We have a 9 month old 70lb (32kg) intact Fox Red American Lab (Louie) who is probably the most affectionate dog we've owned, and that affection extends to our friends, strangers, and other dogs. Recently he has become reactive to some strangers and only in certain situations: When sitting on our front porch and someone walks by on our quiet street he will charge them barking. He will not get too close, instead stays just out of reach and barks. If they reach out he shrinks away, if they turn around he'll venture closer. On hikes when we've been alone for awhile and someone comes around the corner he'll exhibit the same behavior above. However if we're on a trail with lots of people, he has no issues at all. Kids especially seem to scare him, he'll react as I described above to a kid minding their own business We're pretty confident this is fear/anxiety based (scared of something he's unsure of), but while we have owned him he has not had any bad experiences with strangers or children that we can recall. A little context on him: Very well socialized - we split time between Lake Tahoe and San Francisco and when in SF he is constantly at dog parks, walking the streets, meeting dozens of new people and dogs daily Recently he's been attacked by a few neutered males which has tempered how gregariously he approaches other dogs. We knew this might occur given he's intact, not sure it's related to the issue above. The breeder had small kids around, which at the time we thought was a good thing (exposure to children at a young age), but are wondering if the kids might have been unkind to the puppies during the first 10wks of life. Other then an occasional scolding when he was being an especially bad puppy, all of his training has been positive/reinforcement based (never hit, never used pinch collar, etc). Our attempts to modify this behavior right now include exposing him situations where he will react (while leashed), then praising and treating his non-reaction until the situation passes. He does great in these situations, but it's the times when we're not monitoring him closely and he sprints off the porch or runs into a lone hiker or small kid that have us worried. We'd love any suggestions you have - we're so scared he's going to nip someone (god forbid a kid). We're also looking into trainers (behaviorists?). We'd even have him neutered if we thought it would fix these issues, but after a lot of reading I don't think it would (and might even make things worse). Thanks (and I'm including a photo of Louie for good measure).
Hello there. I’ve been using this forum for good tips but never posted before. I was wondering how things are with Louie? I am currently experiencing the same behaviours with my 10 month old. He is totally unpredictable, walking passed people fine then for what seems no apparent reason will sometimes walk past, turn, then run towards someone barking with his hackles up. I always apologise and call him back. I am becoming anxious on walks now tending to keep him on a lead and worried that this will become a habit
Hi, well he's doing better these days, but not perfect by any stretch. Interestingly, our problem with him being somewhat unpredictable has shifted from people to dogs. We managed to address the unpredictability towards people via A LOT of practice. Basically we'd have him on his leash and just treat him profusely when he was friendly towards a person and use the word 'friend' when we did it - basically trying to train him that when we said 'friend' it meant that this person is nice. After about 3 months of that, he's become either friendly towards people, or just ignores them because he's more interested in something else at the time (and doesn't see them as a threat). We've spent most of this time in San Francisco taking him on city walks, meaning that he encounters maybe 50 people a day. When we walk him off leash we keep him closer using treats (he's not really one to wander too far anyways). The only situation we haven't exposed him to yet is when we're alone on a hike and he hasn't seen another person in hours then one randomly comes around a corner - honestly, not sure how he'd react there, but I'm optimistic. The unfortunate part is that right around the time of my earlier post he started getting attacked by neutered dogs (given he was intact). He's developed some anxiety around other dogs that seems to be pretty well baked in, but also random. Some dogs he likes, others he doesn't, with no rhyme or reason to it, from what I can tell. We're trying the same approach I described above, but he meets many fewer dogs than people on a daily basis, so it's going slower. Not sure yet if it will work out or not. Hope this is helpful!
Hi Ben_S May I suggest you contact a local BAT trainer. Such an individual will have the expertise to offer you some specific training plans that may ameliorate your dog's behavioural issues.
