My dog has become reactive virtually overnight :(

[StillMedusa]

My happy dog friendly girl is just ending her second season (she will be spayed before Xmas but her breed recommend not to spay before 2..larger breed)

She has become an anxious terrified, snarly wreck and while I expectd hr to be grumpy, she has never barked at anothr dog before lt along growled. This week she passed a dog she sees regualrly and went for it. (didn't connect she was on a short lead as I don't use those extendable things)
At home she is super clingy, looks tense and miserable. This is week 4 so I am hoping her hormones are the cause but if anyone has any advice?
(I phoned the vet but as she is terrified there normally he agreed that seeing her was not a good idea under covid conditions)

For now we are avoiding all dogs as much as possible and I am taking high value treats to shovel into her mouth if she even sees a dog at a distance using the CARE approach ..and basically distract her. She does have to have one decent walk still even if we miss the rest as she never poos in the garden!

Has anyone experienced this? Obviously I am going to get a behaviourist in if she doesn't settle ina few weeks post season but I am so sad for her :(

Please excuse the typos.. my keyboard is on its last legs!

Has she hurt herself at all and is actually in pain? I've seen that come on suddenly but not during a season

It sounds like you’re doing everything right

When my dog turned reactive it was because of pain. He was a border collie so styled it out to keep ‘working’. I wish I’d cracked the pain sooner.

She sounds ill or in pain from an injury, can you get her checked out?

Agree with others, pain or ill.

OP I feel for you. I have a girl currently in season. She will be 2 in December. This one took us by surprise as was approx 6 weeks earlier than expected. We were going to get her spayed after the last one but Covid lockdown happened. I have spoken to our vet about getting her spayed in 2/3 months.

She has been a hormonal nightmare. Extreme doggy pmt. Even had a fight with my neutered boy the day before she had come into season. Usually get on & play lovely together. Having to keep them separated until her season is over. Really hoping their behaviour returns to normal.

I can't detect any signs of pain (I appreciate that dogs hide it but when she did hurt her leg a few months ago we really knew about it.. she's a drama queen) and she is eating and toileting normally, no sickness or diarrhoea. She's still chasing a ball in the fields and hunting for mice.

Last time she had to go to the vets she was so distressed she had to be sedated to be examined (it's something we are working on but of course bloody Covid has meant we can't pop in, eat treats, leave etc) so it would have to be a last resort.

I suspect we won't be able to tell if its hormonal til she's a few weeks past season but if nothing improves she will have to be seen..and probably sedated again :(

She sounds a nightmare but other than the vets she is usually such a happy dog and it's awful seeing her growl at others .

She's currently snoozing on the sofa, doesn't look uncomfortable in any way, but I will have a good feel of her .