Lucy turned nasty...

Out on a walk earlier, a chap with another dog bent down to stroke Lucy, and she growled and snapped at him... first time I've seen any aggression from her (had her just over a week from the rescue centre). A bit worrying.... She was told off sternly and taken straight home. Not sure what to do next, maybe she should be taken to obedience classes?

She is most likely a wee bit nervous as she will still very much be adjusting to her new life. Most dogs, especially rescue dogs take a while to get used to their new homes and it takes them a while to except new things. If you can imagine how much of a change it would be for her.

I had a rescue dog before Logan and for the first while she was a wild animal. Uncontrollable and just plain bonkers. But after a week or so she really started to except things.

Obedience classes will never hurt, however I think the most important thing is for you to remain calm as she will pick up if you are nervous/excited in the future.

If someone wants to pet her first tell them "she is a bit nervous at the moment as she is new to my family". Most people will respect this.

Also, tell people to let her go to them, rather than them coming to her - she'll feel more in control of the situation and so won't feel the need to growl.

Dempsey will do this sometimes & I just tell people not to crowd him. If they stand still & just talk to him he'll often go up to them for a gentle scratch!

May be Lucy just needs a few more weeks to settle in with her new family before any plans for training lessons are made. We made this mistake with Rocky when we first got him from the rescue centre and started on training lessons soon after. I really wish now that we had waited a couple of months before we did this.

Time to settle in and adjust to new surrounds will be key for now. Maybe in a couple of months time try a training session and see how she goes, inform the instructor beforehand of her history so they know what to expect.

Thanks for the words of advice. We've got a static holiday caravan I was thinking of taking her to next week but I think it may be good idea to delay that until we've had more time with her...

Well Lucy has seen a few more strangers later today, and she's been fine.... hopefully this was an isolated incident. Something must have freaked her out about the guy, as I said she's from a rescue so I don't know what's happened to her in the past. I'm going to take her on lots of walks in busier places to get her more used to people.

Caryll wrote:Also, tell people to let her go to them, rather than them coming to her - she'll feel more in control of the situation and so won't feel the need to growl.

Dempsey will do this sometimes & I just tell people not to crowd him. If they stand still & just talk to him he'll often go up to them for a gentle scratch!

Agree with this. Also socialize with as many different types of people as frequently as possible. It could just be that he reminds her of someone she didn't like as well

Well just got back from a mainly uneventful walk, but towards the end when we were coming up the road on the last stretch, she pull towards a guy washing his car, barking. I wonder if we're starting to find out why she ended up at the rescue centre.....?

Dogs will often take irrational dislikes of certain people. Who knows why? As long as you are in control there shouldn't be a problem - just make sure you recognise her body language & ask strangers to let her approach them, rather than the other way round.

You may find the link below useful then know what to watch for:

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/dog_body_language

Kathy wrote:You may find the link below useful then know what to watch for:

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/dog_body_language

Thanks for that, some useful stuff there.

If I may say so, as a new bod here ---- take it easy, it's early days. Ruby was a similar age when she came from the rescue centre & had some really odd habits. They seemed major problems at the time & we also had to get her used to spending a lot of time on a canal boat.

One by one, with a bit of thought, training & time, the problems disappeared. I'm sure that this will be the case with you. Good luck.