Female dog is selectively aggressive?

Question

My 4 month old spayed shepherd mix seems to get along well with most dogs. She came from a foster home with 6 other dogs of mixed genders and sizes. She has a great time with our friend's 4 month old female german shepherd, lots of play with no serious growling or posturing.

However there is one dog in our puppy training class that she gets really aggressive with. The dog is the same size and age, also female. Both my dog and this other one are friendly with other dogs but seem to have it in for each other.... they sniff for a second and then snap at each other and bark like crazy. Doesn't look like friendly play. What would cause her act this way with just this one dog? Is there anything I can do to prevent this behaviour?

She also had a barking fit when a friend's male, unfixed huge lab came over. I figured the fact that he is unfixed and huge was the issue with that one...

The trainer's comment was "hmmm yeah we'll keep trying each class until they get over it, and in the meantime distract them with a treat". Which has worked fine... I'm hoping someone has additional thoughts or experiences to add.

Answer 1

dogs , like people have personalities , these sometimes clash . my dog is a medium terrier mix , she was abused terribly in her earlier years .

she seems to pick out bigger dogs , and likes to challenge them . smaller dogs she seems to like more , and when the bigger dogs submit , she is kind to them as well .

just have to keep her away from dogs she doesn't care for .

cheers !

Answer 2

Giving the dog a treat while your dog is in that state of mind of aggression to the other dog is bad. You are mixing the dogs behavior. The dog thinks "If i be aggressive to this dog i get a treat." That is not what you want your dog to be thinking. I suggest you get a choke chain and make your dog AND the other dog to submit to each other dog, then when she is calm u then praise her. No treats should be given to a dog that is in training. It just makes the dog think "Oh i'll get a cookie if i do this"...but when u dont have a treat for the dog, its pointless to the dog becuz there's no treat involved.

GOOD LUCK!!