The post on dog aggression is getting so long that comments are pages down the blog, so I thought I’d start answering them separately and see how that works. Todd asks:

We have a female lab/beagle mix who is a definite alpha-female. We tried to socialize her with other dogs but she wouldn’t really take to it. She is the sweetest thing with people. Most of the time she is indifferent with other dogs too. We are currently dog-sitting another female lab who she has been around several times before. For the most part they just stay away from each other but two times in the past few days my dog has attacked the other dog (who is bigger) anytime she gets too close to us. There isn’t much biting but the mouths are open and the latest attack took a little fur from the other dog. Yelling “NO” did not help and the fight went on for a good 30-45 seconds. We eventually broke them up by squirting them with a water bottle. What can I do to get my dog over this possessiveness?

Todd, it sounds like your dog is protecting her people. Since this is just a short time thing, can you keep them separate? If not, I’d have one person make a fuss over her while the other person is taking care of the visitor.

You may also want to work with your dog to help her be more accepting of the visitor. Give her a command as soon as she begins to tense up and reward her with a treat when she responds. You may want to leash her so you have more control and she recognizes that she is having a training session.

If she grows more aggressive or if you are planning to be dogsitting frequently in the future, I’d ask a behaviorist to come in and give you a hand. You don’t want to return a wounded dog to its loving owner!

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