I have posted on here previously about the problems I was having with my labrador and received some good advice. I hope you can help again. She is now 10 months old and is aggressive with dogs that are submissive. She can read them just by looking at them and if it is a submissive dog she will charge over to it growling and put her head over its neck or when they go down on the floor she will stand over them growling. She is like this with dogs that are small or large, she just seems to know which to pick on. At training class if another dog goes up to her face she will growl loudly and lunge at them. I have socialised her from being tiny, I take her to training classes and on an organised walk every week with good and not so good dogs. I have tried ignoring her, talking calmly to her, shouting, scruffing her but nothing seems to work. She is fairly timid with people when we are out and about and I have noticed in the past few weeks if anyone looks like they are going to approach her she will growl at them softly.She only does this with some people not all but she doesn't take to strangers and doesn't want to be fussed or stroked by them. I take her out on her own and with her mum (Who is brilliant with people and dogs) She is slightly better with people when her mum is there and doesn't growl at all but with other dogs she is exactly the same. I so want to get her on the right track as I love her to bits and it is so upsetting to see her like this.Please, please can you help?

Amy

Is it both male and female dogs and male/female people?
Is she very attached to you?

Also has she had a season yet? If not, is it possible she is coming into season and is having hormonal changes?

Theresa

The real problem could happen if she tries the dominant signals on a dominant bitch which also has aggression as part of her character.
She could end up in very serious trouble with the wrong bitch of the wrong breed with these challenges.
What kind of training classes have you been to?

What would you do if your child ran up to other less dominant children and started to threaten them?

Now do the same with your dog.

I'd better not tell you what I'd do to the kids if they tried that - needless to say they wouldn't do it again.

Fiona
x x x

If your dog is like this then keep her on a lead then let her meet other dogs in a controlled way. If she was mine the minute she started she would get a sharp no and I would take her away from the other dog and then ignore her. She should soon get the message.
As for lungeing I would give her a sharp jerk and agin a very firm no.
Don't know whether you allow her on the furniture etc but everything like this should be stopped until she knows her place.
You may well find that if this behaviour has ownly just started that she may well be coming into season. Even if that is so it is still NOT acceptable.

Thankyou every one for your replies. She goes to obedience classes every week where she is reasonably well behaved as long as no other dog gets up to her face. I do keep her on the lead so she can be corrected and is not able to do as she wishes. She does not have a status issue (I don't think) she does not get on the furniture, guard her food, or her toys or get her own way in anything. She knows that I am the boss and she is very attached to me. When she meets a dog that she can't cope with she will run up to me and leap up as if she is trying to get in my arms. The really strange thing about her behaviour is that it will only last 2-5 minutes at the most then she calms down, is all waggy tail and lets play, which the other dogs ignore completely because five minutes before she was going crazy at them. She may be coming into season soon, so I am anxiously waiting to see if her behaviour changes after this.

Amy, I have a very similar problem with my lab (see post "aggressive lab - sometimes")
She is so unpredictable as some dogs she just plays with and others she takes a dislike to (bit like me really :))
I have to keep her on the lead if I see another dog until I can judge her reaction. She has had hours and hours of training and socialisation and now I think this is something I'll never ever change. Her daughter is the opposite to her, much quieter and ignores other dogs, so I really think its just the way a dog is.
Hope you work things out,
Lorna

Lorna,
I think that you are right, some dogs are just better at mixing than others.She is nothing like her mum or dad (which is a real disappointment) but I know she has it in her to be nice because I have seen her in action. You said that with yours her daughter was nothing like that. Is this a trait that she could pass on to puppies she might have or is it just the luck of the draw? (I have no plans to breed from her at all but would love to know if this trait would be passed on if she had pups?) Her brothers and sisters are loving and outgoing, she seems to be the only one with this problem.

Amy, I didn't really have this problem before she had puppies, so I feel it is just her very strong mothering, wanting to protect her 'baby'. The stud dog I chose had a very good nature and I have always kept in touch with all the puppies new owners and they all seem very good natured, so I don't think its a particularly bad trait in my case. She is the sweetest dog you could wish for around the home and with people and children I trust her 100%. I met up with some fellow 'champdoggers' last year for a walk and she was absolutely fine with their dogs. I do think I convey my anxiety to her, because as soon as I spot another dog I quickly call her up and put her lead on, so she then starts to look around her and I suppose she anticipates that something might happen. I have a friend with a big soppy GSD and I am going to meet her and her dog on neutral ground to see what reaction I get. Hopefully I'll just walk alongside her with her dog (who is beautifully behaved), and try to keep mine calm and relaxed before trying anything off lead.
Let me know how you get on
Lorna

Lorna,
I can see that my dog is definately different to yours.I have had problems with her from the start. She was very quiet at puppy class and followed me everywhere. When another dog got in her face as puppies do, she honestly went mad.(This was at about four months old so I knew I had a problem on my hands) Both her parents were laid back friendly pups who took everything in their stride so she came as a real shock as I expected her to be just the same. She makes the most awful noise and really growls then thats it, she calms down and will run and play quite happily. She still doesn't like other dogs to jump on her head or seriously pester her but she will run away from it, tolerate it for ten minutes or so then growl or come looking for me. I am going to see someone recommended by my vet on Friday in the hope that they might be able to work out how to stop this before she gets any worse.My real fear is that one day she will meet her match. I don't want to have to avoid every dog we meet but it gets so stressful not knowing just how she will react so now she doesn't get the benefit of the doubt and I keep her on the lead.We met a 14 week old boxer pup this week in the park. Luckily she was in her cage in the back of the car. I got her mum out who was fine but she went mad.She growled at the chap then when the puppy sniffed her cage she really started. Eventually after about five minutes of growling she lunged at the pup through the bars.Luckily her seemed not to notice and carried on sniffing and wagging his little stump but I was horrified.I will let you know if anything comes up from my session on Friday, keep your fingers crossed!