How do we tell what kind of aggression our 2 dogs are showing when we have guests over? Is it fear, frustration or prey drive?

We have 2 dogs (a 5-year old Beagle/GSD mix and a 4-year old Australian SD/Lab/Black retriever mix, both males) which have been exhibiting increasing aggressive behavior issues over the last 3 months. I am not sure how to identify what type of aggression it is (fear, frustration, or simple prey drive) and therefore what type of training/counter conditioning would be the most suitable one. Indeed, I suspected fear aggression. However, I learnt in one of Michael Ellis' videos that if the dog still accepts food in an uncomfortable situation, then it is not fear (which is our case). But then what is it, and how can I tell?

Our dogs knows their basic commands very well,. But when we have visitors, we have to keep them on leash (barking, lunging) and try to redirect them by doing training (sit, down, rewards) until they calm down. They do all the commands, take the treats, but they're still not ok with strangers. Which online course would you recommend me? Leash reactivity?

Leerburg's Answer

For a diagnosis of the type of fear I believe you need to work with a trainer in person and in the environment your dogs have the issues. this is one of those questions that is difficult (or impossible) to answer via a message since the dogs' behavior and body language as well as your handling of the dogs can all play a part in their reactions and behavior. Do you have someone local to work within your home? Ideally, this should be someone skilled with aggression, not just a general obedience trainer.

Until you have a training plan in place I would not keep letting the dogs practice the barking and lunging behavior. In other words, don't use visitors to your home as a test for your dogs. Working with a dog trainer in a preplanned setup scenario is a much better way to work through this as visitors likely give off the wrong kind of energy and behavior which will likely feed your dogs' unwanted behavior.

One thing to do is let the dogs spend time separately, it's very likely they are feeding off of each other's energy as well. In other words, let them become comfortable one-on-one with you in training sessions. One dog crated away from the training space, work with the other and then switch. Trying to control two barking and lunging dogs is definitely more difficult than working with one at a time.

You may want to view our course on Dealing with Dominant and Aggressive Dog that Ed Just finished doing.

And possibly our Leash Reactivity course with Tyler Muto - but I believe you also need some one on one help with a qualified trainer for this issue.