SCARED OF BIG DOGS
Q Our small Cockerpoo is nearly four years old. She has always been very friendly towards people, but a little more wary around other dogs. Recently, however, she has started to show aggression towards bigger dogs, even though they do not appear to be threatening in any way. This is not like her, and we cannot think of any specific incident that might have triggered the behaviour. What should we do? Mary Martin, Cumbria.
Tamsin says: Firstly, if your dog is showing aggression I would suggest trying to avoid her seeing or being in close proximity to bigger dogs for the time being, and instead reward her for relaxed behaviour from a distance. For some reason she is finding being near to bigger dogs scary, and likely responding through aggressive behaviour to defend herself and get them to move away.
There are many things that can influence your dog’s behaviour to change suddenly — it could be something like a bad experience with other or larger dogs, which has frightened her, or it might be that the more subtle signs (you mentioned she was always a little wary) have escalated over time.
Sudden behaviour change can also be impacted by internal factors, such as pain or your dog’s health. I’d suggest taking your dog to see your vet to rule out any underlying health or pain issue, which may be contributing to her behaviour.
If she gets the all-clear and you are still unable to figure out what’s triggering her response, it would be useful to get in touch with an accredited clinical animal behaviourist to determine what she may be responding to so you can help her feel more relaxed around large dogs.