New agression

[klaker]

Over the last week, Polly has shown some very unusual agression towards the kids. 4 days ago one of the neighbor kids was over and was petting Polly and she grabbed his hand. She did not bite but simply grabbed his hand and then growled at him. Then yesterday Polly was scared by a very loud noise in the house and she was cowering in the corner. My daughter went to grab her and pull her out of the corner and Polly grabbed ahold of her as well. Again, no full biting but just what appears to be a reactionary grab. Then last night I noticed that she is actually in heat. I am wondering if her being in heat is affecting her personality a little bit and making her edgy.

As soon as she finishes this heat cycle, we will be getting her taken care of so that we won't run into any potential "accidents" with mysterious puppies.

[Charliesmommy]

Being in heat could definitely affect her moods. How old is Polly? I would be very, very careful about having her around any children at all until you get this resolved somehow. Hopefully someone else will have more advice for you.

[Maxy24]

Then yesterday Polly was scared by a very loud noise in the house and she was cowering in the corner. My daughter went to grab her and pull her out of the corner and Polly grabbed ahold of her as well.

That bite was understandable, not acceptable but understandable. You should not grab a dog who is scared and especially in a corner.

Make sure she is not painful where the child was petting her. Get her used to being touched all over and give her treats while you feel her over.

Heat may be affecting her moods but I don't know anything about heat. If it is heat make sure to keep her away from kids at this time. If heat is affecting her mood is there any reason that she needs to stay intact?

[klaker]

Thanks for the reply's. Polly is actually 8 months old and will be 9 months in a few weeks. I did check her out thoroughly after the bite to see if she was indeed hurt in any way. She was perfectly fine with me jumping and joyous when I came home.

I think that it was the fact that she was in heat and was compounded with her being scared. I found out that the loud noise was my 17 year old step son had lit off a fire cracker in the house that he had gotten ahold of. We went through the roof on that one. Not just because of the dog, but because of the danger involved with such a foolish action.

[taratippy]

Any sudden change in behaviour should really be vet checked, but certainly being heat will effect her moods and being frightened and then grabbed - quite frankly I would probably snap - so maybe teach the kids to not be doing that.

However, I would say it sounds like she has a really good bite inhabition which is always a good thing. Sounds to me like you, hopefully, wont have to go through this again once she's spayed for now try and keep things calm around her and certainly no unsupervised time with kids.

As for the 17 year old!!!! I bet his ears hurt from more than the fire cracker!

[klaker]

Oh, yeah. The windows were rattling during that yelling fest. Yes I am glad that she showed bite control and did not clamp down when she bit Ashley.

I have been sitting down with the kids and talking to them about the dog and how to handle her. We are going also work on training issues with Polly. The main reason I want to do this is that I have absolutely no problems with her in any way at all. She is extremely obediant with me but not my wife or the kids. I feel as though Polly has not fully figured out her pecking order in the family.

[TheWonderPuppies]

most female dogs in heat (sorry fo rthe pun) just get plain bitchy and otehrs are clingy and soem scare easily it is a large fluctuation of hormones so with a littel training(and getting her spayed soon) she should be back to your loving puppy!