Jack Russell Terror

Hi All. I just adopted a Jack Russell a month ago. She can be really sweet and came with limited bad problems. Her biggest being separation anxiety - which I can understand as I am her fourth (final) owner. We are working on this.
She always seemed friendly to other dogs and I never had concern with her being aggressive. She seemed well socialized. However, the last couple of interactions with other dogs has been slightly surprising as she has started to nip at their face! Today, she actually seemed to nip pretty hard at another dog that I was embarrassed.
What would be starting this behavior now and how do I stop this from becoming a problem?
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Positive Petzine
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Jack Russell Terror
Hi, keep an eye out for my next article on Separation Anxiety, which should be published at the beginning of November. clickertraining.com will host the article, and I will send an ezine out with a link to it if you are on my mailing list.
Nipping at the face can be all sorts of things, and is probably a natural behavior that has been modified and is being shown inappropriately through lack of good socialisation experiences.
I recommend you seek the help of a competent professional, and choose the dogs she socialises with very carefully! Keep play session short, and end them before she gets too aroused. If you can find a clicker training class nearby you will probably get the sort of calm, controlled interactions you are looking for.
I think (I don't know, so see if you agree with this or not) she just needs to learn to keep a lid on her excitement around other dogs. Generally, other dogs will give her a telling off for inappropriate behavior, but that can have mixed outcomes depending on a number of factors. Calm, controlled interactions with appropriate dogs should give you a more predictable outcome and is the most responsible advice that I can give you here.
Regards,
Aidan
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