Evil Teagan?

There once was a girl, who had a curl
right in the middle of her tail.
When she was good, she was very very good.
But when she was bad, she was horrid.That's Teagan in an nutshell. When she's good, she's so very good. She can be so sweet and lovable. She listens well and is smart and tries hard to please.

She has good days and bad days. And even on average days, she has Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde moments when everything can change on a dime. It's like something in her just snaps and she turns into some kind of demon dog. She growls at children and attacks Keeley like she wants to kill him. It must be pretty scary because I see peoples' faces when it happens and their expressions range from scared to confused to angry.

I've gotten pretty good at being right there and putting her into an immediate "Easy". It usually only takes seconds for her to get fully easy and relax. And even after I tell her that she can get up, she usually stays like that for a while. To me, it makes me think that she really wants to be controlled, but isn't so good a doing that on her own yet.

One good thing that's been happening is that Keeley has been trying to take back his top dog position by asserting himself more. In the mornings, he tries to hump Teagan. It's not in a sexual way; I'm pretty sure it's just about dominance and Teagan seems to understand that too.

Teagan is definitely a work in progress, but I'm hopeful that eventually we'll find a peaceful balance in our home.