My 16 month old dog attacked another dog

[Lincolnfield]

I have three dogs - an old golden retriever(14) and two flat coated retrievers one is 8 and another who is now 16 months old and usually very sweet natured. Today in the park, he played with a few different dogs which he often does. A small spaniel had a bit of a go at him and he didn't retaliate at all.

Then, as we walked along the path, a couple were coming towards us with a labrador on a harness. Blake approached the labrador and I thought he was going to play with him but suddenly, for no reason, he jumped on him and started having a go at him. Obviously the dog's owners were upset - and so was I. Thankfully no damage was done - it was more noise than anything but I don't want him to start being aggressive to other dogs.

He has barked at a couple of dogs in the past when he has been on his lead, and I've had to shut him up but again it's just been noise.

Any advice? Would castration help? What do people think?

[CoffeeHere]

Love your photos.

You can have a month long chemical castration if you want to see the effects of castration on your dog btw.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I think the vast majority of dogs have the occasional confrontation. With a well socialised dog this won’t be very often. This is the age when they start standing their ground rather than backing down, and it can be a shock, but your dog is well socialised, so it isn’t likely to be something that happens often. You get to know the individual dogs, or breeds of dog, most likely to trigger a quarrel or fight.
I have an extremely good natured and friendly dog, but even she will tell another dog off if she feels threatened.

[Amatteroftime]

He could have had cortisol (stress hormone) pumping round his system from the experience with the spaniel that made him react in a way to a dog badly, in a way that he wouldn't do if his nervous system had reset.

Leads/harnesses can change the way a dog's body language appears due to human interference (e.g. pulling on a lead can make a dog look tense, which can appear threatening to other dogs) so this may have caused a problem.

Blake could have had an issue with the lab being entire or also if it was neutered.

I would not let him approach on lead dogs as a rule as there are a few variables that can make the interaction go badly. I don't do on lead interactions as they limit the way in which a dog can express itself naturally, greetings are altered by us humans.

[Amatteroftime]

Would also not worry about castration, but you can try chemical castration if it interests you, to see the effects. Dogs will often squabble if play styles don't match up or one has rubbed the other up the wrong way, without it being aggression or a fight, sometimes it is just communication.
It is unfortunate that in this instance the other dog was on a lead and therefore could not get away.

[Amatteroftime]

Sorry I've just seen your update that the lab was off lead. I'd put it down to the experience with the spaniel right before this, and a possibly personality clash with the lab.
E.g. my dog (who is selective in who he wants to interact with, will do a polite short hello but doesn't want to play with all dogs and likes to be left alone) will occasionally give certain dogs the time of day. Recently he wanted to play with a nice goldie, but the goldie wasn't up for it at the time.
The next time we saw the same dog, he'd just had a worrying experience with another dog, so I'd put him on a lead (the other dog had humped him which is a big no no and my dog told him to go away). I called to the goldie owner to call her boy away but she didn't, and my dog made it clear that he was not up for it at the time.

It wasn't that he had an issue with that dog, just that at that time he was not in a good place to interact with him.

Try and look at it as how your dog felt in that moment, at that time, rather than as a whole based on one incident (although I understand the incident was worrying). If it happens more frequently then I'd start looking at it differently and address it as needed.