I have a 2 year old neutered American Bulldog. He is great with other dogs EXCEPT for dominant/intact males. We now keep him on a leash at all times if we are anywhere dogs are running free. All it takes is one encounter with an un-neutered male in an off-leash setting and we got a huge problem. My dog is not dominant to either myself or my wife. He loves people and 95% of other dogs. Is this a fixable problem (apart from never taking him to an off-leash park)? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks,
Nathan.

Don't take him around unaltered male dogs, sorry but dog parks are generally a bad idea. a bunch of puppies yeah, but not strange adults

 Quote: nathan philps

.... Is this a fixable problem (apart from never taking him to an off-leash park)? ....

I think that you will receive many responses that will boil to "never take him to an off-leash park."

For me, the intact-male aggro is not even relevant to the off-leash dog park issue. I don't trust strangers' dog-handling/training, or strange dogs, and I can't think of any reason why I should.

I don't want my dogs to be attacked, ever, and off-leash parks are kind of a stew of all the components to fights and attacks.

P.S. "Socialized to other dogs" means, for me, non-reactive. It doesn't mean meet-and-greets with strangers.

And although it happens that my dogs do have a couple of dog friends, it would also be OK with me if they happened not to.

Thanks...I think skipping the dog park might be the best (and simplest) solution

Thanks Connie...I think I'm going to skip the whole dog-park scene and stick to mountain-bike trails.

In addition to the excellent idea not to attend off-leash areas, you can train your dog not to attack other dogs. It is difficult and time consuming, but can be done so that you can have a decent walk with him. However, I would never trust this dog off-leash with strange dogs, ever; and do not allow strange dogs to approach him.

If you do a search on dog aggression, you can find many threads on this topic. It boils down to a solid "watch me" command and very strong obedience with distraction training.

Thanks . My dog is well mannered on leash, and taking him for walks have been enjoyable. I agree with you that a solid recall is important for any dog allowed to run free. I guess I was just wondering if there is anything that can be done to make him more tolerant of un-neutered males, or is this a natural response from one dominant dog to another? Regardless, I plan on skipping the dog park next time we're out. Cheers...


Edited by Nathan Philps (05/05/2009 07:20 PM)
Edit reason: spelling oops

 Quote: nathan philps

I guess I was just wondering if there is anything that can be done to make him more tolerant of un-neutered males, or is this a natural response from one dominant dog to another? Regardless, I plan on skipping the dog park next time we're out.

Hi Nathan, I'm not an expert, but I have a dog similar to yours and this situation is one of many realities we needed to come to terms with in order to keep the peace with our dog. He's quite sweet with most dogs (still dominant, but not aggressive), but intact adult males (under 12 months are still given a puppy pass with him), and especially intact males that are dominant, will cause an immediate and unpleasant reaction in him - he can smell them before he even sees them and his hackles go right up... We don't go to dog parks anymore, and I don't allow him to interact with any strange dog unless I can assess and "approve" them beforehand. Oscar does have a handful of "friends" that we see often, so he's not without dog play dates, but we're extremely careful now about not putting him in any situations where we don't know all the players. The less you leave up to chance when it comes to your dog and stranger dogs, the less stress will effect ALL parties..

I agree with the previous posters who mentioned training the dog not to REACT in the controlled presence of intact males (as in walking around on leash in a public place), but I don't think it's possible to make your boy ENJOY being around intact males, some just don't like 'em and that's that. The truth is, the combination of testosterone and dominant signals emitted from another dog will always make your dog uncomfortable (in this case it's probably unease surrounding who gets to be "top dog" - this is a very strong rank drive that's been rooted in canine behavior for ages). You can train him to ignore dogs like this, but don't ask him to rub shoulders with them - it's too much to ask of him to not want to challenge and fight the stranger.

So the short answer to your question is "no", you can't change your dog's personality, but you CAN prevent fights by strictly controlling where your dog goes and who he interacts with. Sounds like you're already doing that, so kudos for taking the right action!

~Natalya

Thanks Natalya...I appreciate your response . Keeping my dog in a controlled atmosphere will be less stressfull and ultimately more enjoyable for the dog and my wife and I. Also...you have a great looking dog. Cheers!