Originally Posted by leashedForLife

at 2.5 years, he's an adult - social-adulthood for medium to large breeds [roughly 35 to 60# or 15 to 25-kg]
is about 2-YO, so he's definitely a grown-up in everyone's eyes, including his own.

he was desexed around 18-MO? [a year ago, i think U said], so his attitude toward other dogs was already shaped.
i know this is no help at all now, but if this had been observed early-on, say at 5-MO he began to posture markedly,
& his group-class trainer noted it, desex around 6 to 7-MO can often avoid this intensification: the pubertal boy
does not then go thru the 9-MO spike in testosterone which tends to intensify ALL male behavior: marking,
posturing, scuffles, etc, across the board. but no use crying over spilt milk.

nontheless, if U get another M-puppy or someone else has one, it's good to know as they grow from infancy that
early intervention can avoid the later trouble in large part - since the pubertal to teenage stage, he could
be neutered in puberty & the teenaged stage would not have all those rehearsals under his belt.
i'm not making a broad statement, but specifying precociously-touchy dogs who cop an attitude around other Ms
early on, it's a helpful adjunct, & can save a lot of behavioral work, later.

- for now - given the dog as he is -
i'd be deliberately making distant appearances of male-dogs, under his threshold, a reason to party:
take along super-yummies or jazz up a portion of his brekkie or dinner with added attractions, & go somewhere
that U know U will not encounter off-leash dogs, but will see aplenty of on-leash dogs... like the parking lot
of a large pet-supply, if there is one nearby?... park where U can see dogs going toward the building, but where U are
unlikely to have anyone park beside U and unload a dog! - as that could be disastrous.

Open-Bar / Closed-Bar:
this is the simplest B-Mod i know, & very effective.
every time a male dog hoves in sight or sound [tag rattle, barking], feed, feed, feed! As quick as he swallows,
the next tidbit is in front of his nose... The dog is gone [inside the car, round the corner out of sight, in the store]?
SNAP - the buffet closes. [awwwww... ]

shorten the distance between as he grows less-interested in staring at the other dogs, & can focus on U.
he should soon have a simple default: dog appears -or- i hear a dog..., look at U for his reward -
which can become simple praise, or a fuss ["what a GOOD dog, YES, very nice... - with petting & smiles],
or a tug-toy - anything he likes.
the initial work is done with food because the release of endorphins that goes with eating = pleasure + calm,
which help him get some self-control; a toy does not do that - it also establishes a strong happy-association,
since food is a primary reinforcer - no dog has to 'learn' to love food, they must like food to survive,
so it's a built-in rewarding thing.


- note -
if the parking-lot is too small to find a corner to observe where no one is liable to park beside U, bring a shipping crate
along; if someone DOES park too close, try to keep him happily occupiied as above with the food/treats, BUT if that fails,
and he is over threshold, pop him bodily right in the crate when he over-reacts; wait just a few seconds without
loking at or speaking to him, pop him back out, feed, feed, feed, AGAIN if he over-reacts, Swoosh!, crate,
...lather, rinse, repeat. just persist - don't scold, don't get cranky, whisk him into the crate, wait, whisk him out.

the reason his stay in the crate needs to be SHORT is to help him make the connection: if i exert some self-control,
i stay out; if i lose it & throw a tantrum, i go in. Since his only 'clue' is being crated, he has to have several
chances to learn with each dog - if that makes sense?

if he truly gets manic [barking, wild-eyed, tries to lunge, scrabbles at the crate...], call it a day & go home;
he's blown-up with adrenaline, & the effect won't be entirely gone for 24-hours or so. [bummer]

a very good DIY manual for this is the book,
Click to calm - it has very detailed, simple, step by step protocols in the back, & excellent foundation
stuff on dog behavior in the front; if U don't want to read the WHY part, skip it & go direct to the symptoms
& the plans in the back; it SAYS it is for aggression, but in truth it is good
for any reactive problem:
phobias, hates cats, over-excited by being in the car, ANYthing. Just change the 'dog' thing
to the apropos trigger for Ur dog, & follow the instructions!

many libraries may have a copy - if they do not, interlibrary loan [one library to another] can bring it to U,
generally for the co$t of postage.

Originally Posted by leashedForLife

is Zipper intact? if so, desex can help - it's not a CURE, but it's an advantage, & makes B-Mod easier.

try to figure what things make him more-reactive, or if that's too hard, WHAT traits are shared by the older,
larger dogs that he tolerates - are there any that he actually likes? not just doesn't quarrel with or posture at,
but whom he can play with? what sort of dogs are they?

some things will be visual & physical - prick ears, ring tails, coat color? LOTS of coat -- the dog looks bulky?
minimal coat, very slick dogs? ears drop to the side, like hounds or Labs? button ears like many terriers,
which fold forward with about 1/3 of the ear falling over the opening, toward the face?

it can be really, really specific, like ALL mostly-white dogs with heavy coats: Samoyed, Husky, white GSDs, Puli...
or very vague, like all darkish dogs bigger than me: anything darker than blue-grey & more than 10# heavier,
no matter what ears, tails, coat, etc.

the other big variable is behavioral: since behavior is a conversation, what the other dog "says"
to Zipper can be the trigger - they get up on their toes & give him a hard eye? he is INSTANTLY puffing up,
ready to rumble & eager to get at the other dog.

i'd do the same as above - grab a copy of Click to Calm, pair his triggering dogs with food [first],
then with other good-things after he has made good progress & his reactive distance has been cut by half,
i-e, if he reacts at 25-ft U can start to offer a tuggee, or praise & petting, at about 10-ft between him & the trigger.

Originally Posted by leashedForLife

where did i suggest SPAYING to solve a behavioral problem in this thread?

we are focused here on Male dogs reacting to other Male dogs, AKA male : male aggro or reactivity -
posturing, snarking, barking, lunging, mounting, short-lived scuffles with no bloodshed, actual bites which puncture -
between 2 male dogs.

and i have seen - actually witnessed - entire-males in the ring snark when passing close to another M-dog, or posture
on the way thru the crowd in response to another male, & show-dog owners have complained to me about their stud[s]
& their various reactions to other males: cocking a leg on the nearest vertical, which may be their LEG,
going up on their toes & hard staring, refusing to move till the other male disappears - i watched one woman try
to move her intact Berner on the bike-path one day, & i swear he'd grown roots she was swearing under her breath.
all because he SAW another male-dog. It may be 'natural', but that does not make it fun - and some dogs are way-worse
than the average, which is what this thread is about.

some males get quite pugnacious at an early age; i see no point in staggering thru B-Mod & management
with such pups intact, when pubertal desex makes the training easier - the only change is the date
of his desex; they are not showing, not breeding, don't compete.

i don't agree.

we whine about the risk of breast cancer in human-females; it is more than 4x as common in bitches.

anal fistulas are painful & cause serious health problems; they also almost exclusively affect intact males.

benign prostatic hypertrophy can kill a dog, not because IT is fatal, but because it causes urinary problems
and the owner gets tired of clean-up - and gets rid of the dog; desex before the growth began prevents it.
dumping the dog at a shelter pretty much means death, as senior dogs are not high in popularity, & seniors
who dribble or can't wait more than 2 or 3 hours to pee are even less so.

there are more, including pyometra in intact bitches, but we've had this convo before - why waste time?
suffice to say, INTACT MALE DOGS especially from 7-MO to the testosterone peak, CAN BE MUCH-WORSE while
intact; & once the habit is begun in adolescence, it can & often does persist into adulthood.

Australia is also doing early S/N and has been for some years - they report that no deleterious effects
have been seen. and again, they are doing millions of pups & kittens annually.
* they heal faster
* they bleed less
* they have less post-surgical pain
than the traditional pubertal desex, according to every study i have seen.

whether the owner really wants their dog intact or not, is their choice; if i will not breed my dog, & won't compete,
AND he's being a major b*st*rd around other dogs, desex will make my life & his easier, & the B-mod simpler -
and i'd go for it.

U can do whatever U like with Ur dog. it's a free country.

Originally Posted by Sleeping_Lion

I'm going to just post a note of caution here, because I don't like the thought that people may read this, and think neutering their dog will solve a behavioural problem.
.

Originally Posted by ClaireandDaisy

I don`t think it really matters what the history of the dog is. The simple fact is that we don`t want dogs to react aggressively to other dogs. It is no excuse to say `he doesn`t like boxers` for example

Originally Posted by ClaireandDaisy

It is no excuse to say `he doesn`t like boxers` for example. One of mine doesn`t like boxers,
so I`ve trained him to return to hand when we see one.