Please Help....

Hi
Can any of you shed some light or try and help me on this...
I have had my 15month old girl from 8 weeks old. She lives with a cat and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who is 9years old. She has always been submissive with other dogs and if she meets any when out on the lead she lays down and rolls onto her back.
Her and my cavalier get on like a house on fire and there has never been so much as a grumble from either one of them EVER.
She has always been well socialised and meets other dogs on a regular basis. She has never shown any signs of agression and has always acted like a little cat rather than a dog.
Until yesterday.. I was out walking her in the snow, she was running in fields off the lead for 30 mins, I then clipped her back onto her lead and carried on on our usual walk. She was on the lead and a tiny Jack Russell came upto her (also on a lead) and was barking and growling at her. Usually she would lay down and roll ovr but she growled nastily back!! I kept walking, 5 minutes later we passed a minature poodle who was just simply walking buy and did not growl or bark at her and she decided to bark at that also. So I told her off... she hates to be told off and sulked for the duration of the rest of our walk. As we were almost home we passed another Staffy, I let her go upto it and she was fine (no growling) I really cannot work this out and obviously I am worried that she could be turning nasty. She has not been set upon or picked on before this happened and it seems to have happened over night. Also she has just found her bark and has started this last week to bark and grumble at things on the TV and noises outside.
Is she just going through a teenage faze or could she potentially becoming nasty?
Please help!!
p.s she had her second season in December so she is not in season

Don't think she is getting nasty. Dogs give signals off when they meet so usually a sniff and tail wag means ok. Sometimes its just the opposite. I would not worry too much unless it becomes a regular habit

Like humans, dogs' character changes according to experiences. I'd say when you pulled her away from the barking jack Russell you allowed her to believe growling and barking back was acceptable or needed behaviour which she took on to the next dog.

Make sure bad experiences are quicly followed by positive ones and you'll be ok. Also, growl and a rare nip are part of dog ownership so as long as its not nasty don't make of it more than it is.

Just be warned that the first step of teaching a dog to fight is allowing it to bark and growl at an aggressive dog so don't inadvertidly give your dog an adrenaline high that it will then be seeking to get again.

Tommy and Tilly can be very unpredictable as to which they growl at and which they play with and most of the time its never the ones you think

Dave wrote:Tommy and Tilly can be very unpredictable as to which they growl at and which they play with and most of the time its never the ones you think

haha, mine is the same and I just take them all as they come these days. I know she would back away if asked so I don't let it bother me.

I agree with everyone else. I doubt that it's real aggression, just testing the boundaries a bit. She's approaching maturity & she's probably trying to get the upper hand with one or two dogs.

I'd just correct her firmly, but not harshly. Tell her "No" or "Leave" and turn her away. Get her to sit by your side & maybe look at you (hold a treat in front of your face & say "Watch" - you might want to try that a few times at home first!). Then as soon as she does, give her the treat. She'll soon get the idea that not barking/growling at another dog gets her a treat!

Hi Guys

Thanks for all of your replies..
I took Rosie out twice yesterday and again this morning and she was fine with all of the dogs she came across both on and off the lead.
She is clicker and whistle trained and so I took treats out with me and praised her and gave her treats when she was good. If she does growl I will not reward her and tell her 'no' she hates it when I raise my voice.

Thank you for all of your comments and help.

Sarah