My chocolate labrador is nearly five and over the last few years has had several negative experiences with aggressive alsatians running up to him while he has been on and off lead. Consequently, he now behaves with intense aggression himself (deep, hoarse barking and snapping teeth) every time he sees one. He is perfectly fine with all other breeds so I am hesitant to describe him as an aggressive labrador but we are both left worried about what to do and would love to know if there is any way to help him. We are constantly vigilant for alsatians when we walk him and always do a wide berth when we see one but a recent incident happened where an off-lead alsatian appeared out of the trees behind us while our labrador was on lead which seems to have left him more anxious than ever. While I know this was the fault of the other owner and I did all i could, i can't but feel so helpless and would love to know if there is a way to quell the fear itself. We have tried positive reinforcement with treats at a safe distance but this only works to a point before he seems to go in to a "trance/frenzy" when the aggression begins. I would love to hear any suggestions or even to hear from other owners this has happened to as it can feel a bit lonely at times! Thank you so much in advance.
Hi Amanda, welcome to the forum I'm sorry you're struggling with reactive behavior. We have some information on training and counter-conditioning with a reactive dog in this article on our main site. It sounds like you've made a great start with counter conditioning, but perhaps you and your boy would benefit from meeting with an experienced force-free behaviorist. Reactive behaviors can be complex and frustrating to manage - nothing beats the wisdom of someone who's seen them a lot, and really understand them! Good luck, and do let us know how you get on.
Hi Amanda, My five year old black lab had a run-in with an Alsatian when he was a pup and still gets really anxious when he spots one up ahead. Fortunately (for me) he tends to hide behind my legs rather than be aggressive. It does get frustrating explaining to people that he doesn't appreciate their dog running up to him to say hello, especially when they are off-lead in an on-lead area! Bizarrely, one of his best friends and walking buddies is an Alsatian and he loves hanging out with him. We joke he hasn't worked out what breed he is yet! Good luck!
Thank you both. Yes it is so disheartening - we had another Alsatian incident at the weekend that has really set us back again so we think we are going to see a behaviorist because it looks like our boy is giving off some kind of signal that is making everything worst. The Alsation in question seemed absolutely fine with all other dogs when we were able to meet with the owner so it is all quite confusing and upsetting. We will persevere but still any suggestions/recommendations are welcome.
Not sure I can help a lot but we suffer similar though less aggressive episodes with our 3.5yrs old Labrador and for him it is German Shepherds (some call them Alsatians) plus Huskies. We cannot remember him ever being attacked or frightened by one of these dogs but if he is on the lead he will growl and bark loudly at them almost as soon as he sees them, by which point they have also generally kicked off or they have started this interaction and then we are heading in opposite directions rapidly and things quickly settle down to a normal walk. Meet them off the lead and they strut up to each other and there might be a sniff and a quick growl and off they go on their way generally. On one of my regular loose lead walks there has been a lovely long haired German Shepherd puppy who is clearly a very gentle dog which I have been avoiding as much as possible and putting Dexter on the lead or changing route if I see them in the distance to prevent interaction. Last week they ambushed me and Dexter trotted up tail in the air doing his top dog act and they sniffed, then Dexter growled quite aggressively at him (usually he either ignores other dogs, interacts via sniffing and wagging tails and off on our way we go). I was mortified at his unnecessary behaviour which the German Shepherd did not react to other than getting out of Dexter's way, but his owner was pleased her dog had been "told off" and mine trotted up to her to say hello. As I was recalling Dexter to put him on his lead she asked me not to and said her dog needs to understand not to interact with other dogs now he is 13 months old. Sadly, Dexter was the one at fault in my eyes for being unnecessarily aggressive, I know we have both used the same dog trainer and maybe we should have a joint lesson, though that might be for my benefit in the main.... I empathise with your problem for sure as you can see this is always in the back of my mind to avoid such breed specific interactions but cannot give you a solution unfortunately. Good luck.
