Aggressive 3.5 year old towards strangers

[drewwow]

Gus is the sweetest lab to those who know him. Riding down the road or in the front yard on his runner he pretty much barks and growls and jumps at all strangers. Once he gets to know you he is your buddy forever but thats impossible to do with everyone obviously. Believe it or not he is pretty trained as far as most other things. This is one I struggle with badly.

[Labradorks]

I am unsure of some of your terminology -- I think I understand, but am not positive what what you mean by riding down the road or being on a runner in the front yard. (Riding down the road or in the front yard on his runner he pretty much barks and growls and jumps at all strangers.)

[smartrock]

I'm guessing he's looking or hanging his head out the window of the car or truck and barking and that he's barking when attached to a cable "run" outside so he can run back and forth, just can't run away (unless he slips his collar).

Our backyard is fenced, split rail underlaid with an electric fence, and our dogs run the fence line and bark when people walk by with their dogs and when the mail truck goes by because one of the delivery guys will stop and give them treats. Ours would be thrilled for the other dogs to come in and make friends. It has happened, they play and run around happily. Chase will invite them into the house for some treats if the door is open. I'm not sure it is aggression as much as excitement or frustration- "Hey you! Look! We are here and ready to play! Hey! Hey! Hey you!" I have not been able to get mine to stop barking and yet remain outside unless I am outside to make them come to me to do something else for a valuable treat. I can usually get them to come inside if offered something yummy like peanut butter or cheese.

They make collars that can help discourage barking, some give them a vibration, some give a spray of citronella or something like that if you wanted to try one of those. I think the Invisible Fence company makes one but I'm certain you can find them online or in pet stores like Petco or PetSmart. I've never tried one. If my dogs are barking outside they are made to come inside if they've barked beyond a minute or 2. They're dogs, dogs bark, I just won't let them stay outside doing it for long.

[silverfz]

Mine barks . She is looks rather intimidating doing it . But yesterday she acted like she is going to kill the baby sitter and the promptly sat on her lap and licked her to death.

She is outside on the tie out and does bark . I do not discourage as she is a dog and dogs bark. I rather worry if a leave it command does not stop the barking.

I work on that as she is alerting me but once I say leave it she should follow through.

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[windycanyon]

Just a thought, but have you had his eyes checked? That kind of behavior is not common to Labs unless there is something else wrong. Or it could just be frustration on his part since he's on a runner/ tie out. As for riding in the car, I think some get crazy (scared) if not tethered/ crated in securely too.

Some dogs act tough as it's a game to them too (little dog syndrome). I discourage that "game" personally as I'd like my dogs to use their heads a little more when determining who is a foe. Neighbors or strangers just passing by don't need to be intimidated. My neighbor dogs do that... really not neighborly at all.

[TuMicks]

Yeah... I guess we need to know what you mean by being aggressive with people. Barking at people who are inaccessible to them isn't aggression. Aggression is when you're walking with your dog and you see the tail stiffen, the hairs on his neck stand up, he growls and/or curls his lip, or hits the end of the leash barking in a loud and aggressive tone.

[Annette47]

Yeah... I guess we need to know what you mean by being aggressive with people. Barking at people who are inaccessible to them isn't aggression. Aggression is when you're walking with your dog and you see the tail stiffen, the hairs on his neck stand up, he growls and/or curls his lip, or hits the end of the leash barking in a loud and aggressive tone.

I agree - what exactly is the dog doing. Mine will bark if they see people walk by, but it’s not aggressive, no jumping or growling - just kind of a “hey, I’m here and this is my yard” bark. More of an alert than anything else, which I think is pretty normal (and like smart rock I bring them in if they are keeping it up for too long, but they usually don’t). Lunging and growling shouldn’t be normal Lab behavior, but tie-outs can make dogs pretty nuts (kind of like a variety of leash reactivity), so ....

[windycanyon]

Yeah... I guess we need to know what you mean by being aggressive with people. Barking at people who are inaccessible to them isn't aggression. Aggression is when you're walking with your dog and you see the tail stiffen, the hairs on his neck stand up, he growls and/or curls his lip, or hits the end of the leash barking in a loud and aggressive tone.

Yes, I used to give my neighbors' dogs the benefit of the doubt though the body posture went along w/ the nasty barking and lunging. Then one day 2 of them were outside the gate across the driveway (20+ yds) and I went to put them back in their yard. The one lunged at me and struck me like a rattler on the leg. SOB.... The Golden Retriever no less!!!!! I had been far more concerned about the heeler. That's the worst part about aggressive Labs--- no one would really expect it from most retrievers, so that's a real liability if indeed aggressive.

[drewwow]

Yes hanging his head out of the window and going nuts at people and dogs that we pass. Runner is a long chord we have in our front yard that we put him on because he likes going out front. Doesnt care much for our fenced in back yard. I guess he cant really see anything back there.

Yes his hair stands up and kinda snarls at some of the people and then others he pays no attention too. He is not really a people person and nor am I and I often wonder if he gets his personality from me. He loves like I said everyone he gets to know but thats the hard part. He is an indoor dog and actually sleeps with my wife and myself. I carry him to work with me half the time and the other half he goes to a doggy daycare where he hangs out with his buddies he has been with since a pup. Just seems like lately he has really gotten very protective around my wife and I. Yes we have 3 kids and he does great with them and their friends that come over. Hope this helps a little better but just really worried about him and he just went through his yearly comprehensive exam at the vet and all was good.

[ZoeysMommy]

Yes hanging his head out of the window and going nuts at people and dogs that we pass. Runner is a long chord we have in our front yard that we put him on because he likes going out front. Doesnt care much for our fenced in back yard. I guess he cant really see anything back there.

Yes his hair stands up and kinda snarls at some of the people and then others he pays no attention too. He is not really a people person and nor am I and I often wonder if he gets his personality from me. He loves like I said everyone he gets to know but thats the hard part. He is an indoor dog and actually sleeps with my wife and myself. I carry him to work with me half the time and the other half he goes to a doggy daycare where he hangs out with his buddies he has been with since a pup. Just seems like lately he has really gotten very protective around my wife and I. Yes we have 3 kids and he does great with them and their friends that come over. Hope this helps a little better but just really worried about him and he just went through his yearly comprehensive exam at the vet and all was good.

im not there to observe your dog but from what you describe, this sounds like possible excitement to me. I say excitement because in general most dogs that go to daycare, go to work with the owner, are generally friendly, social dogs. My older black lab is very docile and laid back but if someone gets close to the car while she is in there she goes nuts. 70 pounds of black lab growling and barking can sound and look very scary but in reality if someone opened the car door she would kiss you to death

Going nuts on a tie is pretty common for a dog regardless of how friendly they are. If you put any of mine in the front yard on a tie out they will make asses of themselves and they are all very friendly towards other animals and humans

I would discontinue the tie out until you can figure it out, if your concern continues, perhaps you should contact a behaviorist. Its difficult to say what he doing without actually seeing him