Dog agression

[kelley182]

Hi everyone!  Lurker here.

Does anyone have a dog who is only aggressive with certain dogs but not all dogs?  

Our boy is almost 2 and is an aussie/border collie/blue heeler mix.  We adopted him from his previous owner (via a vet's FB page) when he was just over a year old.  He was and is super sweet but he has a lot of energy which is normally a good thing for us. Because of his energy we had to work with him a lot on not pulling and jumping in the air to play with every dog that we walked past.  He was certified as a canine good citizen earlier this year and has gotten much better about walking and is great with loose leash walking.  However, now he gets aggressive with some but not all dogs.  He definitely doesn't like Bernese Mtn Dogs or dogs that seem to be pulling on their leash to get to him (hypocrite...lol).  He growls and acts aggressive but doesn't actually bite (thank goodness!) so it seems like he's just trying to dominate.  The timing of this new behavior was also around the time that our friend brought her dog aggressive aussie over.  Our dog literally started laying down on the ground and then getting aggressive when some but not all dogs walked by less than a week after meeting this dog.  He also had several dogs get aggressive with him when he used to try to play with all of them.

It's so weird because our boy is usually soooo sweet! He loves all people and kids and even plays well with dogs that he knows. He loves us so much too. He always snuggles, gives us hugs, etc. He's a great dog. He is still learning to listen and come every time I call him but he doesn't try to run away or anything. He just gets very distracted with smells while on his walk. ;o)

We're going to meet with another trainer next week but i'm just curious if anyone else has had to deal with this.  If so, how did you handle it?

[cmeon]

Can you elaborate more on "acts aggressive" and "gets aggressive"?

[kelley182]

He growls, shows his teeth and sort of lunges towards dogs but immediately backs up. It's like he's trying to appear intimidating or dominant.

[TBM]

That sounds like fear aggression to me.

We have a fearful dog who has always acted like a moron  bully with certain dogs and with my oldest grandson, but it is all coming from fear.  She only acts like a jerk when she is stressed and feels threatened.

[cmeon]

Growling (and a certain amount of posturing) at rude dogs ISN'T aggression.

He's expressing that he's uncomfortable with the situation (being approached by a dog pulling on his leash, panting, drooling, making crazy eyes, with his front legs levitating in an aggressive-eque manner!), warning mannerless mutt to stop. Of course, mannerless mutt isn't likely to stop- so, you step in, say "My dog isn't into this, sorry!" and walk you both in the other direction/safely away.

It doesn't mean he's not perfectly socialized or being "bad".

Growling really is a good, useful communication- be very, very careful not to punish him for this type of growl or he could become the type who doesn't growl- the bite-first-ask-questions-later sort.

Now, Bernies? If it's not a rude thing (pay attention to the other dog's posture/vocalizations next time), it's probably just a size thing- giant breeds get this a LOT. Particularly younger males. Everyone just wants to puff up around them. If you think it's becoming a problem or may lead to a dangerous situation, you can seek out some training to desensitize him.

[kelley182]

Thanks everyone

[kelley182]

So we finally met with a new trainer today and he isn't calling this aggression either. He did say that he thinks that because our boy way jumped a few times he doesn't think the alpha (DH or I) will protect him and so he has to take care of that himself (makes me a little sad). He also said that he thinks this will be easy to fix and he will most likely be able to teach us what we need to know in one session. Yay!