Lease aggression lab against dogs

Question
Have taken a black lab. 8 years old a rescue dog that was kept on afarm in a pen on the north side of barn and also chained. He does really well at home considering that we have had him 3 months, sits, stay, down,etc. most of the time. At a day boarding with other dogs off of lease he does fine. When we walk him and he sees other dogs he becomes exceedingly aggression so as impossible to control. Am beginning to work with trainer, but would appreciate your input very much. The farmer fed him once a week . At night he becomes very restless, but this is getting better. I assume at night criters came into eat his residual food. Thank you for any help and advice.He had no training so in the last 3 months I think he has come a long ways with the sits, stay, etc. He loves people and children.

Martin Dumler

Answer
Congratulations for being a spectacular human being who is willing to take an extremely abused and neglected dog, at the age of EIGHT!, and give him the best years of his life.  You have no idea how special you are.

Regarding the leash 'aggression' problem, you are most likely seeing the result of RESTRAINT.  This dog may be reacting to a very strong conditioned response to the approach of other animals while he was inhumanely restrained (and starving) at his former 'home'.  The best approach to this is to fit him for a Halti collar (first) and definitely DO NOT USE any AVERSIVES (such as choker collar, ANY sort of 'correction' -- verbal or physical) to change his conditioning!  This will only make his fear worse.  Many trainers have no idea how to deal with this sort of thing and you might be given the wrong advice.  Beware of anyone who suggests any sort of punishment or coercion.  Show that trainer the DOOR.

Assuming this is a restraint problem, once your dog is fitted with the Halti, he can easily be dissuaded from his frame of reference by a simple change of direction.  If this is a conditioned response, it's lifelong; it's not likely you will be easily able to desensitize him in a short span of time.  Changing his direction, getting his FULL ATTENTION shortly thereafter (within SECONDS), and then giving him a behavior he CAN successfully complete for you for a REWARD is the way to go.  You will very slowly begin associating a successful behavior and reward with the approach of another dog.  This might take months, and perhaps it cannot be successfully done at all.

On the other hand, you might be misinterpreting what you are seeing (this is VERY common.)  Many dogs display hyper excitement, with barking, growling, etc., toward other dogs when they are on leash.  I can't determine this, not being able to observe the dog in action.  But body signals are a dead give away; tail set, ear set, hackles, eye movement, all communicate easily what is going on in the dog's mind. A "set up" with a friend's dog might help enormously.  If your dog is on a very long training lead, and you allow him some additional space to go forward or back, you may very well see that he reverts to his normal friendliness toward the approaching dog.  But obviously you want to experiment with this very carefully.