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Have a 1 year old black lab he is dog agressive towards dark colored lab looking dogs. He is not agressive towards light colored dogs. This is very strange. Any ideas on how to help the situation other than have him leashed at all times.

i've seen dogs that are only afraid of brindles and their owners have used my dog to help condition their dog to trust brindles.

if you can, find someone who owns a very mellow, reliable dog that looks like the kind your dog doesn't like. this dog should have excellent canine social skills, i.e. he knows how to defuse aggression by offering submissive, friendly behaviors. (my dog happens to be good at this!)

then slowly, under controlled circumstances, introduce your dog to this other dog for short periods. start at a distance at which he is comfortable, and try to gradually close that distance. if he starts to trigger, move away and start further back again.

you can use treats to distract him or give him a positive association with the other dog. i personally do it by putting him in a sit, and gently pressing down on his shoulders (a dominance move), while saying in a cheerful voice, "good boy!"

your aim should be to reduce his reactivity gradually. this means not allowing him to get to the point where he gets reactive. so if you see any sign of vigilance or aggression from him, you are too close to the other dog.

hope this helps.

At 1 year old, your dog is a puppy and should be leashed at all times, regardless of any aggression.

A dog that is aggressive to a particular color or appearance is usually one that has been bullied or attacked by a dog of that appearance.

Alice is correct that desensitizing the dog to another dog at a distance is a good place to start - but there is something missing. We all make mistakes - and in this particular setup, you must maintain control of your dog and your training session in the event that you push your dog too close to the other dog and spark aggression.

This collar will give you control of the dog in that situation. When used correctly, it is the safest training collar I know to use in this type of situation.

If your dog is very aggressive and displays aggresive behaviors even from a distance, it may be necessary to "flood" (also called immersion therapy) your dog. To do this you would set up the same scenario as Alice describes with the dominant dog collar as the link above explains, except you would position the dogs close together (just so that they can't touch noses if the both pull on the leash at the same time). Correct all signs of aggression - you would correct stiffness, curled lip, growling etc. When the aggression stops, put both dogs in a down stay (still on lead) and praise,toy,treats. Keep the dogs in a down stay until both dogs are relaxed and ignoring each other - this can be several hours.

These two methods both achieve the same goal. However, the second is more stressful on both dogs and should be only be used if the dog is aggressive from such a distance that the first method is impossible.

After rereading Alice's post again, I see something that could become a big problem.

Because the aggression is directed towards a specific type of dog, it is most likely because of a bad experience and is most likely fear-based aggression - although I can't say without seeing it.

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then slowly, under controlled circumstances, introduce your dog to this other dog for short periods. start at a distance at which he is comfortable, and try to gradually close that distance. if he starts to trigger, move away and start further back again.

If you push the dog into fear aggression and then "give in" and back up, then continue positive reinforcement, you are reinforcing the dog's idea that his aggressive behavior is keeping the other dog away. (The reason that the aggression is occurring.)

To do this would be incorrect and would perpetuate the aggression. The dog must be corrected for the aggression and not be allowed to move away from the other dog.

anne, you are very right, and it's important that you pointed this out. i should have been much more explicit in my post.

what i should have said more clearly is that you must avoid all signs of aggression in your dog, even preliminary ones. this requires very great powers of observation on your part. do you know what the first signs of a trigger are? before there are any aggressive behaviors? it might be something as small as the dog's ears going up.

i can't address this in a post. i like the turid rugaas book "on talking terms with dogs" and her video to see what these behaviors are.

also the handbook "the cautious canine" has an excellent protocol for how to desensitize/recondition a fearful dog. largely what you are trying to do in the beginning is let the unwanted behavior go "extinct." you do that by not putting the dog in situations that trigger the behavior. only then can you start desensitizing.

and i agree, the dog must be on a leash.

this is definitely a fear issue.

When I went to dog training school we did a little experiment that the teacher had us do. He had noticed that a lot of dogs are afraid of large dark dogs. We walked the dogs in a wide circle ( on leash ) and those with large dark dogs following them were constantly looking over their shoulders suspciously to keep a eye on what the dogs were doing.

Cathy,
I have had three PSD's. My first, an 8 y.o. GSD, hated my Chesapeake Bay Retriever (CBR). I thought that it was just because he was big. He did not mind my other dogs, 3 Llewellin Setters, 1 Basset hound (All males).
Next I had a 3 y.o. Mal, same thing. He did not mind the other dogs but hated my CBR.
I now have my new GSD and again the same thing. A friend of mine visited and brought his rescued GSD and he liked all of my other dogs except my CBR. Bo, the chessie, is not aggressive what so ever towards anyone or anything. I just think that they see him as a threat due to his size.