Is there anything I can do about my dog showing aggression to other dogs?

[DaisySteiner]

Sorry if this is long, I'm just feeling really about my dog's behaviour. When he was a puppy we made sure he had lots of socialisation with other dogs and he now has quite a few doggy 'friends' who he really loves and enjoys going on walks with, playing together etc. There were a couple of dogs who didn't like him and snapped at him, but it didn't seem to bother him and although he's wary of them, he has never shown any aggression to them.

He's now 2 1/2 and over the last year/18 months his behaviour towards unfamiliar dogs has deteriorated. At first we thought it was a territorial thing as he didn't like next door's new puppy and went for dog walking past the house when somebody left our front door open accidentally Then he came across a couple of unneutered males when out on a walk who he got very barky and snappy with, although when off home ground he generally seems OK with other dogs - his posture seems quite alert and wary when he sees them, but has never snarled, barked or shown any aggression.

Today we went over to a friend's house to see her new puppy and at first he seemed fine with her and then snarled a couple of times. We then took them for an on-lead walk together and he was OK, tried to sniff her bottom, but generally they didn't have much contact. When we got back to their house he reverted to the snarling growling when she got close. He also hated it when my friend picked her puppy up. I'm wondering whether this is an indication of anything? He's always hated the cats being picked up, doesn't like it if he hears me talking to our pet ducks, doesn't like me picking the children up (they're quite big now, so this doesn't happen often!) It's as though he's jealous of me giving them attention, and he really didn't like it when I stroked my friend's puppy! He is generally quite territorial at home and gets very barky when he sees a cat/dog/bus walking past, although we've taught him the 'quiet' command and he settles down quickly most of the time.

I just feel a bit scared now that I've got an aggressive dog on my hands The friend I saw today is one of my best friends and she was really nice about it, but I want our dogs to get on OK so we can spend time walking our dogs together! He's not been neutered yet; is this something that would help?! Is there anything I can do training-wise to make a difference? He seemed to just get used to our neighbours' dog in the end and they interact through the fence OK or if we bump into them on a walk, so maybe he'll just get used to my friend's puppy?!

Aaargh! Sorry for the long rambly post! Reading this back he sounds like a bit of a nightmare, but he's really a nice dog the majority of the time! Any advice please?!

There are lots of lovely behavioural people who will come on and help. But as a vet I always say castration will not fix this problem this. First stop should be the vets to get a health check to make sure there are no health problems and then seeing a behaviourist who will be able to help you with this problem.
He sounds like a lovely dog, but a little like a shy person is struggling to make new friendships and needs help with that.

Thanks Liz, I wasn't sure neutering would help either. Is it worth doing for health reasons anyway?

There are health benefits in that if you don't have testicles you can't get testicular cancer and you are much less likely to get prostatic problems without testosterone. But I would wait till behaviour problems are better as castrating a fearful dog can make the problems a lot worse.

My dog is doing the same but has been castrated. He used to be lovely to take on walks and never had any trouble but since the end of last year has been going for dogs when he is on or off the leads but no predictability to it. Will go up wagging his tale and then all a sudden bark and starts to have ago. I am finding it really sad so I will be keeping an eye on this thread. I ahve no idea what to do about it.

My dog is like this, neutered female.

Kind of got used to it and don't attempt walks with friends & their dogs.

Sorry nothing encouraging to add, just keen to watch for tips.

same as sparky its not ideal but works for us. I just really hate when other people dont put theyre dogs on leads I cant always pull her away if other dogs come up. Have you tried a muzzle? It didnt stop my dog growling but felt better as thought people could see I was trying to sort it. They just kept telling me I was cruel! (its not btw). I also felt a bit safer with it just as it made her look like a nasty dog and she is lovely really-just a few social issues!

Just to add we took her to extra classes they recommended the muzzle I felt terrible at her behaviour but they were encouraging said she was protective and loyal to us that its not a bad thing just control her as best we could [happy].

I would strongly recommend a behaviourist.

Is your dog food orientated? Have you done any clicker training with him? My youngest dog was getting a bit like this, although not as bad, and I got a behaviourist to work with us for a while. Can't say I agreed with all her interpretations of his behaviour but she set us lots of practical exercises that did help.

Basically they were all involved in getting his attention focused on me and making him more responsive to me. For example dividing his food into 10 portions and making him sit and wait before he was given it, gradually increasing the length of the wait. He's a greedy bugger so this really focused his attention. We also had to do lots of little bits of training in the park, recalls, watch me's etc. that would get his attention on me and be rewarding for him as he would earn a treat.

The outcome is that although he still wants to bark at other dogs I can usually tell from his body language what he's up to and can refocus his attention on me and distract him.

He's not perfect and still prefers to walk only with his doggy mates but if I choose to we can walk in a group and he is much better about it. But he's not tolerant of rudeness from other dogs, even puppies, some dogs just aren't. For us it's partly a size issue, most puppies are bigger than him and he doesn't want to get rough housed!

neuter your dog anyway. there is no need for this dog to be entire - and it prevents the possibility of accidental litters.

the key to a dog that doesn't like other dogs: obedience.

if you can get your dog to reliably return, pay attention to you and ignore other dogs on lead - that's all you need to prevent a regrettable incident.

find things he is interested in (fetching a ball? some dogs can be utterly oblivious to everything whilst fetching - or treats? treating dogs to distract from bad behaviour can help )
work on recall. in the middle of nowhere if he is really bad with other dogs.

some dogs are never going to like other dogs. but their behaviour can be managed so long as you have control.