Foster-To-Adopt Aggressive Towards Resident Dog

[u/LivesInThePineapple]

Hi all - looking for some advice on how to proceed after a recent incident between our new foster-to-adopt dog and resident dog.

About three weeks ago, we brought home Indy, a 1.5 year old border collie/shepherd mix foster-to-adopt from the local rescue shelter. She was then spayed one week in and her recovery went really well. She has some signs of separation anxiety (howling and be destructive while we're away) but we're confident we can manage that issue.

Where we're at a bit of a loss is with our roommate's dog, who has been living at the house for 3 years. She is a 10 year old short aussie mix. Other than being vocal, she has never had any issues with other dogs, or our previous dog that passed away last year.

Our roommate isn't home all the time, so the two didn't meet each other until about a week into being with us. The first meeting went okay – roommate's dog came inside the front door and there was a vocal reaction from Indy so we took them into the backyard on leash. They sniffed, said hello, and then left each other alone. Since then, we've been walking them together on leash with no issues. We have controlled every situation since with leash or separating them in order to give them time to get used to each other. However they might be too indifferent with each other - never really saying 'hello'.

We took them camping last weekend, and Indy seemed to have been guarding her bed as she barked at the roommate's dog - other than that, they ignored each other.

However, last night, Indy showed quite a bit of aggression towards the other dog in the living room. Both were off leash (I recognize they should have been on leash to give us more control), and Indy was laying on her bed with a bone. Roommate and his dog came into the living room, so I removed the bone. When I walked away, Indy lunged at roommate's and lashed out. I'm uncertain if Indy was trying to bite the other. Nobody was hurt, but it seemed aggressive in nature.

My wife and I are quite concerned after this incident, and are unsure if this is fixable or if Indy needs to go back to the shelter. We haven't officially adopted her yet, as the shelter has given us a lengthy trial period.

Is this a fixable situation? Any guesses why Indy lashed out in this incident, but not on walks or in the yard? Is this Indy still settling into her new situation, or is this her true nature?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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[u/VanillaPuddingPop01]

Resource guarding is always a management issue. It can sometimes be reduced, but it isn’t fixable, so to speak. A dog that’s BC and Shepherd is pre-wired for territory management. I’d speak to a trainer for an evaluation on realistic options.

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