Digi has turned aggressive.. advice?

[king2005]

I had a wisdom tooth pulled a few hrs ago. Since I have been home Digi has gone into protect mommy mode & is taking it all out on Cash. She hasn't bitten him yet, or snarled.. But she has yipped at him & is charging & chasing him to the far side of the house.

Digi is extremely attached to me & I am her be all & end all, so this behavior is expected, but still unwanted.

I'm unsure if I should scold her & kennel her when she acts out, as I'm scared it'll do more harm then good.

Please remember she is a VERY sensitive dog, so things like this aren't always as easy to deal with, as a simple scolding to her is like beating the snot out of her... Even training is crazy hard & slow going, but its coming a long great! Just crazy slow.

I am worried she'll go after Jordan next. He is prepared for her get protective of me so hes keeping his distance when shes free, just so we can try to avoid any issues.. He knows if she acts out hes not to get angry at her, as it can make the situation far worse.

Its hard on me as Digi is the sweetest dog in the world & not I fear she'll bite Cash or Jordan cause I'm hurting. I'm happy that shes protecting me, as it shows me her true love for me, but its still not right.. so I really don't know what to do

I want to scold her as I HATE aggression in dogs (unless there truely is harm being done to a person & the dog is protecting its owner or a loved one), but I don't know if thats the best way to go about something like this.

Can I get some advice on this issue?

Right now its almost bed time & Digi is in her kennel as I don't want her loose int he room with the cat as I might not be able to stop something if she goes too far.


Maybe keeping her tied to the bed about 5 feet away from me is the best option for the next day or so? I have trained her to be tied so its not something new to her at all.. But I don't know if this will cause more issues if the cat does come near me... I can't believe I feel totally lost

[Scooter's Mom]

I don't have any advice for you, but wanted to see how things were going.
Hope Digi is back to her normal self!

[king2005]

I don't have any advice for you, but wanted to see how things were going.
Hope Digi is back to her normal self!

Thank you

Digi is more relaxed, but she is still stopping Cash from getting to close to me. Shes not chasing him anymore, but she is staring him down & getting in his way. If he gets too close she stabs him with her nose until he goes away. Then she'll follow him out of the room, or into the closet (I think there is a magical cat land in there)...

She hasn't gone after Jordan, but she will stare at him more when hes near me.

Jordan said when I'm not home Digi is 100% normal around Cash. She plays with him, sniffs him, jumps around like a nutcase around him.. but the second I come home BAM Digi is different. She'll still play with Jordan like crazy, but she will stop to shoo Cash away from me.

I just hope shes back to herself soon. I hardly hurt at all, & hardly did hurt. The wisdom tooth came out super easy and there was hardly any blood, pretty much no swelling & no visible brusing... but she must have senced something was wrong & something is still semi wrong. I'm not trying to act differently, & I don't feel like I am...

I'm just not use to Digi being or trying to be protective... i've always viewed her as useless in that department as shes a crazy happy dog... just look at her when she was ill.. she should have been acting dead, not crazy happy!!.

[IRescue452]

Good to hear you're feeling fine. I would absolutely not tolerate this from any of my dogs. She's not saying she loves you, she's saying you belong to her. I would definately not tie her to the bed close to you when she's acting like this. She'd be in the crate when I'm sleeping. When she stares down cash or growls or lunges, its a quick eh-eh sound and either a command to the kennel or a send away command. Something that will absolutely give her the message that you will not tolerate this. There is no reward for her and no apology on your part during this time. You may feel bad because you yelled at her but she isn't getting hurt. She's going to try and tell you she's getting hurt so you stop correcting the behavior she wants to do.

And correcting her in this situation will not make her useless when a stranger comes to rob you. Its much harder to fix a problem the second time around when you tolerated it so well the first time.

[buttercup132]

You need to start doing some serious NILIF and have everyone in the house participate.
And you can cut it with the she's sensitive and slow..she acts that way because you have allowed her to and that's how you have raised her.

[Taz_Zoee]

You need to start doing some serious NILIF and have everyone in the house participate.
And you can cut it with the she's sensitive and slow..she acts that way because you have allowed her to and that's how you have raised her.

Why do your responses need to be so snippy? I don't understand.

[king2005]

Good to hear you're feeling fine. I would absolutely not tolerate this from any of my dogs. She's not saying she loves you, she's saying you belong to her. I would definately not tie her to the bed close to you when she's acting like this. She'd be in the crate when I'm sleeping. When she stares down cash or growls or lunges, its a quick eh-eh sound and either a command to the kennel or a send away command. Something that will absolutely give her the message that you will not tolerate this. There is no reward for her and no apology on your part during this time. You may feel bad because you yelled at her but she isn't getting hurt. She's going to try and tell you she's getting hurt so you stop correcting the behavior she wants to do.

Thank you, I've been telling her NO & sending her to the big bed.

She has calmed right down. Today she didn't care that Cash was near me.


And correcting her in this situation will not make her useless when a stranger comes to rob you.[/QUOTE]
THats not what I meant.. I meant I have always thought of her as useless when it came to a guard dog. THe joke has always been, that she'll great the robber & show him where all the good are hehehe Shes just so friendly of a dog that its 100% shocking when she showed some agression