Aggression in 8yr old Labrador.

[Clumsywithwords]

Looking for a bit advice regarding our 8yr old Lab.

We rehomed her when she was 18 months and she has been a great family dog (3 DC) but she has always had form to be a bit grumpy.

Mainly guarding her areas, ie bed, boot of car etc and thankfully all children were old enough to understand boundaries and we have managed this quite well. She has never bitten any of them and it actually Just became a bit of joke that she just thought she was one of the girls (3 DD’s) and sister bickering especially as she generally very affectionate and a happy dog.

She also however has always been quite worried around strangers and I’ve never quite trusted around DC friends, always put her away when people are over or we have work man etc around as she could be quite reactive, again not biting, just more growling/warning behaviour.

She is very well behaved around other dogs and doesn’t show anything else other than playfulness.

The last month however things have escalated somewhat and we have now had 4 incidents of her really snarling/snapping at people. The 1st incident we ruled out as not her fault as one of DD’s friends tried to stroke her on her bed, our fault for not getting in their 1st. 2nd time another friend patted her (dog had approached her in a communal space) girl has dogs and was completely correct in the way she responded to her, hand under rather than over, no squeaky voice or full on eye contact and dog actually snapped and bit her, scratched the skin and broke her bracelet, 3rd was probably the worst, DH had picked DD (17) up after college, DD had turned round to speak to dog and she had snapped at her face, didn’t catch her but DD said she had to dodge out the way.

I know wrong this down that this is quite serious, I can’t have a dog showing behaviours like this to DC or anyone who visits but she is normally such a lovely dog that I’m hoping there might be something we can do.

I have booked a vet appointment for next week to get her checked over in case there is something sore that is making her extra grumpy but from what I’ve wrote is there something I may have missed…

I did wonder if DD’s friend patting her in her bed (again kicking myself) might have been the catalyst and made her extra wary, maybe hormones (is that a thing in older bitches) or maybe just getting more grumpy in old age but any advice would be welcomed.

It's not uncommon for older dogs to become less patient and more reactive, and as you said, she's always been reactive to a degree. All you can do now is to have her checked as she may have pain you're not aware of, talk about options with your vet, and of course make sure she's given lots of space. I would definitely not allow anyone outside of the family around her.

Older dogs do get grumpier. It’s possible she’s got arthritis or dementia (both can make dogs grumpy). It’s equally possible her behaviour is just worsening with age (not unusual). I’d wait to see what the vet says.

But I’d be very cautious - your DD turned around and she snapped at her face? That’s serious.

If the vet appointment rules out anything like pain or dementia, I would honestly consider having a dog like this put to sleep.

What was the situation of the most recent where the dog snapped in DD face? As the others appears to be when resting or avoidance of being touched.

Pain is very common link to behavioural problems but owners often don't notice the subtle changes of chronic pain because it can creep in over time and they expect a more dramatic response perhaps as the dog behaved with an acute injury or are conditioned to assume theses grumpy/ slowing down signs are just a part of ageing. Most animals will try to carry on as normal and their natural survival instincts are to hide any weakness that may see it get picked off.
https://caninearthritis.co.uk/what-is-arthritis/identifying-the-signs/

At 8yr arthritis changes are common but tbh I would request to trial some pain relief medication even if a vet check up doesn't find a clear cause of pain as it can be easier to see if results in any changes in behaviour or mobility. Go for something long established like paracetamol or NSAID than librela injection as that doesn't always work quickly in all dogs and for some causes added side effects, which can even be weird like dementia. It can take some time to see full effect of changes and it may turn out they need more of a cocktail of medications to get the best results with pain relief.

My dog was very stoic and nervous of vets so it really depended if they could feel the issue during check over as she'd give very little reaction in that setting. Most of the time the vet just had to be guided by my thoughts or feedback from Veterinary Physiotherapist. The physio had a lot more time to check gait and full body check over as part of massage which my dog found very relaxing but even then she'd just wide eye or look round at therapist if touched a sore spot. She was actually riddled with arthritis when vet took x-rays although she still ran about.

Even the 1st incident you ruled out was actually pretty bad in my opinion. We had a male labrador who suffered from arthritis in his last couple of years and at no time would he ever have snapped at someone just for trying to stroke him on his bed. He would just have wagged his tail at anyone reaching out to stroke him as his nature was always trusting.

I think your dog has real issues - maybe from a difficult past - sorry. Definitely get her checked out by the vet but it isn't looking good if her issues are behavioural.