My rescue dog is suddenly aggressive. How do I stop the biting?

Question

I have had my new rescue Bichon mix for seven weeks. For six weeks she was the perfect dog. Week seven she showed a dark side, attacking a smaller dog that was a house guest and nipping its owner. She is 3 or 4 urs., came to me vetted, spent almost two months in a foster home with four other Bichons where she had no problems playing nice. She whines and barks for attention, demands to play. The biting is the biggest problem now. She was thought to be a good therapy dog, but not anymore. Pet's info: Dog | Bichon Frise | Female | spayed | 14 lbs

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

Hi there! I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem with Buffy. It's not unusual for behavioral issues to take a few weeks to show up in a newly adopted dog - there is often a "honeymoon period" while they're still getting comfortable and adjusting to their new home, before these issues start to emerge. Aggression towards other dogs and humans is a complex behavioral issue that's difficult to address properly in a forum like this, but I can try to give you some general information that may be helpful. Treatment for aggression issues is generally based on identifying what situations tend to trigger the aggressive behavior - then either finding ways to avoid them, or working with the dog to teach her to respond differently using reward-based training techniques. If this is something you want to work on, I would recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate Buffy in person and help you put together a detailed treatment plan to address her aggressive behavior. For now, if the aggression only happens with dogs and people she doesn't know, I would recommend keeping her separated from visitors for now until you are able to get a more detailed plan in place to work on the problem. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org

My rescue dog is suddenly aggressive. How do I stop the biting?

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