I have an 18 month old westie bitch, she is spayed, is fed well, has a lovely home etc... but recently she has started to show the nasty side of her nature and snaps and growls at me quite viciously. I am concerned because I hope to have children in the near future and I don't think I could trust her with a baby? Have you any ideas on what to do with her as I am running out! please help, Donna x x x

Any sudden change in temperament should be checked out by the vet incase of a medical condition - Westies can be prone to Thyroid problems, and this can lead to otherwise unexplained agression.

What were you doing each time she's snapped at you? What ideas have you tried so far?

the first time she really snapped I was grooming her and I thought she was perhaps cutting teethe as she'd been gnawing on her toys quite a lot but on wednesday of this week I hadn't done a thing, she just really went for me, it was quite scary really, never seen a dog like that before. I've tried tapping her nose and things but I really don't know what to do next, I've considered parting with her because I don't want a nasty dog under any circumstances. Please help...

Some breeds go through a teething stage at around a year, but if this episode was recent, I'd doubt it was teeth. Chewing is a symptom of pain/stress in other areas of the dogs life as well as teething pain - aggresion is a very difficult thing to advise on without seeing the dog, and without knowing there are no underlying medical problems, so I can only repeat my advice to get the dog checked by a vet to eliminate medical causes first, and possibly ask about a referral to a professionally recognised behaviourist (a member of the UKRCB or an APDT member with an interest in behavioural problems)