Maia's trip to the vet was the worst experience I have ever had with her. It all started on Sunday night when I noticed her face was crusty, upon further inspection I saw it was pussy and bloody. I got her quickly into the vet on Monday afternoon. Once there she was fine, happy to see the receptionist and the little golden puppy next to us. But then things changed, in came a lady and her crazy golden, who was pulling at the end of his leash and jumping around. Maia obviously didn't like this and immediately jumped up snarled and lunged toward the dog. I got her under control, then the lady decided to walk her dog past Maia, once again Maia went off. So, I took Maia outside and go her calmed down. We go back in and things are ok, then in walks a huge lab pulling at the end of his leash and dragging his owner. Maia goes off again. I had to tell the lady not to sit next to us because I couldn't promise my dog wouldn't bite.
Well, it was our turn to see the vet. We go back, the vet tech takes Maia to get weighed, no problems... yet....
We are sitting the in the room, Maia is just chilling at my vet. The vet comes in, no big deal, Maia really likes him. Well, he calls her and she backed into me. So, he gets down on his knee and calls again, this time she lunged at his face. She didn't get him, he is dog smart enough to have been far enough away. Maia had to be held down with the leash around her mouth so the vet could look at her face. She lunged and snarled at him twice more before we left.
When we got home she was normal. I don't know what came over her. She has never acted like this before. I had planned to breed her if she passed her certification but not anymore. She is scheduled to get spayed in July.
She is 13 months old and I have heard large breeds go through a fear stage at 1 year old. I am mortified that my dog would act like that in public. I even thought about putting her down because of her behavior (I could never do it). I can't have a dog that goes off on people or other dogs especially since I plan to have kids someday.
I have instituted Maia time everyday where I spend an hour with just Maia in the house with me. Do you guys think this will help? What else can I do to help her get through this?