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I wrote in hope to get peoples opininons so we can maybe find out exsactly what the dogs problems are,and go from there.....We thought he had dominant dog issues.

http://www.leerburg.com/domdogdirectory.htm
is a list of articles about dominant dog issues on this site.

Ryan Burley makes points that you might want to present (very seriously) to your friend.

This is another good resource, which explains different types of aggression:
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/aggres1.html

There is a bulleted list under "Do You Suspect Your Dog is Aggressive," in the Prevention chapter. As Mike Armstrong pointed out, this dog exhibits several of the behaviors that should trigger immediate action on the owner's part. I hope you are able to convey the potential for bad trouble that the owner isn't recognizing. Good luck.

Ryan, you wrote "that's fear or dominance, or both" , how could it be both? they're two seperate temperaments, AL

First of all, I'm new to this stuff so maybe I'm wrong, or maybe I'm using the language a bit incorrectly. But here's my take on it...

Dog gets his nails trimmed by somebody who doesn't know what they're doing and over time, they teach him this is a painful experience. Eventually... you take out the nail clippers and he thinks to himself, "to hell with this..." and gets aggressive. As another forum member was saying just the other day (I think it was Jeff Oehlsen), dominance is often related to some fear or insecurity. I don't agree with him in all cases, but many times, a dog that is afraid will become proactive and become aggressive and dominating to protect himself.

Also, if a dog is afraid of something the Alpha approves of, on some level, he is showing that he does not trust the Alpha's decision. He's thinking for himself and while that's perfectly natural, it's a sign that he is not following the lead of the Alpha... am I making any sense here?


Also, I didn't mean to come off as rude. And yes, I think that this dog could have some fear issues. A confident, well mannered adult dog should be happy or aloof around other dogs. My dogs don't have to like other dogs. But if he quickly gets aggressive towards dogs that COULD pose a threat without waiting to assess the situation, then yes, it's quite possible that he's putting on a show of aggression in the hopes that he can scare the other dog off and avoid an actual confrontation.

Thank you all for your answers.I hope that there is something to do for this boy.Before something bad happenes.

I can say another thing,a friend of hers came over,walked the dog,and when the dog behavied the say way with him,he gave a very hard correction.It worked.
Also a daughter of the owner and her boyfriend use to walk the dog and he is NEVER behaving bad with them.Even though them never had corrected the dog at all.

So,its a owner problem,its quite clear.

I suggested that my friend file the nails instead.
I only file my dogs nails and have never ever had problems.

Go see a professional who can help your friend get a better communication and controll with the dog, solving such kind of problems over the net is not easy.

I saw a dog in a ephisode of "the dog whisperer" behave exsaclry the same as my friends dog.
His name was Opie.He also bit his owner when seeing other dogs.

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I saw a dog in a ephisode of "the dog whisperer" behave exsaclry the same as my friends dog.
His name was Opie.He also bit his owner when seeing other dogs.

strictly speaking, this is known as "displaced aggression." he is aggressing at the dogs, but the owner is in the way and gets the brunt of the aggression.

the refusing to let his feet be touched could be fear, but it could also be dominance. touching feet is a dominance move. this is why it is very important to handle puppies' feet from a young age, it is asserting your dominance. growling possessively over a bone is definitely dominance. and being aggressive only with other adult males sounds like dominance, not fear.

a strong, severe, no-holds-barred correction with a leash and a prong is called for when the owner is hit with displaced aggression. the dog needs to understand in no uncertain terms that the owner is his alpha and he is to take direction, not give it.