I have a 7 or 8 year-old Doberman rescue that is protective of her personal space where the other pets are concern. If she is lying down and one of them gets too near, she will go after them. She has chased cats off the couch when she has been on it, and went ballistic when our old deaf and blind JRT blundered into her a year or so ago. Though she has never truly tried to tear anyone apart, I'm not stupid enough to think it could never happen. Knowing she is so prickly about her personal space, I have tried to head off incidents before they happen. If the JRT is approaching the Doberman while she is lying down, I will make the Doberman get up. This seemed to work until the other night while I was at my PC. The Doberman was lying beside my chair as she often does, and in the other room, I heard the JRT wandering around. I kept tabs on the JRT and when I saw her beginning to come our way, I looked down at the Doberman, saw her watching the JRT and started to ask her to get up. The Doberman suddenly leaped up with an angry yelp and launched herself at the JRT who was still 8 or so feet away--nowhere near enough to be invading her space. The Doberman was all over the JRT but thankfully the JRT was not hurt. (no cuts, just spit on her) It was not difficult to stop the Doberman. What I wonder is why did this happen when the JRT was still far enough away? Did my making the Doberman move all the time create resentment that suddenly manifested itself or am I attributing human emotions to the whole thing? Should I stop making the Doberman get up when the JRT approaches? I have noticed that the JRT does avoid the Doberman when she senses her at times.

Thanks,
Kitty S.

oh shoot, I meant to write my message in the Animal aggression on Animal section. Sorry!