We have a 4 year old male dog and a 2 year old female rescue dog,that we adopted from the SPCA when she was 5 months old. Her entire litter was brought in at 5 months old and she was the last one to be adopted.My problem is this: She is a very sweet dog , friendly and obedient, and is very socially interested. Two minutes into meeting a new dog, however, she turns aggressive and a fight ensues.

Our local dog trainer thinks this may be a result of her not being socialized outside of her pack, for so long as a pup. Any advice as to 'nipping this in the bud' per se, would be appreciated. Thank you!

Jessica O'Neill: Hi Mae,
Your local trainer may be right, or your female's reaction to other dogs could originate from something completely different. At this point the reasons behind where or why the behaviour originated are not overly important. We need to find out your dog's triggers and motivations. Is she attempting to move the other dog away or does she have limited social skills and is actually looking to engage in play? People tend to use the word 'aggressive' loosely.

Many behaviours that are deemed 'aggressive displays' are simply arousal behaviours resulting from excess adrenaline in the body. What your dog needs now, is to have many positive experiences in safe, controlled environments. Interrupt play sessions or social engagements regularly, before a battle occurs. Depending on how intense the altercations are and how easily they can be interrupted you may decide that it is not worth the risk.

Always remember to REWARD RECOVERY. If after an altercation your dog is able to walk past the other dog or even look at the other dog an not engage in aggressive behaviours, reward her. Reward her for being in close proximity to other dogs. Become an expert in your own dogs' behaviour. Watch her body posture, tail, eyes, mouth, ears, and recognize what her warning signs are for engaging in these altercations. Use these as cues that she is uncomfortable or uneasy and redirect her to something productive.

When there is a conflict between two competing interests regarding the presence of pets, how is that adjudicated?

Does the right of a person to take their pet with them in public have any impact they have on others regarding phobias, allergies, etc?

For instance, nearly everybody accepts the requirement for seeing-eye dogs to aid the visually impaired. Conversely, what is the consideration for those who are in an aircraft who may be severely allergic to cats or dogs?

Where is the line drawn between a pet owner's right and the right of others to not be exposed to animals?

Jessica O'Neill: Hi Marcus,
As I understand it, when referring to individuals with disabilities who require their service animal in order to carryout normal functions of everyday life such as traveling to and from work, the animal then becomes an extension of that individual. I suppose it would be dealt with similarly to if a person on an airplane was having a physical or mental reaction to another person's race or gender.

I suffer from allergies myself, however, when I know I'll be in an environment that there will be uncontrollable variables, I take an antihistamine. No one enjoys suffering from any sort of illness, discomfort or disability. As far as human rights are concerned, I can only speak to the matter as a human not as a professional. My professional involvement pertains to the behaviour, training and temperament of the service or companion animal only.

I have a two year old Golden Retriever. When she's out for a walk on-leash she lunges at passing cars if they are noisy or going fast. How can I correct this behaviour?

Jessica O'Neill: Wendy,
This can be a frustrating behaviour to deal with because, our logic tells us that our dog's behaviour is unreasonable and unnecessary. In your dogs' mind, these cars could be a very real threat, or perhaps he simply enjoys his ability to make them go away. Every time that your dog barks and lunges at the car he is being reinforced. According to him, his behaviour makes that object go away.

The best way to deal with this is to not allow him to practice making the cars move away. When you see that a car is coming, distract your dog how ever required (attraction noises, food, play, etc) and remove visual access. Keep your dogs' attention until the car has past, then go along your marry way. If you miss your opportunity to redirect and your dog does react (we are only human), redirect and reward his recovery.

So remember: Anticipate, Redirect & Reward or Redirect & Reward Recovery. Good luck to you both.

My terrier-mix (exact lineage unknown) is six years old, and barks all day.

She looks out the window and barks at the neighbours, she barks when anybody comes to the door, she barks at loud noises.

She thinks she is guarding the house, and nothing we have done makes her stop for more than a few minutes. We have tried everything, from obedience classes when she was a puppy (the trainer said she was the worst he had seen), to dog behavioural specialists and all manner of anti-barking collars.

We used to put bristol board over the windows so she couldn’t see out. We try to be stern with her and make her sit and stay every time she starts barking, but she does it anyway.

She knows she isn’t supposed to bark but she doesn’t seem to care. Is there anything else we can do? The barking is very difficult to live with.

With the rise in popularity of "purse dogs" (shudder), I am noticing more and more people taking their dogs with them everywhere, including ignoring signs prohibiting animals in malls, stores and restaurants.

I love animals, but I don't want your chihuahua sniffing my arm in the checkout line at the liquor store, as happened to me yesterday. Staff seem to ignore the practice rather than have a confrontation with one of these people.

What is your thought on people who think their dog should accompany them - in their arms or a purse - literally everywhere? Besides being rude when practiced where signs prohibit it, isn't this abnormal behaviour unhealthy for dogs, who are designed to walk around on their own all day?

Jessica O'Neill: : Hi Linda,
I cringe to comment on this issue for fear of insulting someone with exceptional circumstances. However, a large portion of little dogs I see dealing with separation anxiety or aggression have developed this behaviour due to years of over pampering and lack of training. I may not be the best person for this question because, I too am an individual who brings my animals along with me as much as possible, including my pot-belly pig Abby.

I do believe it is important to be respectful of the rules and regulations posted in each specific area. If I were to challenge these posted requests it would generally be with exceptional permission. I hope my thoughts were helpful.

Why do dogs on a leash seem to be more nervous or aggressive when meeting other dogs in public than dogs not on a leash?

Jessica O'Neill: This is a very clever observation. You are right, you can intensify a dogs reaction up to 40 per cent higher when on leash then when off leash. The reaction is exaggerated because the dog is confined to the boundary on their leash length, therefore their ability to exercise their fight or flight response is inhibited, and their options are limited. Despite their motive, to increase or decrease the distance between them and other dog, they must exhibit alternate behaviours in order to achieve their desired results.

I have a 1.8 year old Puggle (Pug X Beagle) who (eek!) we have never left alone for more than 15 minutes.

He has severe separation anxiety - what do you suggest we do to get him to be alone?

We do not wish to crate him and he is otherwise wonderfully behaved.

Thanks!

Currently people are being allowed to cart pets on public busses here. I've seen perhaps one dog on the bus since then.

Being excessively allergic, it's enough to make me break into sneezing fits and have itchy eyes. Hell, I'd even get symptoms when someone sat near me smelling of cat feces and had semi-clean clothes on.

I can understand the rights of a blind person because dogs have been the most common and practical method of letting them enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

Now someone with panic attacks however, can get by just fine without a pet. I should know, I have suffered from severe panic attacks. Now, the doctor in all his years of practicing medicine and treating for it prescribed medicine. He didn't, on the other hand, give me a furry animal.

This whole case is absurd in the sense that they're giving individuals the right to cause discomfort to others because of their so-called disability.

So what, does this mean I can all of a sudden, light up at a bus terminal now because not smoking seriously damages my calm?

Jessica O'Neill: Dear Meiz,
I understand your position on this issue. Unfortunately I cannot offer you any comfort. The presence of animals in public and society in general is inevitable. I realize it is a sensitive topic for many, especially those suffering from medical, emotional or mental conditions who feel it will have a negative effect on their lifestyles. My professional duty extends only to the behaviour and training of these and other companion/therapy animals.

We have a Bijon-Shitsu cross.

My question is: The dog barks or rather it howls and it growls at every single person or even car that passes the our house. If a car door slams from a block away, he's immediately growling.

When the next door neighbour pulls into their driveway, he goes balistic. When a car turns the cornor, he's growling loudly. It is very, very annoying and frustrating. We've tried reprimanding him.

Tried giving him light taps on the rear and the command to stop. Nothing works. Thanks

Some very good questions.

I have similar problems with my dog. When are the above questions answered?

Where are the answers going to be posted?

We have a male pet rabbit (neutered) in our house that poops to try and mark his territory around cats at my parents house (i.e. in the cats bed, around the house).

We never keep him around cats for very long so we're not sure how long it lasts.

We are hesitant to get a kitten in our apartment because we're not sure how much/how long he will make a stand to mark his territory, or whether he even will at all.

Please provide any advice you can...Thank you so much!!

How do I get my 1 year old, unneutered husky to stop eating garbage and household items?

He devours his bones in seconds and then goes straight for anything laying around!

My almost 2 year old schnauzer all of a sudden could not hold her pee, and peed in her crate.

She also peeded ever few minutes when on her walk, and sometimes squatting for a few minutes.

She was sensitive, and would not let me look in that area. I did trim back some of the fur.

Should I wait or go to a vet right away?

Can a dog suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder?

My 9 month old SPCA Shepherd pup is perfect except for one thing: when we go for walks in a trail, she often bounds up happily to people coming in our direction, wagging her tail, putting on her doggy smile then right when she's about a foot away from them, the hair on her back goes up and she barks at them really loudly.

It's not every person..it might happen once or twice out of every ten encounters. She usually does it to people without dogs, but not always.

For some reason, she also does the same thing to people wearing life jackets. It's super embarassing because she's not aggressive or vicious and it's really hard to convince people that she's friendly when she's barking at them like that (it's very intimidating, especially to children!).

Usually I try to calm her down, I tell her to be quiet (which she listens to very well) and then I get her to sit while the person pets her. This makes the situation better between me as the owner, and the person who was likely very scared, but doesn't prevent her from barking at the next person..any suggestions?

Jessica O'Neill: Hi there,
These types of behaviours often baffle us humans, "What is that dogs deal?" You should know that your dog is not the only dog who presents as friendly at first, and then for no apparent reason changes her mind. We don't always know why dogs behaves in certain ways, we can normally speculate about it and even narrow it down to a few good possibilities.

The reason for the change of heart could be anything, from smell, hormones, clothing, or accessories. I suspect that it has to do with the way the individual reacts to your dog. The individual looks non-threatening from a distance, but as your dog gets closer, they change shape (bend down), move closer (stretch out their arms to pet) and become confrontational (give direct eye contact). Direct eye contact, forward movements and forward facing encounters are often more overwhelming, indicating a more assertive or threatening encounter; whereas a sideways posture, indirect eye contact and a neutral stance indicate generally a non-threatening or welcoming encounter.

I would recommend grounding the leash (stepping on it with your foot, only giving her enough room to sit, stand or lie comfortably) so your dog cannot access people. This ensures that every encounter will be controlled and supervised. Try to work with dog-savvy individuals who will be prepared to keep a neutral position while the dog is learning to become comfortable with all strangers. Reward your dog with food for positive interactions, if she is uncomfortable with her encounter, provide her with space by asking the person to ignore her while you move away. Once you are at a distance where she is calm, reward her and attempt to move forward again.

Be calm and consistent, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

My knee high poodle wants to either lunge at other dogs he sees or he wants to become WWAAAYY too friendly in a wink wink nudge way. He has been fixed since he was 5 months old. How do I correct because I never know what to expect. I make him sit and restrain him until the other pooch(es) pass. Other then that he's very friendly and loves people.

Jessica O'Neill: Hi Lolcari,
I am so glad someone addressed this behaviour. It is all too often I get owners asking me why their fixed dog is so 'horny.'

The answer is, he's not. Mounting is a very typical arousal behaviour in response to the release of adrenaline in the body. It occurs with both little boy and little girl dogs and can be directed toward virtually anyone or anything. So, to answer another common question, no, your dog is not gay. When your dog is overloaded with adrenaline he is like a 5- year-old kid pumped full of hot chocolate and jellybeans. His ability to think and learn is seriously inhibited.

You are seeing a variety of arousal behaviours which are not generally consistent, and change rapidly from (what we consider to be) friendly to (what we consider to be) aggressive. Your little guy needs to learn how to de-arouse or as I like to say "chill out." You should spend some time researching calming techniques and implement them throughout the day.

I would encourage you to invest in at least a short consultation with a pet behaviour specialist who can show you how to preform these techniques and incorporate them into your day routine.

Just a tip for your doggy encounters: When your dog is reacting poorly, move him away, and reward him as he becomes more focused. Asking him to sit and stay is only a means of suppression, and does not address the root or emotional aspect of the issue. If fact suppression will make it worse. Try your best to remove visual access, and only allow access if he is calm and composed.

My 2 year old lab gets overly excited and anxious whenever she sees another dog in general or when I take her out for walks. She lunges and barks, both on leash and off leash. What can I do to fix this problem?

Jessica O'Neill: I have addressed this issue in letters to other inquiries which I encourage you to read. This is a very common behavioural issue. Problem resolution in this case would be learning leash handling skills, implementing management and establishing a behaviour modification program including counter conditioning and systematic desensitization. Your dog sounds like she would also benefit from some calming and relaxation techniques.

Please read the other inquiries and my responses to them, they cover these resolutions in detail. Good luck.