ADAM SEPIDEHDAM

Hi Adrienne, Been here a while but never really considered posting to get advice so here I am My recently 5 year old pom used to be quite friendly to anyone and towards people she is quite excitable, which is a problem in its own right but she's never been allowed to the extent that it's become a serious problem. Now about 2 years or so ago, she began to become aggressive, as there was a large dog that ran at my mum and bit her while she tried to protect my dog. This is probably one of the reasons I could attribute her behaviour developing towards being reactive towards other dogs, in that she will bark and try to lunge at other dogs, even from a distance once she realises that it's a dog. Ever since, we've gone through at least two dog behaviourists and while the techniques might have helped a bit, they never managed to offer significant help against her aggression. Both of them did use lead pulling which I'm not sure whether to agree with since I feel its a forceful way of trying to teach a dog not to do something. Really, what I'd like to know is A. Even after being the age that she is and the fact that it's gone on for upwards of 2 years, can she unlearn this aggressive behaviour? And B. How can I tell a dog behaviourist has the right idea of things/is using the right methods as yours are the best I've seen and I'd like to learn from them, I just don't know if a behaviourist would agree or use similar techniques. Thanks