need help with a nervous dog please guys

Ok, maisy is 2 1/2 now and over the last few months has started showing aggression towards some other dogs. In the past she has been ok, but has had a few dogs snap at her which I think has made her weary, also since we have got scooby its like when we see another dog she lunges forwards like she has to greet it first, if it starts barking she will bark back or she'll wimper untill we are well past. I use treats and get her to sit which sometimes she does but its hard to get her attention.

I have started taking her to classes, I thought she needs sociallising and confidence building, so the first class she was ok, very nervous but she settled and did really well, the trainer agreed with me that she was nervous but they also thought she was protecting me.
So the seccond class she was quite scared as there is a dog that barks a lot and to stop it they shake abottle of stones at it, well this frightened maisy, but she came round and did ok in the class, then at the 3rd class maisy was so frightened she hid behind the chair panting like mad and she wouldn't come out, the trainer said "its ok just let her sit there and take it in" well they had us sat there for the full hour just watching the others and I was thinking surely she needs to be doing something to take her mind off feeling so stressed? At the end the trainer just said "she'll come round" and went out for a fag.
So when we walked her past the training place the day after, her tail went right under and she pulled like mad to get past, and im left thinking "what do I do? I don't want to stop the classes as I want help with her confidence and sociallizing, but I feel like these classes have made her worse and I just don't know where to go from here?"

How do I get her to see that I'm the protector so she doesn't need to? Any ideas?

These classes are not helping. It's a very stressful situation shes in and shes been thrown in at the deep end so to speak. Have a chat with the trainer and ask is there anyone who would be willing to stay behind or go early so your dog can do one on one sessions with only one other dog and build it up from there.

I don't think the classes are helping either. Are you nervous or stressed about how she will behave in class? If so she could very well be picking up on this and feel as if you need protecting.

If you know someone with an older well socialized dog try taking them for a walk together as often as possible. This will help her confidence and you can build from there.

I would try another class if I were you as the trainer doesn't sound suitable to work with your dog. I'm not a fan of using aversives like the stones in a bottle at the best of times, nevermind in a class with a nervous dog in it

Until you can find a better trainer, I would work on getting a strong watch me command, first at home then gradually take it outside into more distracting environments so whenever you see another dog, you can ask her to focus on you until the other dog passes then heavily reward with a high value treat or a quick game of tug/what ever she finds the most fun.

Galadriel wrote:I would try another class if I were you as the trainer doesn't sound suitable to work with your dog. I'm not a fan of using aversives like the stones in a bottle at the best of times, nevermind in a class with a nervous dog in it

Until you can find a better trainer, I would work on getting a strong watch me command, first at home then gradually take it outside into more distracting environments so whenever you see another dog, you can ask her to focus on you until the other dog passes then heavily reward with a high value treat or a quick game of tug/what ever she finds the most fun.

I'd agree with this.

Thanks everyone, I'm going to stop the classes and work on some training just me and her in the garden for a while x

Let us know how you get on