Agression

Question
A fried of mine recently had to put down his golden retriever as it attacked and bit him several times. His dog tried to get over a wall to reach a bitch taht was in heat. When he went over to his dog to pull him away the dog tuned on him.
My retriever is 4.5 years old and has never shown any signs of this but I am worried that the same situation may occur. Is there anything I can do to prevent this happening, I would prefer not to have my dog neutered.

Thanks.

Answer
About all I can suggest is maintaining your leadership position.  Top dogs are more like old fashioned strict, but loving parents than drill sergeants.  The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat.