spending a lot of time with my mums labs. Maybe stress?

What to do?

Never let her off again?

See a trainer?

She loves running with other dogs and I hate to think that she may not get that chance anymore.

Well I'm no expert at all, but I know a lot about lurking on threads about reactive dogs as there are many of them (both reactive dogs and threads about reactive dogs!) So, I won't try to diagnose what's triggered the reactions in your terrier, but I will say that it's manageable, and likely curable.

I don't think my recovering reactive dog has ever bitten another dog properly, but he has bitten me when my leg got between him and a collie he didn't like (totally unintentional, but goodness, the bruising). That marked the low point and it's been a lot of hard work since then. However, it's been rewarding and it's worked. I can now walk my dog in many places (not all) though I am always incredibly vigilant.

Check out the Bastard Dog thread to know you're not alone, look for other threads on here about reactive dogs and wait for the brilliant experts who come on this bit of MN to suggest what you should do next. There is definitely hope

Oh and yes, see an accredited behaviourist who advocates positive training strategies for sure

Get a professional out to assess the situation and help you. Aggression is not something you want to try and sort out on your own unless you really know what you are doing.

Thanks for the replies.

Will go research accredited behaviourists.