I had failed miserably at recognizing the early signs of Monty’s aggression, which were pretty obvious in hindsight. Monty was extremely territorial, and I always joked about the fact that I never had to worry about an intruder in my home with Monty around. He was the ultimate guard dog, protecting me from visitors, neighborhood children, and squirrels.
What should have concerned me was the fact that Monty growled at my husband every time he got near me, and snapped at him whenever he tried to rescue one of his shoes from Monty’s possession. Foolishly, I found Monty’s behavior was charming, and teased my husband about his “rival.” I thought my sweet little 5-pound ball of fluff was just “being a loving little angel and protecting me.”
It never occurred to me that what he was really doing was displaying early signs of aggression. Instead of recognizing this and learning how to help an aggressive dog, I made the problem worse by praising Monty for his “devotion”.
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