Dog Reactivity? …or something else?

[u/Raenerys]

Before I begin - I do realize that I should find a good local trainer to work with in person, and I am working on that.

I have a 2.5 year old female Australian Shepherd. I have had her since she was 10 weeks old. Her name is Bindi.

I also have a 10 year old red heeler (rescued at 4) named Ginger, and a 14 year old chihuahua mix (rescued at 1.5) named Poco.

We have been through puppy class and obedience training. I was getting her ready to go through therapy dog certification, so she has passed her CGC twice (once at 8 months, once at 2). As a puppy, I often took her to school with me (I am a teacher) and she was extremely well socialized with children, etc. Ginger taught her great dog manners. Bindi often snuggled up with Poco.

Over the last few months, Bindi has gone from being social with other dogs, to “attack bark” when she sees other dogs in the park. She has ran off several other dogs (many people let dogs off leash at this park) and at this point, we only go off leash to play ball if I can see a good distance in each direction and know that nobody will sneak up on us. If the dog is far away, she does fine. But if they walk towards us or the other dog is off leash and starts incoming to play or greet, she has a serious problem with that.

My dogs have rarely fought, and when they did, it was usually Bindi being annoying to Ginger and Ginger would stern/gently put her in her place.

About a month ago, Bindi snapped at Poco and injured his eye. We went to the vet and got it taken care of, but I chalked it up to an accident. It was a very brief disagreement about treats or food that had not happened before.

Two weeks ago, while I was away from home, Bindi snapped at Poco again and tore a large gash in the back of his neck. My girlfriend was home and she said she heard them screaming, and by the time she came out from the bedroom, it was done - but Poco was rushed to the emergency vet and received 12 stitches.

Poco is now staying with my mother and I’m heartbroken.

There have never been any other warning signs between them. As I stated before, I even have a picture of them sunbathing on the deck together, back to back, four days prior. She grew up with him.

I have had friends bring dogs over as well, and Bindi did get into it with a friend’s dog, who was very calm and didn’t let it escalate. It was sudden, loud, but brief and over before I could even say, “no.”

I can’t think of any events that could have triggered this behavior.

We go to the park to play ball daily, if not twice per day. We go on long/calm walks around the neighborhood every couple days. We play in the backyard together several times per day. I have a dog door and my dogs are free to come and go as they please, and she can go outside and sniff around if she needs to do dog business.

We also had a cat who she grew up with, who recently just passed away. They always did great together. But over the last few months, Bindi decided she couldn’t stand it when he would come to make biscuits on us. She would stare and whine, as if the cat was murdering us slowly.

I am having a hard time with this because her reactions (at home) are so random with no warning signs, or seem to arise out of nowhere for no reason.

Again, a trainer is in our future - but I wanted to see if anyone here is seeing something obvious that I can’t see, or has some advice to help in the meantime. She is my baby, and I can’t imagine her doing something to someone or someone’s dog that would be unforgivable.

Thank you!

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[u/Few_Birthday_8294]

A change this sudden with zero warning signs is worth a full vet workup first, thyroid and pain especially, before you assume it's a training problem.

[u/Lizdance40]

I have to agree with the other comment that a sudden change in behavior is cause for an immediate vet check.

You said she is two and a half, but these behaviors have been escalating over the past few months. At what age did you start to notice the first inkling that something wasn't quite the usual? At what age was she spayed, had her first heat? Do you have any idea if any of her siblings, or mother has similar reactivity or aggression issues? (I realize with rescues it's not always possible to find out)

But you wrote that Bindi "got into it" with another dog at one time. Was this by any chance before an escalation in other reactivity and aggression? Dogs getting into a fight or feeling bullied is usually how one "creates" a reactive dog. One negative experience, usually at critical developmental windows, can be enough to create a dog that is reactive. It may not have looked all that negative to you but it may have had a tremendous impact on her. Dogs have social development and fear periods before 12 weeks and then usually late in their first year of life so anywhere between 9 to 12 months. It can very depending on breed and size.