Advice please my nearly 11 year old Labrador who has always been very placid and tolerant has suddenly become very fearful when confronted with 2 dogs who are identical - this results in aggression on his part. what should I do? Any advice gratefully received.
A sudden change in his behaviour, especially at his age, warrants a Vet visit. He could have vision or hearing problems, hurt somewhere, hypothyroid, dementia starting and those are just the things I know about, could be others. I'm not clear on the identical bit. Identical to each other is my first take but maybe you meant identical to himself? Does he meet them at the same time? Did he know them before? Gender? Neutered? Bigger than your dog? On leash or off meetings? There can be so many variables, sorry for so many questions.
He sounds scared, fear agression. As @Snowshoe says a trip to the vet to rule out any medical problem, arthritis, loss of sight or hearing going which makes him feel insecure and sees them as a threat.
he has arthritis so is in pain although taking metacam at present. The dogs are larger than him and identical to each other - Italian spinonas - beautiful dogs but off leash all the time. I have on leash and when we meet them he rears up etc etc. On the one occasion I let him off as I thought the danger was passed he immediately went for them - actually ran across to them. I hadn't seen them and wasn't quick enough to put him on his leash. I'm back at the vets next week for his aquatherapy - helps with his arthritis as he can't walk as far so is extra exercise!
Hi there - poor old lad, presumably he is worried he will be hurt, and so acts aggressively to ward the other dogs off. Apart from the vet visit, I think you also need to protect him from the other dogs more now that he is getting older - can you explain to the spinone owner that he is more fragile than he looks and in pain with his arthritis, and that you would appreciate it if he could put his dogs on the lead when he sees you?
thanks for advice - I think you are probably right - I have mentioned that he has arthritis when I apologised for his behaviour but I'm not sure they'll put them on the lead but I can but try. I'll keep him on the lead all the time now in the park and take him elsewhere for his off lead strolls!
I suggest physically blocking the spinoni from your boy (making sure you are between him and the two dogs). That is normally a super friendly (non dog-aggressive) but very bouncy breed and if your older pup gets bumped into it could cause him a lot of pain and influence him to get growly with them. Also if he doesn't already have a "leave it"/"no play" command that would be helpful to teach so he knows all four of those paws of his need to stay on the ground when meeting other dogs. He could really cause himself pain with the rearing up thing, or even fall over depending on how he's doing physically that day. I've had the experience of having to protect my old dog and it was hard on both of us emotionally as he was always the friendly one who wanted to play bow, even into old age. Also some meds can cause increased aggression, so maybe double-check with your vet on that as well? Give your old pup a hug from me - old pups are the best!
