Molly is just going out of her first heat period. She's about a year old (guessing). Since she has come into heat she has been showing what seems to be a very dominant aggression. The other day I took her to Petco to pick up some training treats and when one of the Petco workers looked at her she growled. Now she will growl at anyone who tries to make eye contact. Initially however she was all wiggles and friendliness to the same lady. After showing us where the training treats were as she stood around talking and admiring Molly is when she acted up.

She also has been trying to play dominant games with me where she will jump into my lap then try to climb on top of my shoulders. With me she is just playing but it's the type of play that has changed suddenly. When she was a puppy she was very submissive but now since her first heat she is acting like a very dominant dog. I've seen a few dominant dogs and her behavior is suddenly way over the top even compared to them and they showed signs of dominance as puppies. Molly has only just begun acting this way.

She is also just getting over a bacterial skin infection and the vet has her on antibiotics (can't read the name but I'll call and ask Monday). The first one month course didn't work so he upped the dosage and she is getting them for two months now.

I'm wondering what's up with this dog. She has always been a good tempered dog. She has also been very steady nerved all along and now suddenly she is showing aggressive behavior. The antibiotics and her first heat period are the only things that have changed recently so I'm wondering if that could be the cause.

What has me stumped is the type of aggression she is showing. It isn't "out of the blue" defensive snapping like most medical problems lead to. It's a very dominant attitude.She also behaves fine with me alone. She has never snapped or growled at me, just other people and them only recently.

Think of a teenage girl and thats pretty much whats going on here shes coming into her own and starting to push her boundrys. Parents are often shocked at how their precious little girl became a beast after she hit puberty. Any unwanted agression should be delt with quickly and I would say no more of her climbing up on you, establishing pack order is a very suttle game and you may think play when it's dominance Ed has some great stuff on this site for that. Do your homework but it sounds to me like she's pushing her limits a little. Also what antibiotics is she taking?

I'll have to call the vet. I can't read his writing on the packet of pills. I'll also ask him if that antibiotic lists aggression as a side effect. I did a search last night and found a mention of aggression linked to antibiotics.

I'm not going to rule out dominance I just haven't seen it crop up so suddenly. Usually you can tell pretty young if a dog is prone to that. This is was a puppy who did the submissive peeing thing whenever anyone petted her and now she won't accept eye contact without a challenge. I don't let her climb on me. She tries but I tell her "off" (a 69 lb lap dog just doesn't work). She does fine with just me. If I were a hermit there wouldn't be any problems.

Another thing I thought about last night was that when Molly has acted aggressive she has been by my side facing someone else. I sort of wonder if this isn't some kind of guarding behavior.

When I was a teen I got a GSD to train for protection. My parents didn't allow that. Now that I don't want one I end up with a protection dog.

I ordered a muzzle. When I get that I'll try some scenarios out to see what the triggers are. Right now it's just a matter of containment so she is back on tether or crated.

Trying to trigger your dogs aggression is a bad idea. Antibiotics or not she needs to know her place in the pack. Any unmerrited aggression or unwanted should be dealt with at that moment regardless of circumstance. You need to spend some time and money on this site and learn about pack structure and dominant and aggresive dogs or order Ed's DVD on the subject. A muzzle is not a fix or a toy if you are affraid of being bit then i guess muzzle her but some dogs learn to bite once it's off. In the pack Alpha dog would not stand by and let a dog get away with any of that behavior he would put them on their a$$ and make them swear they will never try it again. Im not saying to beat your dog but i am saying a level 8 9 or 10 correction may be in order and if you don't know what that is search it out here on the board. good luck.

By the way is she the pit in the pic..

Hi Matt,

Does her skin itch? Did the vet give you any kind of medicated shampoo to bathe her with? Many dogs get really snippy when they don't feel well or feel vulnerable due to illness. After all, in nature only the strong survive.

Best regards,
Debbie

I already have the D. Dog DVD. I just want to find out what is setting her off. I don't have any problem with her myself unless I bother her when she's eating. We have had a little food aggression but the only time she tried to bite me over food was when I was taking off her collar when she was eating. The second she felt my hand in her teeth she stopped the bite. It didn't even make a mark.

She's only growling at other people. Sometimes however she is just fine with people and other times she growls and lunges at them. At Petco she was all wiggles and excitement when she first met the lady but responded aggressively later when the Petco lady leaned toward her to talk to her. That's what got me thinking about dominance. Leaning over and looking into a dog's eyes might be seen as a challenge.

I was going to get a muzzle and have a neighbor try different approaches to see if she's reacting to dominant body language. This neighbor owes me a dog bite after I was bitten helping them doctor their dog.



@Debbie

She should be over the itching by now. It was pretty bad at first but the first round of antibiotics seemed to knock it out. As soon as the pills were finished however she was just as bad as before in just a couple days so the vet gave her twice the dosage and a two month supply. We have about half a month left on the second round of meds.

I was going to call the vet today but we've spent the last 24 hrs without electricity because of a wind storm. I'll give him a call first thing in the morning and find out what antibiotic he gave her.