snappy bc

[busyhonestchildcarer]

would appreciate help with my problem...partly our fault as I will explain.I had two collies.One ten year old and one ten weeks.Ten week old pup broke her leg and the following day discovered ten yr old dog had cancer.She was put down. 😪 Did puppy training course.At 18mths she was attacked by another dog and bitten so stopped taking her.Shes always been very sensitive and scared but its got worse.if we argue she takes herself to bed.she can be scared of strange dogs but i keep her on lead when we see them .However for last couple of weeks ive stroked her whilst she is on the settee and shes snapped at me.this is becoming more frequent.I think her fear might be because ive stroked and cuddled her when she has been scared.worried as we adore her in every other way as she is well behaved

Could she have anything on the sofa she might be guarding from you like a toy or bone? If not she may be guarding the sofa or she might not like how or where you are stroking her. Dogs will usually give off warning signals if they are uncomfortable with something but sometimes we humans can miss this as we wouldnt realise that a dog yawning or licking it's lips for example is a sign of stress. Maybe if you are touching an area she is sensitive there you might be missing her signals so she feels she needs to snap. However it could also be a sign of something medical and that's why she's not liking being stroked so could be worth a vet visit to rule that out.

It's a change in behaviour, and so I'd strongly recommend getting her checked over by a vet to make sure she's not in any pain. It may be that when you stroke her it's causing pain and she's reacting to that.

Does she snap or otherwise try to avoid contact if you stroke her away from the settee?