hi there everyone i wonder if anyone can answer my questions i have a standard poodle who is coming up to 2 now which i have shown since the age of six months he is a good natured dog and loves people and usually other dogs but he has had a couple of incidents at shows in particular with an airedale and an akita both of whom had a growl and a lunge at him and sice then he now has changed towards other dogs especially if he hears another dog growling he seems to have to get in there and have a growl and a go himself which is not like him at all he has been used for stud twice now and i wonder if this has caused the change in his behaviour also i have spoken to other show people with male dogs and they say this is just a male dog thing which i find hard to understand as he wasnt like this before and im afraid it does put a bit of a downer on going to shows as i tend to find myself worrying in case he sees other dogs growling at each other and thinks he has to join in i dread akitas coming near him as he growls and stands on his hind legs to try to get to them but if he wasnt on the lead he would run a mile im sure as hes not that brave a dog really can anyone help as i dont want to get my dog looked upon as agressive when hes not... thanks

Would suspect that it is a combination of his age and the fact that he has been used at stud. He probable thinks that at a show all available bitch should be his and he is seeing off his competitors, (for mating not showing). He may well continue to grow up and relax a bit when he realises he is not getting a bitch at shows and therefore does not need to challenge other males. Or I could be talking nonsense.

this sounds very mich like the situation i have with one of my bullmastiffs. He was attacked by a boxer whilst he was on his bench at a show and on the next benches to us were malamutes, since then i have real problems at shows, if he sees, a)Boxers and b) anything remotely fluffy. He went from being a lovely calm dog a pleasure to show, to being totally on guard and wanting to get in first. I must admit that it made showing very unpleasant and i was always waiting for something to happen, all the tension flowing down the lead. At home he is the most loving dog and we have no problems on our walks.
I do still show him but not as often and i do try and get my hubby to come with me and he will walk him around the ring and stay with him, then i take over in the ring were he is a star and doesn't take his eyes off me and does everything as expected. He will not be benched anymore i always take a cage with me now just to be safe.
Karen.
P.s. forgot to say he has never been used at stud as we also have his litter brother at home and we felt this might cause too many problems.