Spoodle Aggression, Adelaide

We have a 2yr old Spoodle, and we have just noticed that she has started to become agressive over food,And we tried to touch her ear to clean it out and she snapped at us .Bought a muzzle to clean her ears , is this correct and we are hand feeding how long do we continue this. She also barks continually when we first let her out in the morning,at the cat smells in the back yard. How do we stop her barking inside and outside,is the muzzle cruel, she is usually a very active dog that loves to be with us and licks us alot. We also noticed that when we took her back to dog training she started to growl at certain dogs. (she was attacked by a german shepard at 6mths.
Posted: 20/11/2011

Reply Spoodle Aggression, Melbourne (VIC)
I think you have some leadership issues and the dog barks and you respond, the dog comes to you gets a pat ? all initiated by the dog, not the leader. A muzzle often makes things worse, as it addressed the issue but not the cause. The cause is that she decides what can be done. I would recommend hand-feeding for a while, but you taking the food from her bowl and giving it to her, so she learns the bowl is yours, not hers. Start very slowly touching her, without any purpose, so she starts to trust you that you will do the right thing and also touch her ears. 1 in 4 people get bitten when they have to address an ear infection!! She may have issues with other dogs due to her experience and that requires ?on the ground? help ? get some local professional advice for this.
Posted: 20/11/2011