Struggling with our 3 year old dog right now. She’s absolutely lovely in many ways - calm in the house, super friendly with those she knows, well trained etc. However as she’s aged she has become increasingly reactive and unpredictable.
This is mainly territorial- growling and barking when new people come to the door/into the house (though she calms down quickly). On two occasions when we’ve been out she has air-snapped at strangers if they’ve touched her without warning 😩 - this has always been if we are somewhere new and crowded place (eg a pub) and she’s been on the lead - I think she feels threatened so I’m minimising these situations now. New places and people obviously make her uncomfortable and we have to respect that - I feel like it’s my fault that she was under-socialised in lockdown as a puppy.
It makes me really sad we don’t have a bomb proof dog we can take anywhere… but worrying about new guests coming into the house is obviously a bigger concern and I think we need a behaviourist. Please please can anyone recommend a behaviourist in London or surrounding areas? Thank you.