The problem has been discovered

[Gempress]

All right, Voodoo's dog problem has been narrowed down. He is aggressive/reactive towards other male dogs. He has no problems with females. When he sees another male, he starts barking and growling, the hair on his neck goes up and he begins to lunge at the leash. He will settle down, but it takes a moment or two to compose himself. Even so, he'll watch the other dog like a hawk.

What can I do to help this? I'm definately getting him neutered ASAP, but I'm not sure that would solve the problem. I would contact a behaviorist, but frankly, all the choices in my town are horrible. I would never trust any of them with my dog.

Suggestions/tips, anyone?

[SummerRiot]

Hmm hes discovering "hes a boy" now lol Always fun!

Riot has started to do this as well - but not to that extent.. he just "puffs himself up" to look bigger and more regal then the male, they size each other up and then hes good to go on a play session.

I think what you need to do is nueter him asap - it will fix some of the problems because his testosterone levels will decrease - BUT it will not fix it 100% like you said because it will become a learned behaviour.

Dante, Riots SaR partner is going through the same thing right now. His owner has used the "off" and "leave it" commands and hes doing quite well. Get Voodoos attention on you and STAY on you until the other male leaves.

That is the only advice I think I can give right now. I'm sure there are way better ones coming lol
I just haven't personally dealt with it before. :(

[Roxy's CD]

I don't know if this is totally true but my vet told me that if a males done too late it won't have the same effect as opposed to be done at 6months....

Of course school is a good way for him to meet other males in a controlled environment, but other than that it would be hard to say. If you had a friend with a male you could work with him that way, but it most likely won't solve the whole male problem in general just the problem with one male. LOL, like he gets along with Zeus because he lives with him, if you spent time with another male, he would eventually warm up to them. But it doesn't solve the underlying issue of "strange males".

Hades has a bit of DA. If there's such a thing. LOL. He is going to school which really helps a lot, because they don't get to really interact together at school, but they have to work and focus on the people in each others presence.

The only thing I can really think of is taking him alone to a park where there's bound to be other males. Have lots of treats and do a lot of fun work. Heeling, watch me's especially. So he learns that just because there's another male around doesn't mean that he doesn't have to pay attention and focus on you.

Sorry I don't have any better ideas.

[Gempress]

I hope it will get better with time and work, and it's just a bunch of teenage "machismo" right now. Zeus was the exact same way at this age, but he is 100% better now.

I think I will try taking him to the park and working on it. But if it can be a learned behavior as SummerRiot said, would it be best to keep him away from other males until after neutering? Voodoo's only done this twice. If I wait until his raging testosterone is gone before working on this, will he be less likely to develop a habit?

[Roxy's CD]

I think that might be a good idea Gempress. To wait until he's neutered. Then, if the behaviour still continues after the neutering you know that it was just bound to happen. But if you don't keep him away, when he does get neutered and if it continues you'll be kicking yourself with the old "what if"

LOL

[BlackPuppy]

Before Voodoo gets close enough to another dog to react, start doing obedience commands - sits, sit stays, down stays. This keeps his attention on you. Even if he's already seen the other dog, start with "sit" and "watch me". My dog doesn't act up to badly, but he does get "puffy" and wants to mount the other male. That's what I do and he obeys nicely.

[Doberluv]

I agree with so much that has been written already. Neutering might help.But once this behavior becomes habit, it will be harder to change even when he is neutered, so I'd get that done asap.

Desensatizing is what I've done with Lyric and he still can be prone to this when we're on a casual leash walk....mostly when I'm visiting my daughter in Seattle. Here, I don't run into many dogs and he doesn't get enough practice. He has, however, improved a lot.

I think sometimes it appears to be aggression, but it's not always. Sometimes it's frustration at being on the leash and not getting to go see the other dog. When walking along and the dogs are staring at eachother face to face, this further antagonizes the situation. That is not a natural way for dogs to see eachother. Normally, it's more from the side. If you're walking along and you see a dog coming toward you, turn and go in the same direction behind the other dog. See if that helps. See if you can find some people who will walk with you as a "pack." Try not to let on that you're nervous. Try not to grip the leash in such a way that he feels tension. I know this is hard because you can't have a dog break away from you and can't give a lot of slack if he's able to reach another dog. However, if you can force yourself to relax and act like it's not a big deal, that he's acting ridiculous, I find that helps. "Oh come on Lyric...don't be silly. It's just a dog." (in a sing songy, lilting tone) I use "leave it" also. But once the dog has tensed up and is alerting, you've lost him. He can't hear you. You have to get his attention, distract, turn him the other way, stand in front of him, hold a treat up...something to prevent him from getting any further with it.

If you get all excited or use punishment, that tends to make the dog associate other dogs with a no good time and worsens the situation. Some people will yank and scold and the behavior may stop for the time being. However, the underlying reason or problem the dog has is not dealt with. It's a bandaide this way and the behavior will probably re-surface later. So, if he can learn that it's not a big deal, that he needs to learn manners and stay with you and not pay attention to other dogs, you'll be ahead of the game. It is not easy. It's no quick fix. I've been working on this with Lyric for a long time and he still isn't perfect unless he's in class. Then he's a perfect gentleman. I hope you have more opportunity to practice this desensatizing than I do.

Also extensive attention training at other times helps...."watch me." You have to catch the dog BEFORE he alerts to the other dog and hold a treat up by your face...."watch me." Step in front of him and distract him. Reward lavishly when he keeps his attention on you.

Also, go places where there are dogs but where you can practice from a distance so they're not right in your dog's face. Practice as much as possible. Pet store parking lots, away from a dog park so he can see dogs but he's not right there.

Obedience class can be helpful. A lot of dogs, Lyric, specifically does very well in a class situation. Voodoo might too. When they have a "job" to do, they seem to do so much better.

I wish you luck. Some dogs...some breeds just really have more of a tendancy than others to get all worked up over other dogs. I forget what breed Voodoo is.

[opokki]

I think neutering will probably help at least to some extent. Unaltered males tend to react with more intesity and for a longer time than neutered males. If nothing else, maybe neutering with reduce the intesity of his reaction.

You've gotten lots of great suggestions and I have one more......
Use a clicker to quickly teach him to defer. Natalie was very nervous in training class and as a result was howling and pulling towards other dogs if they barked or acted up. My trainer suggested getting her attention and clicking the second she turns her head away from the other dogs and back to me. This worked like a charm. She has been remaining completely focused on me now, even while another dog sniffs her. When anther dog barks, she might do a quick glance towards them but immediately turns back to me.

Good luck.

[Zoom]

I'd go with Doberluv's advice. I'm dealing with a section of this with Aubrey right now, mostly the leashed frustration and so we're working on "leave it" and "watch me" and finding what her tolerance boundry is so we can divert her attention before she starts reacting.

While you're waiting for him to get nuetered, I'd work on getting a solid leave it and watch me, so that when his hormones subside (which can take almost another month) he'll have a few tricks to help ease him into proper manners.