thanks - I thought so. Do you think it is too late to retrain the 2 year old? I am trying to avoid this dog so would probably never get the chance to mention this to her anyway.

I am working so hard to re-train our 14 month old but every episode like this sets me back. We were told by many people that our problem was sex related, therefore neuter [e.g. guarding females from males when out with a walker twice a week and biting one of them, growling in reaction to growling etc]. On Tardak none if this stopped - his wees diminished but not hugely and he licked his lips a lot, he also seemed unwilling to come to us in the house when called- preferring to lie around.

Recently we were referred to a [reputable] counsellor who changed all the previous diagnoses. Once she saw the dog she said it all looked like fear aggression [probably awakened by altercations with local dogs such as the springer] and guarding of resources [ie females, affection etc] and told us to stop letting him go out with the dog walker as he was getting too distressed with the number of dogs and situations he had to deal with.
I think it was Theemx and Wendy [on this board] who hinted at this and it seems much clearer now that someone has confirmed it through observation. It has been pretty awful, the dog walker got upset etc - and very hard to find someone who will walk him alone. We know he is much better on his own as we have no probs other than when we have surprise meetings with male dogs and with most of those he even seems ok.
c x

No it is not too late to train a dog who is any age, a 14 year old soon realised that the clicker meant a treat if he did as I wished. In his case apply painfull ointment.

The Springer would be better in a muzzel so that all the humans around could relax a bit and train the dogs without the tension.

It can make a difference to entire male to male aggression, but it can take two or more months for all the hormones to be out of the system [this is what my vet told me anyway], and even then though he'll be a little calmer he needs training!
i don't think two years old is by any means too late to train a dog - sounds to me like he needs socialisation - is there a good trainer she can take him to for help??

Annette

Hi Cissy,

Sorry to hear you've had more problems with meeting unfriendly dogs. My boy was attacked by a male springer spaniel months ago now and he still hasn't forgiven them. He loves female springers but hates the boys.

I had my dog (a bullmastiff) castrated quite recently. Not really for anything he did but he was being attacked more and more often by male dogs. This didn't distress him as he really enjoys rough play and to him fighting is just a form of rough play. But I was worried that he was starting to enjoy it too much and I didn't want him to get to the stage where he was just running up and attacking dogs.

A few weeks after the op I did start to notice a difference in him around other males. He is definately less confrontational. An entire male staffy walked past us a couple of weeks ago. It showed very unfriendly body language - tail up, standing on its tiptoes, staring at my dog - he reacted by wagging his tail at it. Similarly, my neighbour's entire male Yorkshire terrier started really barking at both my dogs through her garden fence. My male carefully walked to the other side of me so I could protect him from the yorkie. My little bitch was another story, she started barking right back at the dog.

I also tried Tardak before having the op done and my experiences with it were somewhat less than positive.

Tracey.

thanks Tracey - I remember your bullmastiff and the Tardak story. There is a BM around my neighbourhood who hides behind his owner when he sees our corgi, who then tries to sit under his slobber... :rolleyes:
It is hard to avoid negative experiences while keeping the dog socialised and I think this is going to take months....

Hi Cissy,

I do know what you mean. I have come to the conclusion that a lot of the problems I'm having with Cal are down to me still being nervous. We've had so many nasty experiences in the past few months that I'm finding it difficult to get back to normal. I'm reluctant to let Cal go near dogs unless I know them well in case they bite him and we have another set back. I also think it's going to take months.

Tracey.