Hi i am new to this forum, i have a 3 year old lovely , beautiful black boy lab , have had him from a puppy, up to recently last 6 months as never shown any aggression towards any other dog, however if another dog growls or goes to snap at him he now fights back and he is as strong boy, , can anybody advise me, as not used to him showing any aggression, happening fairly regular now if any other dog shows aggression towards him. thanks in advace for any assistance Paul
Hi @paul mills you said he never used to show aggression to other dogs growling or being aggressive towards him, but he does now. The instances have sensitised your dog and now he is reactive. Please find the folder on LAT training and start right away. Keep him away from other dogs until you have changed his emotional response to other dogs, otherwise if the other dog growls you will in all likelihood undo your LAT training.
It is pretty normal for a dog to defend themselves if they are intimidated by another dog. Human society often has unrealistic expectations over dog behaviour. Would you rather that your dog cowers and doesn't respond and just allows the other dog to beat him up? I'd say it's pretty normal, heck even desirable for a dog to respond in this way if another dog is showing aggression towards them. This article puts it in perspective: https://suzanneclothier.com/article/just-wants-say-hi/ However, you do want to try to protect your dog - because obviously if he repeatedly meets other dogs who react like this to him, pretty soon he is going to try to get in there first before the other dog does - and before you know it, you have a dog being reactive to all dogs even when they haven't been aggressive first. It is really best to avoid socialising him with other intact males (assuming he is intact?) as some male dogs have learnt to see intact males as a threat. And to choose playmates which are female, possibly neutered males. If you are unsure whether a dog will be friendly, best to avoid that dog and avoid contact with unknown dogs in uncontrolled scenarios like dog parks where you can't make decisions about who he meets.
