aggressive this past year

Question
My 5 year old American cocker spaniel has been showing aggression with other dogs this past year. He was not always like this. When he is walked and sees another dog he gets all jumpy. He pulls and barks and sometimes growls. He loves people, children, dogs he knows. He has never bitten anyone, snapped at anyone. He has a great personality. As a puppy he was in puppy obedience school and got along great with all the dogs. I spend alot of time with him and my other cocker. Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi, Neil,

Thanks for the question,,

How much hard vigorous playful exercise does he get with other dogs on a regular basis, and not just with your other cocker? Do you spend time along playing fetch or tug-of-war with him? Was he ever punished or scolded as a puppy, whether for housebreaking issues, or being mouthy or nippy as a pup? It sounds to me like the reason he gets all jumpy when he sees other dogs on his walks is that he really wants to make social contact with them but that he's scared for some reason. If we could get him past his fear of other dogs, and teach him HOW to make pleasant social contact with the dogs he meets, he'd probably get over this pretty quickly (even though he's 5).

I look forward to hearing back from you.

LCK