Dog aggression on walks

[starfro]

Our Collie is aggressive towards a small number of dogs when out and about. Most he is fine with, and loves playing, but a small number he wants to attack. It is mainly other dogs that show aggression toward him, or ones that he thinks are showing us too much attention - he has a jealous streak which is possibly linked. Really energetic younger male dogs also seem to trigger him.

He is fine at doggy creche and when staying at dog sitters with other dogs around. He has never had any issues at these places and plays nicely with lots of dogs there. The ones we use are run by dog behaviourists, but they can't see any issues when he is there (we keep asking!).

Apart from this he is well trained and pretty relaxed.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

I don't know if it would work but my staffie is a bit off/hostile with a few dogs (mostly she'll just walk past them if she doesn't want to play with them though)- I would like her to be friendly to all dogs so we have a thing where I see a dog coming and start saying to her, "Hallo, what a nice dog! Let's say "hallo" nicely, JoyfulDog", etc as we approach. If she sniffs them and offers no aggression/is friendly/moves off peacefully etc, she is rewarded with a dog treat as we walk away, and praised. She has got the hang of this and now actively seeks the treat by being civil when meeting the other dogs. It doesn't alway work (she is sometimes fearful and therefore hostile with some larger dogs and especially GSDs but I think we are progressing). Of course, it helps if your dog is a greedy pig like mine.

I would consider using an independent behaviourist, for a few reasons

• anyone can call themselves a behaviourist. The good ones I know are inundated with work, and are not faffing about with doggy day cares. What qualifications do the behaviourists you've spoken to have (could you link to their website?)
• they may be concerned that if they identify problems with his inter-dog interactions, you'll pull him from daycare and they'll lose money
• sometimes a different behaviourist will see something different, or something that is only evident out on walks rather than at daycare.

As a good starting point, I would contact an APBC or CCAB qualified behaviourist. The qualifications are important! Avoid anyone who talks about pack leadership like the plague.

When your DDog attacks, is it something that results in a bite, a scrap, or just a telling off with a bit of noise? If you're concerned he may bite, or if he already has, you might like to invest in a muzzle as an interim measure. Chirag Patel has a great muzzle training video on YouTube.