What advise to handle overly protective dog?

[vmills]

A new issue has come up between my two dogs - both cross-breeds, Alvin about 25 pounds and Simon 35 pounds. The dogs are three years old and have grown up together.

Simon recently has become aggressive when he is with me and Alvin approaches. Simon's reaction can range from growling to attacking Alvin. It appears that he is trying to protect me from the other dog.

You should also know that Simon does not get along well with most other dogs. He growls and attacks if they come close to him. We did attend socialization classes and by the end of classes he seemed to get along well with the other puppies. He was cornered by a larger dog when he was a small pup and was pretty frightened until he was rescued.

Before this situation escalates into Alvin getting injured, I'm looking for guidance to handle Simon's aggression.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[CharlieDog]

Simon is probably resource guarding you. I don't have a lot of time to type, but look up some threads about dealing with resource guarding.

 

[Sweet72947]

Sort of sounds leash reactive to me. A good way to work on that is to start with the trigger far enough away from the dog so that he doesn't react, and treat him for being calm. Slowly move the trigger closer, and treat for good behavior. If you move the trigger too close and he reacts, back up and start again. Leash corrections are not advised for this sort of training, as you want to pair what upsets the dog with good feelings so that it stops upsetting him, and leash corrections will just pair more uncomfortable feelings with the uncomfortable feelings that are already there.