Our 1 year old male lab has recently started becoming aggressive. When we are out and about his stance changes, hackles raise, he barks and can run towards whoever is approaching. This happens if we have stopped for a picnic and someone comes near to where we are sitting. Also sometimes if we are walking down a narrow path or if someone comes up behind us surprising him. It is always at people and never at dogs. Is this him guarding us? Is he anxious? How can we stop this? He is the most lovely soft dog and has never displayed this behaviour before. Luckily we haven’t come across someone frightened of dogs and people have been very understanding.
Hi Ruth, I see nobody has replied to your question about possible aggression. I had a similar question - posted on Thursday - and nobody has replied to me either. I do think that the barking at strangers thing is probably born of fear / anxiety and that perhaps dogs go through a phase during adolescence where they get a little nervous and twitchy! My boy is also a softy - very loving and playful - but has got a bit jumpy and barky at noises and barks like a mad thing at some people - mainly males but not always. I'm really hoping that it's a phase that they'll grow out of. Is your boy intact? The vet did tell me not to consider castration while he's showing any signs of anxiety as the loss of his bits would make it worse. Let me know how things are going for you and hopefully someone on this lovely site will be along soon with some insight! Good luck! Lorraine
Hi Lorraine, Thank you for responding. Good to know it’s not just Duke! I did do some googling and it said they can go through another fear phase at around this age and to just reassure them when they bark. He is still intact and yes I have read that you shouldn’t use that option for situations like this. I just don’t want him to scare people! Ruth
There's an article here that explains LAT (Look At That) https://clickerleash.wordpress.com/...itive-approach-to-dealing-with-reactive-dogs/ Essentially you train your dog to change its emotional response to an object or person or dog by pairing the sight of the trigger with food. This approach does work - I used it with my dog to overcome her reaction to noisy motorbikes. I wouldn't just hope your dog will grow out of it, but also don't take them into situations where you know they'll find it difficult until you have trained a different response.
It's important to involve a vet if a dog shows a sudden change in behaviour as there can sometimes be a medical reason for this. So it's definitely worth running your dog along for a check up before exploring behavioural reasons and treatments for aggression in a previously confident and friendly dog.
