Hey y'all it's been a while since I've posted and I have some questions.
So my doggy has some problems with leash reactivity. For a good while he was pretty reactive on leash but he seems to have calmed down. But there's another type of leash reactivity, and that's leash aggression.
This apartment complex is filled with rescues, and a lot of them are dog aggresive. So my dog sees some of these, and judging by a certain look they give each other he and the other dog become aggressive. A big reason for this is he is protecting both me and himself as he considers the other dog a threat. Aside from that, is despite his calm demeanor, he enjoys a good fight. No he doesn't instigates but he enjoys fighting and is scarily good at it. Makes me wonder if he used to be a fighting dog before he was a stray.
So here's where the question comes in, should this level of aggression be encouraged, discouraged, or neutral? I'm afraid that if I discourage it he won't protect me or himself from another dog if an off leash dog comes running at us.
So my doggy has some problems with leash reactivity. For a good while he was pretty reactive on leash but he seems to have calmed down. But there's another type of leash reactivity, and that's leash aggression.
This apartment complex is filled with rescues, and a lot of them are dog aggresive. So my dog sees some of these, and judging by a certain look they give each other he and the other dog become aggressive. A big reason for this is he is protecting both me and himself as he considers the other dog a threat. Aside from that, is despite his calm demeanor, he enjoys a good fight. No he doesn't instigates but he enjoys fighting and is scarily good at it. Makes me wonder if he used to be a fighting dog before he was a stray.
So here's where the question comes in, should this level of aggression be encouraged, discouraged, or neutral? I'm afraid that if I discourage it he won't protect me or himself from another dog if an off leash dog comes running at us.