Dog aggressive Labrador Retriever (kinda long)

[Stephatron]

Hello all. I need some advice. I have two dogs - a lab and a husky (a year and 5 months). My yellow Lab, she was from an animal shelter in the area and I got her when she was 8 months old, in June of 2007. So she is now about 4. I got her on the whim and convinced my parents to let me keep her. I did not pay her behavior much attention at the time but now I know that there were early warning signs then. She wasn't fixed when I got her but she got fixed a month later. She was sent to the pound because she "jumped too much." Excuse me, but that sounds like a load of bollocks but that's just my opinion. Anyway, I digress. Early on, she had done some things, which I interpreted as just being dominant, but now (after a few years of having her, more experience and even becoming a dog trainer now) I know that this behavior was not just dominance, it was aggression. A month after I got her, before she got fixed, she had an encounter with a Doberman puppy who wanted to play and she nipped him fairly hard. I thought she was just telling him to back off. Later, my friends Pitbull Terrier tried to mount her (unneutered male, and she was fixed by this time) and she wasn't having it and actually got really rough with him. She didn't bite him but pinned him down. Within the last year, she has attacked a handful of dogs. One day, my mom was walking her around our neighborhood, and she attacked a chocolate lab. I don't know the circumstances of what really happened as I was not there but I know she got a few puncture wounds. Now remember, I don't know if she was provoked or not. My boyfriend and I, when we first started dating in November of last year, decided to go to an off-leash dog park with my lab (who I didn't realize is a problem dog at this point) and my Siberian Husky, and my boyfriend's German Pinscher mix. Goldie, my lab, didn't even give my boyfriend's dog a chance to say hi and she attacked him, literally with no signs of distress - no hair raised, no snarl, no teeth bared, nothing. My boyfriend's dog got one puncture wound before we were able to separate them and head back to our respective houses to put my lab away. Then a month later, she attacked a Pitbull Terrier at a gorgeous park in the area and lashed out violently and actually broke her brand new Gentle Leader - the damage again, puncture wounds. A few months later, she ran off from our yard because our fence had gotten broken because of a storm and attacked a German Shepherd. The neighbors who told me she was on their yard said she was playing with the dog then suddenly attacked, out of no where. However, I again was not there so I don't know for sure, but I know it was puncture wounds (I got the pleasure of dealing with very angry people and I offered to reimburse them for their vet expenses). Then (before I was a dog trainer), we took obedience lessons at the local Petsmart, where I work at. She did wonderfully with the dogs IN the class but I stayed behind to ask the trainer a few questions and catch up with her and a Golden Retriever on a stupid Flexi lead with an Easy Walk Harness on (such a no-no!!!) somehow opened the door while his owners were not paying attention to him and playing with the birds in the store. Don't get me started on how much I hate unlocked flexi leads, especially in a crowded pet store, let alone people that aren't paying attention to their dogs. Again, I digress. Well Goldie was relaxed and then the dog got in her face, she snarled and attacked him, causing a good bit of puncture wounds. He tried to actually attack her but she whipped around and got him in the neck and body. Incident reports later, the people threatening to sue Petsmart, and whatever other none sense later, she didn't attack any dogs for a while. She hasn't since been to formal lessons, just because this behavior is unacceptable. Finally, the most recent was the incident that has done the most damage, in my opinion. On Labor Day weekend, my neighbors who refuse to put a lead on their dogs and their dogs are always in my yard, weren't paying attention to one of their dogs. (Gee, I wonder if this spells disaster) Well they have a Border-doodle that is about the same age as my husky (always on our yard and my lab actually likes her so I don't mind that too much) and they had company in town. Their company didn't have their dog leashed either and it was a 12 year old Golden Retriever. Well lo and behold, my lab (who after much research and headaches, I am now convinced that she is dominant-aggressive, not fear), decides that she doesn't want the off leash Golden in the yard and attacks him. She wrestled with him and pinned him down. Somehow along the lines of wrestling him and showing him obviously that this is her turf, she breaks his leg and manages to bite him pretty severely. I broke the fight up, got to deal with a very belligerent neighbor, and then got threatened with a lawsuit. Animal Control came and laughed at her since HER dog was off leash on MY property and mine was contained (fence got fixed and we put up an invisible fence in the front yard - lab got zapped once and was too scared to try to test the boundaries again) and basically said to her "sorry about your luck but this county has a mandatory leash law." So regardless, this behavior is unacceptable, on my yard or in public and I am at my wit's end. My other problem is the fact that she is extremely obedient, she just can't stand dogs for some reason or another. Being a trainer myself now, I can't bear the thought of this. I love my dog but she is a headache some days and I need help. I thought about talking to an animal behaviorist because I can't pinpoint why this happens and how to even fix it. A trainer that I talked to said she needs a remote trainer or a prong collar and firm use of corrections. I'm sorry but this goes against everything I know and agree with (catch 22, I know, since I use an invisible fence). When she first got zapped by the electric fence, at a setting of 2 and following the training manual, she tucked her tail, started shaking tremendously, and hid on my porch so I don't think she would do well with a remote trainer, anyway. Someone else I had a consultation with said I should just use Shutzhund training with her. Again, this goes against what I believe in and know. So I am at a complete loss with helping my dog. I was honestly thinking about purchasing a basket muzzle and using a counterconditioning and systematic desensitization method but I have no idea where to start. For a while, I thought she was fear aggressive but now I'm more leaning towards dominant aggressive. She has had moments where she gets too rough with my other dog and needs to be put in a 30 second time out. Another suggestion I had was to put her on doggy Prozac or Xanax. I do believe she HAD issues with severe anxiety since she used to lick her paws really annoying and crazy-like, which is a displacement behavior. She did that almost as long as I have had her and she finally stopped a few months ago, thankfully. She also never used to let her leg shake if I would pet her in that magic spot and she would make me stop petting her if I got too close to a leg shake and now she actually lets her leg shake. I have done all sorts of things that build up a relationship between her and I but I can't nip this aggression.

[MPbandmom]

Acting tough can be a good front for being fearful.

I have a husky lab mix who is known to pin other dogs with absolutely no warning that I am aware of either. Fortunately, she is mostly noise and head butting, but as time has gone on, I have come to realize that she has very poor dog on dog social skills. I can almost set a clock if I take her to the dog park that after about 45 minutes time of getting along great with eveyrbody, she will attack another dog. One day she had been greeting all of the dogs coming into the park as they came in and round about that magic 45 minute mark a St Bernard walked in and next thing I knew Sky was latched onto his jowls jumping and pulling backwards with the St just standing there looking kind of confused. We don't go to the dog park anymore. We also try to avoid greeting new dogs unless play invitations have been given by each dog from a distance, she has been known to slam a dog to the ground during a greeting for putting a head over her shoulder. She is also a toy resource guarder. She will also whine and try to run anytime we pass a yard with a barkey dog in it. Whether she can see the dog or not. Somewhere in that bold and seemingly happy go lucky brain of hers, there is fear.

All of that to say, something is passing his tolerance threshold. Other posters on here will tell you it is best to treat it as if it is fear because you can't go wrong with that approach. While you have given lots of details of the incidents, the experts on here will want to know what the daily schedule is like, exercise given, feeding schedule and type of food fed. If he has been given a through vet check including blood work. You will also likely hear some reprimands for the electric fence

[Stephatron]

What's funny about my lab is that she actually likes 3 or 4 dogs - my husky because she met him at 8 weeks old, my neighbor's border-doodle whom she met as a puppy too, my friend's Lab/Chow mix, and my coworker's long haired Chihuahua. Other than that, I've pinpointed that she doesn't like furry dogs nor dogs her size. I don't take her to to doggy parks anymore either, it just isn't worth it. I don't take her to Petsmart and I sure don't take her for walks during the day time anymore, or if I do, I take extra care to make sure I go on paths where I know I won't encounter other dogs. It's really troublesome and frustrating. Part of me assumes that she wasn't socialized properly with the people who had her before me and that she may even have been abused, which leads to fear, so treating it with a fear approach is a good idea.

And as far as the electric fence is concerned, I live in a stupid subdivision with an awful, busybody type of homeowners association that won't allow us to have a fence in the front part of my yard and the fence we were permitted to have is one of those cruddy split rail type of fences that can't be taller than 2 feet, which both of my dogs can easily jump over, thus making it counterproductive in the first place, especially since my Husky does agility. I don't agree with shock collars, they can be cruel if misused but at the same time, I don't need my dogs roaming either and I like to play with them - we live on an acre and a half and I like to utilize it. I'm 22 and live with my parents and don't plan on moving anytime soon, especially not because of a whacko home owner association.

My lab is actually being fed Blue Buffalo's Weight Management Large Breed food, one cup, twice a day. She's 80 pounds and the bag says she should get more but the vet wants me to cut back because he wasn't sure if she has a thyroid issue or something else since she was 69 pounds last year and 80 this year. I switched her to the Weight Management from the Blue Buffalo Large Breed adult about 2 months ago and haven't had a chance to get her reweighed or do blood work but everything checked out perfectly at the vet's office. The vet said he thinks it's pointless that I have her on "such expensive food because dog food is all the same" but that's another story. I have always been adamant about dog nutrition and refuse to feed my dogs anything but premium food, no matter what and no matter the fact that it costs me over $100 to feed my dogs.

Schedule wise, it could be better. I'm a full time student and I work a lot so her schedule depends on my schedule, which is extremely unpredictable. Most days, we're up by 9 am and go for a morning walk of about a mile and a half and if I don't have too much homework, she gets a small evening walk of about 20 minutes.

[Labsrule]

Hello, poor you and poor dog. I have 2 Labs and live in UK. Don't use a shock collar on her, inhumane and your dog will not make the association,she will become fearful of anything and everything, even to the stage of being fearful of going outside. Shock collars are for idiots as are prong collars. It is a situation, as you are discovering, you will have to learn to manage, avoid other dogs as much as possible and get her a muzzle, a lightweight basket or nylon one is the kindest and one she can pant in. Teach her to wear it by putting yummy treats in it for her to lick firstly so she starts to associate it with nice things. Don't just stick it on her and head off out, it may cause her to panic and fight it, she needs to associate the muzzle with good stuff. Hardly ideal but better than getting into situations where she can and will attack other dogs.

As a rescue it is difficult to identify what actually sparked her behaviour originally so harder for you to try to resolve her issues. Can your Vet recommend a qualified behaviourist to assess her? In UK most behaviourists are registered with a vet and have to meet quite high standards and only use kind and proven methods, not sure what the situation is in US.Beware anyone who suggests shock/prong collars.

I'm sure others will be along to offer some good advice and I wish you luck. Sue.

[Stephatron]

Thank you so much for your advice. I am completely against shock collars, prong collars, and choke chains. I work in a pet store as a dog trainer and as soon as I even see someone purchasing that, I steer them away and warn them of the harm it causes, mainly a collapsed trachea and most people end up getting scared when I tell them that.

With my silly lab, it is very situational and highly unpredictable. I wish she could talk with words so she can tell me what's wrong in her usually happy go lucky self. I've noticed that when she is around other dogs she doesn't know, she starts to stress shed a lot. I do know that a muzzle will help but we only sell the temporary nylon ones and I don't know where I can get a basket muzzle, other than ordering it online and I'm a bit leery of doing so since it is hard to get it fitted if I don't see it in person. I'm not sure how the behaviorist situation is here to be honest since my particular vet didn't really seem to know of any in the area. I had a bit more success just using google to find some but don't even know what questions to ask them.

As much as I love my dog and know the benefits of rescue, I sometimes wish I had her as a pup so I can train her correctly, like my husky, whom I didn't want but he was in terrible conditions and he was also in a sense rescued.

[***Melissa***]

Most dogs that react are not aggresive, they are fearful. Shock collars, choke chains, etc can only make her more insecure.

I'm not an expert on fearful / "aggressive" dogs, and I'm sure Emmabeth or Nettle will have some great advice, but in the meantime, read through the following threads - there's some really great info in there

Aggression - some things to think about:
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6111

Understanding aggression:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5442

[Stephatron]

Thanks for the links