Leash Aggressive

[Varek]

My boy Varek is 17 months old and he is fine with dogs he knows but another dogs we come upon and people want them to meet he snaps at them even to our friends female GSD the other night. He is a dominant dog but he will only go after them if they start it.

[doggiedad]

so, all of the dogs you encounter they snap at your dog first
then he snaps? i think it's time for a trainer.

[QUOTE=Varek;2609075]My boy Varek is 17 months old and he is fine with dogs he knows but another dogs we come upon and people want them to meet he snaps at them even to our friends female GSD the other night.

>>>> He is a dominant dog but he will only go after them if they
start it.<<<<

[/QUOTE]

[Sunflowers]

Try working on passing other dogs without your reacting-- not having the dog to "meet" other dogs.
You don't need to meet other dogs if your dog is dog reactive.
Get a trainer, work on the issues, but don't do the meet and greet, at least until you've worked through the problems, if they can be fixed.

[Varek]

I totally agree about a trainer and have to wait because I am in the process of moving in the next couple months out of the state I live in, but he will bark and lunge if the other dog lunges/barks at him first. he used to be fine on leash with other dogs until he was attacked by lab and the little dogs around would growl and bark and snap at him as well after the lab attacked him which the lab was off leash and both were intact males and he has been fixed since then. he did meet he was able to play with some dogs before but then the other dog which was my brother in laws female border collie, to name one, snapped and went after him and he ended up pinning her down with no damage done. He has always preferred to play with me over other dogs, even as a puppy, and he does like to play rough with the other dog we have and is completely gentle with my sisters 3lbs chihuahua but the issue he seems to have is other dogs approaching him. I guess what I am trying to say is that because of his previous encounters with other dogs and them attacking him has caused him to start acting this way. It started out with labs setting him off but I have worked with him on that but recently it has been pit bulls and other German shepherds that have set him off since a month ago an older female GSD was being walked and I went to the side of the trail and put him in a sit stay which he did but as they passed the other GSD lunged and snapped at him so he did it back, then I took him for a walk with my friends 2 pits and he was fine until we were playing ball n the river with them and one of the pits went and tried to shove him under the water and kept doing it so Varek was snapping at him in the water until I was able to grab him out of the water cause I went in right after it happened. I was just wondering on different opinions and there is no doubt that I am going to be getting a trainer as soon as possible

[Blanketback]

My opinion is that those other dogs shouldn't be loose around yours. Not if they end up like they do. But with your friend's dogs, you might not have had a problem if the ball hadn't been there. I'm always very wary when other people have a ball at the dog park, because this brings out the worst in some dogs.

Once you get the trainer, you can work with Varek to be less recative but considering his past experiences, he's entitled to his attitude - so now you just have to work harder to change it, lol. I would pay no attention at all to the dogs you pass on walks, just walk on by without a word or acknowledgement, and don't let them get close enough to start something. Some people think that's being rude and snobby, but you have to put your dog first. If roaming dogs are something else you need to worry about, maybe a nice walking stick would come in handy.

[Jag]

Don't have your dog off leash until you have control of the situation. He's got to be giving off some type of vibe to other dogs to get them all having the same reaction toward him. I've seen a GSD who never forgot who attacked him. Sounds like your guy is going to come back hard at the first sign of aggression to him, which a trainer can help you learn to manage.

[katdog5911]

STella 16 months, is leash aggressive. I started working with a trainer who breeds and shows GSDs and it has made a world of difference.

[Varek]

Thank you everyone for the great advice and I will definitely do so the interesting thing is that when we go to petsmart he is friendly and doesn't care about the other dogs there and I am gonna see if we can get him into a trainer by me that I've talked to for a couple sessions cause It doesn't cost so much but hopefully the hubby will let me