Is this over excitement or aggression?

[Rob B]

Hi

Hugo is ten and a half months old and whenever we meet other dogs he always starts barking at them.  At first it was after a while if the dog was older and didn't want to play, but now he starts almost immediately, and just now while we were playing on our local field with the ball, another owner came on the field with a 6 month border collie and Hugo barked and seemed to go for the back end of the dog.  He didn't make contact but it looked bad enough for the other owner to push Hugo away with his leg and for me to jump on Hugo to stop him.

Unfortunately Hugo wasn't on his lead and spotted the other dog and ran other before I could stop him.  Any advice on how to stop this behaviour as it is getting to the point where we don't want to walk him where other dogs may be.

many thanks

Rob

[elaine.e]

At 10 months Hugo is a teenager so it could be just teenage behaviour, or it could be that he's a bit anxious around other dogs and the barking and rushing up to them is because he's worried, or perhaps tonight was to do with him feeling possessive about the ball? It's pretty much impossible to say from a description on a forum.

Is he ever calm around other dogs when you meet them out on walks? Does his reaction differ if the other dog is calm, quiet and not interested in him, or if it's lively and running around, or if it stops and stares at him?

I think you should try watching his behaviour and trying to find out what triggers the barking. Then you can come up with a plan of action. But in the meantime can you do some training with him out on walks and play games and generally try to keep him interested in you and focussed on you. It might help him to be less distracted and less bothered about other dogs.

[BobnDot]

How well socialised was Hugo as a puppy?  There may be a bit of nervousness creeping in along with the hormonal changes they go through at this teenage stage in their development.

As Elaine says, watch him to see if you can identify the triggers that set off this behaviour and try to distract him before he actually kicks off and possibly have a high value treat ready to distract him and a slip lead at the ready should he need to be kept under control.

I use "Watch me" with our two if we come across any unfriendly dogs and then get them to my side and focussed on me until well past the problem dogs.

Bob.