Aggressive Bully, Help!!!

[kev122573]

So I am getting a bit angry at myself for letting Tipsy's behavior get this bad. She is almost 1.5 years old. I've had her for a year. She goes to day camp 2-3 times a week and the rest of time she is at home. She takes her 10 min walks 2-3 times a day and is in general good health. However, for the past 3-4 months she has been getting more and more aggressive with people. She is okay with other dogs and guests at my place/people she knows but when it comes to others either walking by or wanting to say hello (because she is so darn cute), she jumps back and barks. Once or twice she even lunged forward almost like she is protecting me, I actually think she IS being very protective. I try to scold her when she is doing it but sometimes I am so shocked that it catches me off guard and I stand there looking like an idiot with an aggressive dog. Been also very embarrassing. Any suggestions? Are there behavior courses I should look into? She's done the puppy training at Petsmart. I do think I need to socialize her more with people but with work lately, it's been hard to take her to parks and such. At this point I'll do anything. I am always jealous of the dogs that are playful with others. PLEASE HELP . Thanks

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Maybe it's as simple as letting her know that behavior is unwanted by you?

I know from experience that there's a BIG difference between me pulling on the leash and saying "no no no" (while trying to deal with the human visitor) and stopping everything and dealing with the situation by summoning my inner pack leader (calm/assertive) and using as little sound as possible.

In my case, Bo wants to jump WAY UP and lick people to death. He's not being a bit aggressive --- but it doesn't make it any less annoying - or scary to the guy who just wanted to pet the dog and gets mauled by a slobber machine. hahahahaha

 

[cali~jenn]

No help here but it is good to see you on here, it has been a while! You will get much more advice from the rest who know about this type of stuff.

 

[2BullyMama]

[MENTION=1927]kev122573[/MENTION] are you already nervous before the approach of the person or dog? If yes, you are sending that message to Tipsy and she is going into protection mode. Be sure you are calm, if someone approaches or seems to be - have her sit and if she trys to move - give a firm but not a scream, 'NO' or 'leave it'. I had a very similar issue with my girl, Banks... once I realized I was sending that signal to her (kind of through the leash) she stopped the behavior.