Help! My 16 month old male entire boxer has just started growling at other dogs (we have only come across 3) in the last two days. We have been road walking due to the dark nights and he has been on lead.
He has always been super/over friendly and loves to play with other dogs. He would lay down and wag his tail sometimes play stalking with a bow until the other dog neared then get really excited and I would try distract him and move on.
Yesterday with the dog walker he ran over to a 9 month old puppy and ended up laying on it growling. Later we were road walking and he saw another small dog a few metres away. His body posture was totally different to usual; much more upright and no laying down and then he growled so I removed him from the situation and carried on walking. Tonight we walked towards a pug and again he stiffened I would say and almost became super alert then as we passed them he growled. I didn’t tell him off I just kept walking.
How can I stop this and why would he suddenly start? He doesn’t seem in pain as nothing else has changed. Could yesterday with the puppy have somehow unnerved him and now he feels he has to act tough? Is it an age thing and to be expected and if so how do I manage it? I do not want my super happy friendly pup becoming aggressive. He’s never been fond of small dogs so I usually avoid them but he has never been growly before.
I haven’t seen him with any dogs he knows as yet but that could be interesting to see if he reacts the same.
I was planning on taking loads of treats out and distracting him from any other dogs and really really rewarding any non negative reaction from him. We have training class on Monday that I was still going to attend as he has always been okay here.
I cannot think of any negative experiences other than potentially yesterday with the puppy as I don’t really know what it’s owner did but I think he just pulled him off.

You have arrived at adolescence and testosterone is doing its thing. It will take some training, others here are far more qualified than I am to advise so will leave that bit, but what you’re going through currently is fairly normal for a lot of dogs.

My 16 month old has been at this stage for a few months now.  First reals signs were when he got on top of a puppy rolling on its back.  A real awful shock that was.  Since then I have been trying to read what he is frightened of and I have noticed just how stiff he gets when meeting dogs generally.    A great little book is called the Cautious Canine (bought it 2nd hand from Amazon about £1) and gives a lot of insight and advice about dealing with fear aggressive dogs whether it is people, dogs or something else.  Lots of high value treats required.  I thought I had put my treat bag away but it is out all the time now, rewarding for the good behaviour, distracting when you think he might have an issue and try and understand what is the comfortable distance for your dog with other dogs and always be one step ahead to avoid the unwanted behaviour.    Normally mine is fine with females of any size and normally ok with male dogs his own size. If a dog stands in front of him acting aggressively he tends to just watch rather than want to retaliate.   He will want to bully puppies or over friendly male dogs like spaniels.  He doesn't like large dogs running towards him but if a dog is not looking at him and sniffing around he is fine.  There are some breeds (black labs) he particularly doesn't like so I will distract and keep him away until I can be sure of his behaviour.  When he is standing nicely with another dog he gets treats and we are very slowly getting there but I can't trust that he isn't going to be funny with a dog.   We have set backs but I can read him better now and at the first sign of grumbling which I can feel through the lead we move on.  My latest problem is with spaniels which he used to be fine with but twice now he has nicely said hello and snapped at them when they move on.   Be prepared to have great behaviour one day and then for him to lose his good boy stripes the next.  It is a long slow process and I don't know how long I will have to manage this problem - maybe forever..  Such a lovely dog apart from this.    Good luck.

I've got one like this but older now . Three  things that I have learned working with a good behavioutist as our problem was deeply entrenched are
.keep dog at a distance where he doesn't react ie his comfortable distance no nearer it may mean a long line
Loads of high value treats as soon as he sees a dog so u can reinforce that seeing a dog is a good thing .

Do everything you can to prevent him repeating the behaviour you don't want as practice makes perfect

You may find you will have to change what and how you do training at the club if it presents situations he can repeat his negative behaviour .Even standing aside from the others and treating him is helpful every time he ignores a dog

furriefriends, do you think your dog will always have this behaviour and have you seen improvement and what do you do when you can't put distance between your dog and another dog e.g. going round a corner/on a narrow path and meeting another dog?

Great thanks everyone. I did wonder if he was just being a teenager. I am going out from now armed with treats and will be rewarding the good and ignoring the bad.
He has always been one to ‘squash’ smaller dogs so I tend to keep him away from them.
I will see how tomorrow goes as he usually ignores most dogs there.
Would castration help as I would prefer to avoid this if at all possible but if it will rid this daft bullish behaviour and if it continues I may consider it.

Brooke problems are more than adolescence so it's been a very hard road. We are better and from what I understand things can improve greatly if you start earlier than I became aware we had a real problem. .any improvement is to be celebrated
The situations you describe are very hard .I walk looking like a mia cat on alert it's me and my dog when we are out .I am very anti-social now.
If we really have a situation where I cant avoid another dog i hold her as close as I  can and post treats rapidly down her as fast as possible to keep her attention on me
I use a double attachmemt harness so i have more control than a collar and lead and less harm if she needs to be held than a collar would
Corners I move infront and give myself as much vison as possible. If I see a problem I try and cross roads or turn round and walk back where I came from very fast until I can be out the way. I also ask people to let us pass or step as side as she is nervous dogs .

She is only off lead in a secure field I rent .

I don't get it right all.the time and there are always those dogs off lead who.come flying up . In those situations throwing a load of treats at the other dog or better still slightly behind can distract while  I move away.yes I know that's not good feeding another dog but this is about my dog  sh.. I can't pretend it's easy and each walk is a training ground so the secure field is a godsend where  we all relax.  Fprtunately she absoloutly loves peole and is abug foodie which helps

Training is your first stop as castration is never a guarantee of better behaviour and the training is still going to need to be done. I would go full on with that before considering castration or the temporary implant super lorin

reply to Scattergood
I thought I had put my treat bag away
I'd guess that 90% or more on this site NEVER do that, there is always something you want to reward - unless your dog is totally a non-foodie

Another couolw of tbkmgs i emply is dodgung behimd hedges or trees amd between parked cars if all.esle.fails blocking view with my body is also useful.  Dog ninja!.

Thanks for that info and yes pockets always full of treats these days.  I particularly appreciate the advice for when a dog off lead comes running up because as much as I want to control his behaviour I have found it impossible.   He will completely ignore any treat if a dog has ran up to him.  Many owners say it's ok he/she is friendly not realising it is mine that has the problem.  I have bitten my tongue on many occasions and want to say my dog is on a lead for a reason.  I have never let my other dogs run towards a dog on a lead to respect the other dog owner.     I had thought of castration too but I don't think that would alter his fear aggression and removing testosterone might make him worse.   At least he does have some confidence with smaller dogs and females and actually his behaviour with most dogs is really good.   I understand the meerkat comment, I am always on super alert checking out where dogs are, do we know them, is it female etc..  Unfortunately dog walks are rarely relaxing although in the last few weeks I have noticed him watch larger dogs ahead of him and he now wants to go in the opposite direction rather than go to near and potentially lunge at them which is fine with me.    I have met a lot of dog owners who say theirs can be a bit funny with some dogs, I know exactly what they mean now.

At 16months my standard poodle male growled at a dog for the first time ever. His castration was already planned, and went ahead the following month. After castration it happened two more times.

The first incident was a dog he vaguely knows and has done since puppy hood, but it is a dog which runs up and stands very rigid and stiff, tail up like a bottle brush, hackles up, head up, while simultaneously sniffing. "Not a player," his owner says. My eldest reciprocates sniffs for half a second and moves on, but this time my youngest (who previously didn't go near but sometimes bowed a few feet away) sniffed for ten seconds then growled and feigned a snap. I was very concerned by this sudden development!

After he was castrated it happened once at the school gate with a lab that was bouncing at him, and again with a shepherd cross who appeared suddenly from behind a parked car. Both times just a growl after somewhat protracted tense sniffing, no feigned snap.

From those three encounters I established that he is scared, and of larger, intact male, sandy coloured dogs. He was once snapped at by a sand coloured whippet as a puppy (came to no harm and no immediate aversion resulted but I wonder if that is in the mix). I also established what he could and could not cope with. He didn't have the social skills to cope with other tense dogs. He just didn't seem to know what to do with other dogs being defensive and he became aggressive himself.

Since the third incident we have our own rules around the issue based on what he's worried by.

So he is only allowed to approach and sniff unknown dogs if I'm walking him without his brother (so he has my undivided focus). I carry a very high value treat (pate, big favourite with him) and a less high one (chicken or ham or cheese depending). I give him a lower value treat whenever we see a sandy coloured dog. I only let him approach other dogs if they are friendly dogs and the owners confirm they're reliably so. I let him sniff for 2 seconds then bring him away and feed him pate. Then let him sniff again if he likes, again for a very short time then more pate. Then we move on. I don't let tense moments occur, I cut encounters short and ebd them positively. Until the last few weeks I wasn't letting him meet any large sandy coloured males but have begun to now as its been a long time since we've had any growling. He's 19months now and I think *knocks on wood* if we continue on our current trajectory, that we have managed to catch the issue and nip it in the bud.

If you are able to work out just what is triggering these incidents and then make meeting other dogs a positive experience as much as possible and be vigilant on walks you will hopefully be able to turn the situation around.

I definitely do not advise you do suprelorin or castrate in the middle of the process as I'm fairly confident that though overall it hasn't made him more fearful, the period of hormonal instability following the op certainly did. It might not turn out to be a disaster but don't make life harder than it needs to be.

Ha just read this furriefriends post again.  I thought it was a spam type post but actually realise it is a real one and I have been able to make it out.   I thought at first it said something about throwing dog dung behind a hedge....    I too do this (not throw dog dung but dodge between stuff), I must look nuts.  Also the constant talking in encouraging tones has made heads turn.  I can often be heard saying in a jolly manner "we can do this" when he freezes along way away from a dog.  I do find actually that the greeting can be made different with some encouraging words and telling him it is ok and he knows the dog even if he doesn't.

We have been for a lovely walk and met a load of dogs male and female of all ages with no issues. He has been playing with no problem. I wonder if part of the issue was it dark?
I am remaining vigilant and loaded with treats and his favourite tugger (recall has improved greatly with this miraculous bit of sheepskin!) and shall continue to reward good behaviour. I’m just glad he is not an out and out killing machine which I did briefly fear yesterday in my mad panic phase.
I will keep him away from small dogs as much as possible as i really don’t think he knows what to do with them and he plays pretty rough.
Good luck everyone and thanks for all the great advice and I will keep practicing everything to try ensure he grows up to be a polite dog rather than a 40kg thug.

We have been for a lovely walk and met a load of dogs male and female of all ages with no issues. He has been playing with no problem. I wonder if part of the issue was it dark?
I am remaining vigilant and loaded with treats and his favourite tugger (recall has improved greatly with this miraculous bit of sheepskin!) and shall continue to reward good behaviour. I’m just glad he is not an out and out killing machine which I did briefly fear yesterday in my mad panic phase.
I will keep him away from small dogs as much as possible as i really don’t think he knows what to do with them and he plays pretty rough.
Good luck everyone and thanks for all the great advice and I will keep practicing everything to try ensure he grows up to be a polite dog rather than a 40kg thug.

Sorry it was a worse than usual typing day  and then it was too late to amend .gold star for getting through it scattergood.not surprise u thought it was spam.

> Both times just a growl after somewhat protracted tense sniffing, no feigned snap.

I have always found that a three second rule for sniffing appears to be the canine politeness tipping point.

Have found that beyond that my girls find it rude and will tell a dog off. 

On this basis I always advise owners of my male pups especially to not allow sniffing longer than this and to break eye contact and move on, before anyone feels the need to make a point of whose cock of the heap, of feel intimidated.

Agree brainless that was something else the behvaiourist was hot on

Very good advice indeed brainless. I'd not run into it before because as much as my eldest could be over much at other dogs he didn't tend to attempt sniffing dogs who were obviously feeling defensive (by their stance). And even the youngest previous to that first incident he would always either not approach to sniff (would wag in a friendly way but keep back if unsure) or would be hugely keen to touch noses but then progress to bowing or move on himself within a few seconds. That first time was the first time another dog wanted to prolong the tense sniffing and he actually reacted rather than just removing himself. I'm sure hormones had made him brave enough to react as it came on when it did, but also that the sandy coloured dog connection showed there was a fearful motivation underneath too.

Another thing I would add I've found is that practicing fast heel work (as in run, stop, run, stop, turn, run etc.) using lots of excited high pitched encouragement helps get both of mine past distractions. There are a hundred things they can't walk past that they can run past no problem.

That is good advice about using a 3 second rule with unknown dogs.  Trouble is I end up dragging him away because he just won't shift and I don't want to leave him there for any longer.  He only weighs 9 kg but turns in to lead when he doesn't want to move.  I know this will get better with practice and the chopped liver is definitely helping.   He always wants to stop and stare at a dog across the road and he watches it walk off I am sure I should chivvy him along but again it takes a huge amount of encouragement to move him so I let him watch - not sure if that is the right thing to do.  Every now and again he chooses to sniff what is around him rather than sniff a dog that is next to him and also there have been times when he seems to get bored with a dog and just wants to wander away to something more interesting.   That's when I think that this is a temporary adolescent phase which will settle.  He can sniff for England though!  Here's a thing, in all his 16 months, he has never ever wagged his tail when he sees another dog and that includes dog's in season.

I would work on stopping any sniffing or staring at other dogs  .get his attention with the chopped liver before he stops and jolly him along . Basically get in before he does.
I've just come out of the vet consulting room and .there was two dogs looking at us and by moving fast with a treat on Brookes nose and using vets back door we got out before she noticed. Fortunately our vet knows us so wasn't surprised with me dodging out the back door lol

Do you mean with the dogs he doesn't know or with all dogs?

I think that depends in how he is with dogs knows. If u know he is good with.some dogs then use.that as a training time for.when u decide it's time to go. Other dogs i would.move along . Btw I am not a behavioutist just someone who has gone through a lot with mine and learned stuff. I am hoping Nikita will come along as she is a behavioutist  and very good

Pergaps u could start a new.post as we are a bit off the op and u may get more advice specifically for u

oops sorry thought it was the same topic as OP.  If I need any more advice I will repost.  Thanks.

I am not really sure tbh . U may be right scattergood.jusy thought it good question may get missed