Dog reacting to aggression from other dogs

[Dogdays55]

My lovely (un-neutered) Irish setter boy who is 3 and a half has in the last 6 months had 3 incidents of really growling and showing teeth / snapping his jaw at and giving all the signs he’s going to bite in reaction to another intact male showing a non friendly stance, or trying to hump him.

he’s nearly always as good as gold, he’s generally fine with other un-neutered dogs but after the latest incident in the park I’m wondering what else I should do?

would neutering or the injections to lower testosterone help?

It's hard to know - but it's not unusual for intact dogs to have issues with other intact dogs and once it escalates it can be hard to bring back. Castration etc. might make it worse. You could try chemical castration - given it's non permanent, just to see if it helps at all.

That being said, until you decide what to do I would recommend leashing him around other dogs - intact male dog fights are vicious (although not as bad as bitch/bitch) and aren't something you want to risk.

I have an intact male Irish setter who is very gentle and would never start a fight, but has little time for threats or humping. To be perfectly honest neither do I and so we just get up early and go to peaceful places to walk.
Be aware that neutering or chemical castration will cause his coat to become dull, fluffy and gingery. And those aggressive and obnoxious dogs will still be there.

My top tip: avoid labradors. Unless you can see from a distance that they are crippled with arthritis. Male labs are, in my extensive experience, by far the most socially uncouth and hump-prone of dogs.

@villainousbroodmare that is quite funny as he does have a particular problem with male black labs - two of the three incidents were black labs and today’s was a black flat coat!

that seems good advice, I need to take him out at quieter times and try and avoid intact black labs for a bit!

it seems a shame really to go for neutering or chemicals when he doesn’t instigate anything…

It is perfectly possible for a dog to tell another dog off without it escalating into a full fight. I look after a dog who is a serial humper (stress / anxiety related), and other dogs are always telling him that he is rude. It has never ended in a fight.

He isn't doing anything wrong, they're not robots and he's giving a perfectly adequate response to a dog behaving inappropriately with him. Don't remove his sex hormones because he isn't allowing a dog to step all over his boundaries.

You should really intervene on behalf of your dog if this is happening or it can escalate into him feeling like he has to step up to defend himself and then he might become aggressive - if a dog is pushing his boundaries or comes up in an unfriendly manner, clip his leash on and stomp your feet at the other dog and raise your voice at it to go away so he knows he doesn't have to respond. To a dog, a strange dog coming up with iffy body language or mounting him is dangerous - he knows nothing about this dog, it might escalate into his face getting ripped off so it's completely normal how he's behaving. He's letting the other dog know there will be consequences and a risk of injury if it keeps pushing.

Thanks @hehehesorry that’s a good point as we have been ignoring it waiting for the other owners etc to deal with it, thanks.

You need to be his advocate and protect him from unwanted attention. I also wouldn’t jump to neutering. If he’s anxious then that can make it worse.

Yes it does make sense - our last dog was super duper easy going so we always had the option of waiting for the other owner to call their dog away etc but think there’s something to being more proactive for him. That’s, really helpful.

My previous English setter was similar with other entire males. Wouldn’t start a fight but would probably (given the chance, which never happened) defended himself pretty well. We just chose our routes sensibly and didn’t allow other dogs to come barrelling up to him and asked the others owners to recall them if needed and blocking him until they went away. His coat may ‘blow’ if you neuter and they can look quite woolly but it’s just something to bear in mind. Mine also disliked black labs!

Yes it is all starting to make sense now @bowchicawowwow thanks

yes setter breeder did say ‘he’ll look like an orange fluffy sheep if you neuter him’