Shaker Baby Turns Into Devil Dog

Now how could this sleeping angel possibly be as naughty as the post describes?

Okay, Shaker and I have been going to puppy class for 5 weeks, and he has been doing quite well. He has reliable sits, reasonable downs and a beautiful front recall. I have been very pleased at the progress we are making, but today he went devil dog on me.

We walked into Petsmart like usual and my puppy goes psycho puppy on me--barking and growling at every dog in the store. Now from the beginning he has been a little reactive but nothing like today.

During class, a beautiful Chesapeake and his owners approached us and Shaker would have taken his face of if I hadn't been quick on the grab. Fortunately it was a very sweet dog and it gave us the opportunity to work with Shaker on appropriate behavior.

So we decide to take Shaker on more outings without the other two. And that my friends brings us to our visit to the River Pup dog shop. Russ is always a big hit there and loves his two friends Dixie the Bull Dog and Olive the Frenchie, so I thought good another non threatening environment for Shaker to visit with other dogs. WRONG!

Shaker took one look at Dixie and Olive and oh my goodness he went absolutely postal--growling, teeth snapping, and barking. Holy Smokes Bat Man I scoop up Shaker who then tried take a piece of my sweatshirt out with his teeth. Okay regroup--Olive and Dixie go back behind the counter while Shaker got a lay of the land. He did well watching them through the baby gate so Dixie the calm Bull Dog is released and Shaker starts again. This time I got between them and had Shaker focus on me and this was showing some success when another dog came into the store.

That was enough for me--we bid a hasty retreat with a promise to return again for another try.

Oh I almost forgot--it the middle of the first struggle this fellow walks up to me and says, "You need to have that dog neutered!" Once I got Shaker under control, I assured the fellow that first Shaker was too young to be neutered and second that was not the issue with reactive dogs. To which he responded, "they can be neutered at 4 months and that will solve the aggression." Knowing I am not going to get anywhere with this fellow, I just couldn't help myself, I told him I would wait for his book to come out before I passed judgment on his dog handling tips.