in april last year i got a lurcher from a rescue center. his age is hazy, but somewhere between 4 and 6 is the guess! he is incredibly affectionate and marvelous with my kids. when we first got him he was perfect and would wander around with no problems. however he is getting increasingly aggressive if he sees another dog on a lead, and it is now a nightmare to take him to our regular park because you have to constantly survey the horizon for dogs on leads - he will go and have ago at them. this was made worse a few months ago because i had him on a lead and he was attacked by a bullmastif and needed stitches. i don't know what to do!! if he goes for a walk to an unfamiliar area he is much better than if he goes to our normal park?! help!!!!!

Hi guest,
Is it possible that your dog sees your local park as HIS territory? Was he attacked in that park?
Have you had your dog neutered?

My dog rocky has similar problems, adn teh reason behind them was this. Before he was neutered, he used to wander round the park, with me trailing behind him, failing to get him back. I had him done, and that stopped. Unfortunately, because of his free roaming days in teh park he thought it was his territory. When i had him neutered, he lost all his confidence and felt that he had to start challenging dogs in the park.
I did several things. Put a muzzle on him, so i could still let him off lead, and he wouldnt be able to bite any dogs i had failed to see in time. Improved his recall, which is now nearly 99% if i get my timing right! and i worked on getting him more focussed on me, and less focussed on the other dogs. I use a ball, which at first he wasnt bothered about, now he loves it! he will leave the most appealing dog, begging for a scrap, to chase his ball!

The other thing i did was walk in lots of different places, so that each walk wasnt all about reaffirming his territory, and he began to enjoy walks again, instead of constantly looking for a fight.

Now he is much much better. He will still bully other dogs sometimes, depends on teh other dog. If they tell him to get lost, he will! i can also call him out of any interaction with another dog very quickly.

You can also try John fishers training discs, if u join this site, you can respond to messages, and do a search on the training discs, which will tell you how to use them.
Good luck with your dog, you will need to do lots of work, and have patience!

Em