Agressive behaviour on the lead

[MummyJane]

Hi,

Well I thought I had cracked Alfies fear agression 

This evening at the beginning of our walk I met a friend who has a lovely husky x who Alfie adores, they said hello nicely and then Alfie spotted a new addition to our road.   One of my neighbours has a new black cocker pup, a rescue dog (bitch).  She was off the lead and Alfie was on the lead.  Alfie barked as usual with what I thought was excitement but when I let him off he growled and started to fight with her.  He went up to her and he started the fight - I was mortified    The first time we have met this lady and now she probably sees Alfie as an agressive dog when he is usually a big softy especially off the lead.

We are moving back to the UK in January and will seek out a behaviourist then but in the meantime can anyone please give us any tips on how to handle this?  I really thought that I had cracked it - basically by introducing him to as many friendly dogs as possible, starting with off the lead until they knew each other.  I feel terrible for this poor young bitch she can't be more than a year old.

Thanks,

Jane x

[Top Barks]

It is unreasonble to ask our dogs to get on with every other dogs they meet, Do you like every other human you meet?
Black dogs however are sometimes difficult for other dogs to read.
the barking isn't exitement it is a way of telling the other dog to go away and if my dogs kick off like this ( and I have two dog reactive dogs) I first take the stimulus of the problem out of the eyline of my dog by turning him away and reward him for following me in the other direction.
This is only management of the problem however.
I have been working tonight with a springer cross JRT with similar issues and I have been getting the owner to get the dogs focus on him.
I introduced a stuffed  toy dog into the garden to which my clients dog reacted, so I moved the stuffie further away and had my client turn his dog and start clicking him for attention, sits and any other behaviours that were desireable.
I then clicked the dog for looking at the stuffed dog and then looking back at the owner.
We worked closer and closer and moved nearer as the dog could cope.
Long way to go but we've made a start.
I recc9omend a read of the other end of the leash by Patricia mconnell (Think that spellings wrong)
Best of luck with this this.
Mark
Top Barks Dog Training