Fear Aggression

[D_MCGINLEY@sky.com]

Hi. We have a lovely neutered chocolate lab, he is good at home with my children and other dog, there is no signs of his aggression until we walk him. He snarls, growls, pulls on his lead and barks whenever other people and dogs walk past him. He is neutered. We now have to muzzle him whenever we go for walks and he wears a halti collar. He ignores my commands, which he usually resonds to at home. He has jumped up and bitten a lady who just walked past us. I dread taking him for walks and as a pup he showed no sign of his aggression, he has had a bad experience at the vets and I feel that this is the cause of his behaviour. Please can you help ? He doesn't deserve the misery he is causing himself or me.

Deb

[KOPsBecks]

Hey,

Thanks for your post, hopefully I can help. Does he show the same aggression on-lead and off-lead?? One option is that it may be a Lead-associated aggression:

Dogs are compulsively social animals. When most dogs spot another dog or a person on the street, they are highly motivated to approach and investigate. If they are on lead at the time then they are restricted from doing this which leads to frustration. This frustration translates into increased excitement and agitation, which can be alarming to the owner, who may then deliberately hold the dog back, tense up before encounters or even punish the dog.
This starts an association between the sight of dogs and people and frustration as well as owner tension and possibly punishment. A vicious cycle is then born and may lead to aggression towards you, the owner, or the person/animal of interest. This and the fact that they are guarding you is why more aggressive behaviour arises on-lead than off.

Part of the solution is recognizing how unnatural it is for dogs to meet other dogs without the freedom to approach, sniff etc. You should allow him to approach and investigate friendly dogs but only let them do so after they have performed a "please may I" command such as "sit".

Due to the problem being a recent change I think this should be enough, however if it was a chronic case of lead-associated aggression, a combination of disocciation(making the lead experience a positive experience), obedience training and controlled socialisation may be needed.

Let me know what you think,

Becks

[Gossioii7]

Wow, this is very useful.. Thanks for sharing this and hoping I could implement it too.