Dog reacting to other dogs who have snapped at him before

[Hairybaker]

My male spaniel is 17 months and neutered. There are a couple of local dogs we bump into on walks (on lead) who have previously snarled/barked at him. At the time my dog didn’t react but now when we see them on walks he snaps first and turns into a really aggressive sounding dog! He is absolutely fine with other dogs who haven’t previously snarled at him. Is this just him giving as good as he gets? It is horrible to see him like it but no amount of coaxing with treats or trying to turn the other way will work! It happens even if they are on the opposite side of the road! Any tips?

You need to find the distance away from those dogs where your dog can happily pass with no reaction.

If he doesn't react you can then reward him for seeing those dogs in the distance and doing nothing - over time, you can hopefully get closer and closer with no reaction.

But a lot of that will depend on the other dog not reacting...

Mine has form for taking a strong dislike to specific other completely innocent dogs

Honestly I just avoid them.

But sometimes we don’t see them and just bump into then turning a corner! That’s when the fun starts!

@Hairybaker

But sometimes we don’t see them and just bump into then turning a corner! That’s when the fun starts!

Then either turn around and walk away or put your dog on a short lead so you can get past them as soon as possible.

Once a dog has started reacting there's very very little you can do about it as they're generally far too hyped up to accept a treat or listen to a command.

There's a blind corner in our park... I pop DDog on a lead while we're going around it. If we spot a hated dog then we turn around, give the other dog and owner masses of space to avoid us, and call out a warning if necessary ("sorry my dog doesn't like XX breed... Can you keep your dog away... Yes I'm sure yours is lovely, mine is a knob...")