Rene

by Rene
(New Olreans, LA)

My four year old Jack Russell Terrier (Rascal) has recently begun to show aggression to other dogs (even to the point of attacking dogs she has known since she was a pup). She has also begun to snap at my father and sister on occasion. NOTE: She has always played well with other dogs. She is very sweet natured and would even roll over in submission to other dogs. But NOT ANYMORE.

She has been through a lot of changes in the past year, as my husband and I welcomed a baby girl into the family 5 months ago. Also, about 8 months ago, she was attacked by a large dog (leaving bruises and puncture wounds on Rascal). Since then, she has been terrified of other dogs, especially big dogs, and as mentioned, she has been showing aggression to other dogs.

We don't have many problems with her when we are home, but when we go to visit family, she has these episodes. I worry because we have an infant in the house now. We love Rascal very mcuh and want to correct this problem before it gets any worse. Should we spend them money on a dog trainer, or try to fix this problem ourselves? Any advice? We plan to be more adament about her walks in the future (she has been a little neglected with the new baby), but i'm not sure if this will be enough. Help!