7 mo puppy behavior towards other dogs

Question
Dear Dr. Connell,

Thank you for taking the time to read my email.  I own two dogs, a female spayed Havanese (2.5 yrs) and a 7 month old Coton de Tulear that I'm planning on neutering within the month.  My question is regarding my puppy.  When I take him out for walks he becomes very aggressive and constantly barks at other dogs.  A couple of days ago he ran up to some children and wouldn't stop barking at them, but yet he'll let people pet him.  He also barks all the time at people walking by our house when he's outside.  Very annoying!  My question is will neutering help this behavior or is there something else I could do?  Regardless, he will be neutered this month!  (my other dog is an angel, doesn't bark at all, very loving and sweet with everyone, strangers included)

Thank you for your time and help.


Kindly, Lauren :)

Answer
Hi Lauren,
I am not a vet but a vet tech. What you have here is an aggressive,badly behaved puppy that is in serious need of major obedience training and yes, neutering as soon as possible.

However, this is a learned behavior and neutering alone will not make this go away. You need to get him enrolled in puppy classes, and get him socialized. He may need a behave collar which works wonderfully in all kinds of dogs. Another brand name is Gentle leader. These are loose fitting loops that fit over the muzzle and the neck and they act on the instinct of the mother when she disciplines her puppies. I use one on my dog all the time. It keeps her calm and well behaved but she also went through obedience training too.
You need to get this done soon as the older he gets the worse he will get and you will have a really tough time breaking him of this.

There are many things you can do for these bad behaviors from shaking a can of pennies every time he barks and telling him OFF! Loudly and pulling on the collar (the gentle leader one) and making him stop.

Matt Margolis is a wonderful trainer and you can get all kinds of ideas from his site.
http://www.unclematty.com/

Start tomorrow!! I am very glad to hear that you are getting him neutered also. You are a very responsible pet owner. This training will help you and the puppy both.
Let me know how it goes!