Angry Dog

For a couple of months, I noticed that my sweet girl is developing a temperamental side.

It started with barking at anything that passes by our gate...well, she has been doing this from young. One second she's chewing her breakfast in the kitchen, the next second she's by the gate barking at something. So, I didn't notice anything out-of-the-ordinary. I thought she was one very alert dog.

Then, it moved on to barking and lunging at dogs while we are walking. I don't notice anything out-of-the-ordinary again...because she is light-weight enough to hold back.

Then, came lunging at motorbikes when we are walking by the road. Then, lunging at people on bicycles.

Two weeks ago...whille she was walking off leash in the park, she ran up to a group of teenagers and growled at them. In that incident, the boys startled and ran for their lives. One of them even climbed up the roof of a nearby parked car!

Ok, I see a trend now. Not good....unprovoked growling attacks!

I noticed this same behaviour in another dog (12-year old female beagle) who is barky at any male dog (Haruki) that comes too close to her. Needless to say, my boy is smitten with any girl dog. The owner tells me that she was bitten when she was young...so, she doesn't like anyone getting too close to her. Now, she just tolerates Ruki when he tries to get close.

I'm not sure about my girl though... Perhaps, she was not well-socialized during her formative years. She didn't go to dog school and all. When she is at dog get-togethers, she prefers to stay close to me while her brother is out there mingling with the dog crowd (a.k.a. smelling butts).

I call this barking behaviour .... the small dog syndrome. My friends call it bad parenting.

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