Dog dislikes just one person in our house!

[hollymayt]

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We have recently adopted two miniature poodles (aged 6 and 7) from the same place - they are both ex-breeding dogs and came together. One is pretty chilled out, but the other is quite clearly a little traumatised. However, she has bonded really well with me after just the first day or so. There are four of us in the household - she liked me and my dad almost instantly, she gradually came around to liking my partner, but she seems to dislike my mum and we don't know why. At first, she was just scared of her - again, don't understand why - my mum doesn't seem to do anything different from any of us - she actually gives them treats more than anyone else, she sometimes gives them their meals, etc. The dog in question seemed to start making some progress after this first month - she was still hesitant but did play with my mum a little bit, and even wagged her tail at her a couple of times - started jumping up on the same sofa as her, etc, even if she was still wary. However, this morning my mum was stroking her and the dog suddenly snapped and growled at her! And the dog loves attention! She cuddles all up to me and she'd basically let me do anything with her! I just don't understand why she seems to dislike my mum - she's not absent the most (my dad is home far less than anyone else), she is not aggressive in any of her mannerisms - for a while we thought it was because my mum was quite obviously stressed about unrelated factors, but she was fine this morning when the dog snapped at her! Does anyone know what we can do? Or what might be the reason for this?
​This dog is so loving and so non-aggressive, it doesn't make any sense to any of us why she is like this with just one member of our household

 

[gypsysmum2]

It is fear that causes dogs to show aggression. Something in her past is causing her to be fearful of your mum. It may be that your mum resembles someone who has not been very nice. Or it may be that the dog has never encountered anyone like your mum and has not learned to trust.

My rescue dog is very worried by women handling him. I happen to know that he had a very serious accident and was treated by female vet nurses over quite a period of time. Every time I try to handle him he tenses and looks worried that I am going to hurt him as those vet nurses did. I know that if I persist he will snap. We take one step forward and two steps back

Your mum needs lots of patience to allow the dog to come to trust her. She should watch the dog's body language and respect her personal space if she looks tense or worried. At her age, the dog is going to take a long while to come around to trusting and relaxing in every situation.

If the dogs had been well socialised as puppies they would bounce back quite quickly to being confident and outgoing. It is unlikely that this happened given their circumstances.