Sweet rescue with no history of aggression... now aggressive
I'm really struggling right now with my sweet rescue girl. We've had her for four weeks now, and she's incredibly sweet with my husband and I. She's smart and training is going really well for all the classics like touch, wait, sit, down etc. She's a medium sized mixed breed from Mexico. The rescue we got her from told us she had been in foster in Mexico for about a year prior to coming to us (we think she's approximately 2 years old). They said she's very sweet, no aggression, good with all dogs and people. The family who fostered her even had two kids and there were no problems.
She was very shy the first 4-5 days we had her, but slowly warmed up to us and became such a love bug. She's doing super well with separation and doesn't show any major anxiety tendencies when we leave. She's still very excited when we come home, but she's learned that she doesn't get any attention until she's calmed down and we have done a few things (take our shoes off, put things away etc.).
Where things have gone off the rails is that she is reactive to all other things - people, dogs, the statue she didn't see around the corner... It's hard to even have anyone in our home or in the front yard. She barks continuously at them until I tell them to just stop paying attention to her, and eventually she'll settle if I do a treat scatter and she focuses on sniffing. She'll eventually chill out but if anyone shows her interest again she barks and bares her teeth, and lunges at them. She hasn't bitten anyone, but I'm really scared she might. We have to move away from people and dogs on walks and I feel like I have to keep my head on a swivel to watch for triggers.
I really don't understand this behaviour after seeing videos of her being totally fine in Mexico... and it's causing me so much stress. My mental health has taken a huge hit, and I'm just so sad that I can't be social with her. I feel isolated because we can't talk to anyone on walks, or interact with other dogs. I can't have people over because she just loses her mind at them and barely settles enough to let me relax too. I can't open the door to anyone without first putting her in our bedroom because I'm afraid of what she'll do. We want to have kids, and now I just can't see how this situation would be safe for a child. I think I'm just overall so sad that this isn't what I imagined. This is my first dog and I feel so overwhelmed. And I know with a rescue things are never certain - that's likely my mistake of trusting the videos and anecdotes from the rescue of her temperament.
And yet I know we're only a month in, and sill have the final 3 to get through of the 3-3-3 rule. I'm trying to grasp at some hope that her aggression may not be forever, and that dog we heard about and saw in Mexico, could still be in there? Will I forever have a dog that can't be social with people? Honestly I can handle her not loving other dogs, we can make that work, but I miss having friends over for Sunday night dinners or impromptu visits, let alone the fact that we have to go to Ontario for a few weeks late August/Sept and I have no idea who would be willing to care for a dog with this kind of behaviour.
Things we're doing: positive reinforcement training to try to engage/disengage with triggers (thankfully she is treat motivated) and working once a week with a trainer on walks. Hopefully moving indoors soon to practice those skills.
Is there any hope for this sweet girl? I really love her and I think we've developed a great bond already. All I want is to love a pup and be their person and explore the world together, but right now all we can explore is our block.