hello everyone,
Here is the situation.....10 mos old sweet, demure little Fergie who has learned to love playing with other pups, and safe strangers, has suddenly(within the last 3 mos) gotten very aggressive when I apply her monthly heartworm/flea tick preventative. Aggressive to the point of trying to bite me. This is the same dog who tolerates my 7 year old wrapping her up in an Ariel blanket on a daily basis. She has also gone from willingly letting me clip her toenails, to now having them clipped at the vets because this also makes her ornery.

The vet has recommended that I seek the advice of a behaviorist, and I have an appt with one who owns shelties this coming Wed. Based on the information I gave the behaviorist on the phone, she feels like maybe I "over-socialized" Fergie, and the poor, shy girl is just tapped out. I am willing to do whatever it takes, but I'm curious if anyone else out there has experienced something similar. I want to be prepared with as many questions and possible reasons for the aggression as I can be for the appt.

Any input would be appreciated.

Also - just thinking...if any of you have a good memory, you will recall my blog regarding Fergie and a bad initial vet experience. The vet basically threw her into a submission hold when Fergie got snippy during a mouth exam. But that was what, 7 mos ago? We since have changed vets and Fergie has been fine during all exams and vaccinations. I am hoping that ordeal has not scarred her, but as said I want to be able to give as much info as possible.

thank you all

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Comment by Becky S on October 11, 2010 at 4:20pm
Brody is the same... I take him to petco for the nails, it just wasn't worth the hassle at home. He just sees the little tube of monthly heartworm and he runs, I wont' even have opened it yet and he's outta there. Last month he came for a cookie, but I dropped it trying to apply the medication and Lilly ate it. So I gave him another. Lilly on the other hand could care less what you do to her. She'll lay on her back and hold her paws out for me to clip.
Comment by Carole and Sophie on October 9, 2010 at 11:40am
Sophie let me cut her nails until she was about 6 months old and then she started biting at the clippers. If we are going to our Vet I have them do it - but most of the time we stop by Petco and they do a great job. The way they clip the nails is they take the paw, bend it under so Sophie can't see her paw or see the clippers, and snip snip and it's done before she knows what hit her - and we are all happy!

I don't have advice about the flea stuff - sounds like you got some good comments below though.
Comment by Susan Stanton on October 8, 2010 at 10:03pm
I wonder -- the toenails are one thing, but do you think the tick med is a problem? There are dogs who can't tolerate it, it may really bother her or her skin, it may burn or hurt or be unpleasant in ways she can't tell you. Where do you live? Could you leave it off for a few months (now that cold weather is coming?) and give her a rest from it? (I mentioned this on another blog, that I switched to holistic powder of garlic and brewers yeast instead, and haven't had any flea/tick issues all summer -- and we have huge tick problems here). I mean, dogs do change as they grow up and go through adolescence, etc. as Bev says -- but sometimes, it can even be simpler than that. I will say, my little Ethel's 'tude developed between 1 and 2 years, where she began pushing other young female dogs around, but now that she's hitting three, she's calming down again. Oddly, she doesn't mind having her toes clipped -- but Bertie, who's totally laid back and easy going, hate, HATES to have his nails clipped. It took a lot of cookies to convince him that it was okay for me to clip his.
Comment by Bev Levy on October 8, 2010 at 9:12pm
Google Nothing In Life Is Free. She is going through adolescence and will probably be a little stinker for a while. Try distracting her with a good treat while you put the flea stuff on. I like some peanut butter smeared around a plate but anything she likes will do. As far as the toe nails I admit I have the vet do mine because I just do not want to deal with it. Remember this is a 25 to 30 lb dog bred to tell a one ton cow what to do so a little attitude does crop up from time to time. You just have to be a step ahead of her!

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