I have a 4-year-old Frenchie named Joy. She’s usually well-behaved with me and my dad, but whenever my mom is around, she just goes wild. She barks, pounces, scratches, and sometimes even nips at her! It’s like her anxiety goes through the roof whenever my mom talks to her or looks at her. It’s even gotten to the point where she’s drawn blood because my mom has really thin skin. I’ve tried using a bark collar, but Joy just runs and hides whenever I put it on her. I don’t know what to do… any ideas on how to fix this? 
Sounds like she might have some possessiveness going on. Maybe she’s just really attached to you and doesn’t like your mom getting too close. Have you tried any training to address it?
Angelina said:
Sounds like she might have some possessiveness going on. Maybe she’s just really attached to you and doesn’t like your mom getting too close. Have you tried any training to address it?
Yeah, I was thinking the same. It could be a jealousy thing too. Definitely worth trying some training for sure.
I had a similar issue with my dog. It got better when I started training her to ‘leave it’ when she got too worked up. It helped with the aggression.
PriyankaJonas said:
I had a similar issue with my dog. It got better when I started training her to ‘leave it’ when she got too worked up. It helped with the aggression.
Ooh, what’s the ‘leave it’ command? Never heard of that one before…
@Asher
It’s a command where you train the dog to stop what it’s doing and focus back on you. It works for a lot of bad behaviors, like barking or even taking things they shouldn’t. You should look it up—it’s super helpful!
Sounds tough… I read that some dogs just have anxiety with certain people. Maybe your mom could work on slowly gaining her trust? Like calm interactions or treats to associate her with something positive?
@shanty
That’s a good idea! I think that might help a lot, since she already seems okay with people overall. I’ll suggest it to my mom. Thanks!
It could also be that your dog’s behavior is tied to something specific from her past. Maybe she’s just nervous because of what happened to her before. You might want to have a pro trainer check her out and give some tailored advice.
@CanineCoach2
Yeah, I didn’t think about that… She had a rough past before I rescued her. I think I might try getting a trainer involved to see if they can figure it out.
If your mom is yelling, that might just escalate things too. Maybe teaching her how to stay calm when Joy acts out could help? Dogs pick up on our emotions a lot.
Lily said:
If your mom is yelling, that might just escalate things too. Maybe teaching her how to stay calm when Joy acts out could help? Dogs pick up on our emotions a lot.
Agreed! If your mom gets worked up, Joy will probably sense that and get more anxious. A calm approach could help settle things down.