Out of the blue aggressive behaviour?

Molly has just these past 2 days started going something very strange and kind of worrying and I'm not entirely sure how to stop her doing it!

Yesterday and today when the post arrived Molly went absolutely nuts. She has her crazy half hours throughout the day and she does get quite hyper but this was totally different from her usual behaviour. As soon as she heard the letterbox go she began snarling and growling and zoomed towards the front door and was growling and snarling while running around in circles. It was absolutely terrifying and SO out of character!

More worryingly she also did it when a little girl rode past our house today on a bike. She saw her through the window and ran up to the window snarling and growling and was leaping about.

How do I tackle this behaviour? I've tried using our 'quiet' command that we've been working on but she was so worked up it didn't do anything.

Hi Molly'smum,

Am wondering if she coming into season at all? I know some bitches can get aggressive during "their time".

Just a thought...

Hi Eddie's mum, thanks for the reply

Sadly it can't be explained by a season as she is spayed. I think the problem is that we had a lot of family up at the weekend who, despite my best efforts, insisted on winding her up. I took her out of the situation once I realised they weren't listening to me & were still winding her up but I think the damage had already been done

I don't know what to suggest, but perhaps keep in mind a vet check if you can't work it out incase it's a medical thing causing odd behaviour. Hope you work it out

Thanks Moon's Mum, I hadn't thought of a vet check but that's probably a really good idea! I'll make one tomorrow

Good grief, these dogs can be such a nightmare when they suddenly invent a totally new and not very nice habit You may be right about the trigger, but will probably never know for sure and the main thing is to work on solving this new unwanted behaviour.

I am not able to help really, but just to make you feel less alone - our little dog suddenly, for absolutely NO reason that we can fathom, started wanting to chase cars as we walk along the pavement to the river. He first did this four days ago and was absolutely awful..........like a little whirling dirvish on the end of the lead with repeated lunges We have solved it - almost - by totally ignoring him and just standing there chatting to each other until he deigns to walk forward a little way. He is already soooooooo much better and nearly out of it; so my point is if someone can come up with a solution quickly, then with luck your dog will forget this new behaviour

That would terrify me if Molly started trying to chase cars randomly! Glad you've almost sorted it out though, especially so quickly! It certainly makes me hopeful that Molly will get out of the habit quickly once I've learned how to stop her doing it

Magpyex I am sure that Molly will come out of this habit as quickly as she started it if you can stop it now.

I wonder if closing the curtains on the side of the house where she can see things going past, and intercepting the postman before he clatters the letterbox might help? Also, if you have time, just sitting outside with her on the lead for a while, and totally ignoring any bad behaviour but rewarding calm quiet periods with a toy or treats may be useful.

I do really feel for you

Oh dear - she so reminds me of Tilly who does these "all of a sudden" things & your'e left wondering how to nip it in the bud! Tilly once did the going nuts at the window at night & we found it it was the tiny blue alarm light flashing inside hub's car setting her off, once the car was parked further up, she stopped.
Intercepting the postman sounds a good idea!!
Ps has she stopped the ankle biting now?

I hadn't thought of intercepting the postman actually but that would solve the problem entirely so I'll have a go tomorrow & see if I can catch him The only problem with closing the curtains is that the window they cover is the only one in our living room so it makes it a bit dark if they're closed so that might be a no go unfortunately!

Sitting outside with her while people go past is definitely a good idea, thank you! I'll definitely try it tomorrow lunch time as that's the worst time for kids going past our house to get to the park next door!


Glad to hear you sorted Tilly's little going nuts at the window problem! It's strange how the littlest things always seem to set them off! I'll definitely be trying to intercept Mr Postman tomorrow so hopefully we'll have a growling free day

She had actually stopped nipping ankles until this weekend when all my relatives came over and now she seems to have gone back to doing it again! It's a shame as she'd been doing so well and it seems like my family visiting has undone all our hard work! Did you manage to sort it with Tilly?