We've had our lab Axel since he was a puppy and he's roughly 3 years old now. He's been our only pet the entire time and we recently adopted a stray lab that somebody dumped in our neighborhood. The new dog has been with us for about 2 months now and is nice as can be and shows no aggression at all. We've had two males before so we know that establishing alpha is unavoidable but Axel will attack the new dog with warning. Today worried me the most bc he jumped across me on the couch to get to him and nearly bit me in the process of breaking it up. He kept shaking while I put him in his time out area and kept growling and showing his teeth to me. I can tell he gets anxious in most situations but I just need to know some training tips to reduce the aggression. The new dog is also not allowed to enter my mom's bedroom bc Axel will attack him no matter what in there.
Hi @Zach Ryan It sounds to me as though your older dog has resource guarding issues. Forget the nonsense about alpha leaders, the idea does not apply to dogs. If I were you I would seek the services of a positive reinforcement dog behaviourist, who should give you some remedial plans and detailed advice on how to manage the aggression. The situation will not improve on its own and will probably worsen. So get the help as soon as is possible.
