Attitude Adjustment

I need some advice!

When Sadie and I lived in Boston, she would sometimes bark at certain dogs during our walks. One in particular she really hated. (All the dogs in the neighborhood barked at him though.) Usually she would just bark at them if they were across the street. If they were on our side of the street, she would cry and want to say hello. I got her to stop barking for the most part by making her sit down when she started freaking out.

Since moving to NY, this has gotten worse. Especially after she was attacked at the dog park. Now, she barks at pretty much EVERY dog in our neighborhood. And she doesn’t just bark, she freaks out. She sounds REALLY vicious, too. I think most people assume she is mean and wants to attack their dog (which I really don’t think she ever would do). Her bark is truly bigger than her bite. One time she actually got loose and ran up to one dog, but didn’t do anything. She just ran around the poor dog, barking at him haha. There are still a few dogs she that she doesn’t bark at; she’ll just cry, which means she wants to say hello. I just don’t get it.

I have a few theories. She is maybe just traumatized from the attack. And just extra defensive now. She’s not aggressive at the dog park. I keep her in the small dog area now, though. So that might be why. She tends to only bark at bigger dogs. I’m not quite sure what she would do on the big dog side anymore, and I don’t want to find out.

Or, she feels like she needs to protect more people now, as we live with my aunt and uncle. Before it was just Sadie and me...so maybe now that she has more humans to protect, she’s just doing her job?? We also live in a house now, as opposed to an apartment building. So that might have something to do with it??

I don’t know...but if you have any thoughts or suggestions on how to make her stop barking like this, I would appreciate it!