I adopted a 3 year old Rottie Mix approx 8 months ago. He's such a sweet dog - an 85 lb baby. He was getting along great with other dogs until recently. When we are on our walks he now shows aggression to dogs he doesn't know. He just fixates and either growls, pulls and will lunge depending on how close we are. It's not a consistent behavior either so I'm very confused on how to handle this. (I have been out of work and home a lot. Would this change enter into the equation?) I have been able to control him so far, by making him sit, distracting him, crossing the street etc, but tonight we had a close call. I'm an 110lb, 5' tall woman trying to contol an 85 lb dog. YIKES!! Could sure use some advice.

Do you say a negative command, like "NO!", or "BAD!"? Try looking directly at him and speak very clearly to him. Good luck!

Originally Posted by rooster

Do you say a negative command, like "NO!", or "BAD!"? Try looking directly at him and speak very clearly to him. Good luck!

Same technique I did to my dogs and it is effective...Now they are well behave...

Yes, it's time that you introduce negative commands so that your dog will know that it's not a good behavior. Since it's not a consistent behavior and you are able to teach him some tricks, I'm pretty sure it won't be that hard. Goodluck!

You need to work on more than just trying to stop a big dog from being aggressive. You need to work on training this dog, when it isn't distracted by other dogs, so that you have spot on control of his behavior. This means the dog sits when you say sit and pays attention to you. You don't get this by punishing the dog or saying NO a lot. Find a positive trainer to help you work with this dog. You also need to change how your dog feels about other dogs. That may mean helping your dog feel good about them, or just ignoring them. This is going to take time and training. Your dog may be afraid of other dogs. Rotties can learn pretty early on that they just need to act tough and everyone gives them their space. Run quickly from any trainer that uses punishment to work with aggressive behavior, it often just makes the problem worse and doesn't help with the underlying issue of why the dog is behaving the way it is. Read Control Unleashed and Feisty Fido for a start. In the meantime do not continue to put your dog in situations in which he practices this inappropriate behavior, for whatever reason. If you are out walking and see another dog, turn around, move away. Dogs just get better at behaviors they practice.

my roommate's dog used to be really aggressive and we had to be really careful when walking it. We found this dog trainer on myJambi and our dog's alot better now. Maybe try finding one? I know craigslist and myJambi are pretty good resources.

- Daphne

Thanks for all the responses - it's confusing to me as he gets along well with all the other dogs he has known for the past 8 months, yet becomes aggressive now with dogs unfamiliar to him. I really do have a hard time getting him to pay attention to ME. We already move off the sidewalk, cross the street or turn around when we encounter another dog coming our way. I feel like I'm avoiding and not resolving the problem. It looks like I may need to work on training him more around no distrations first. Thanks for the advice everyone.........

sounds like he has not been neutered. Hormones are getting the best of him as he enters adolesence.

He is neutered -
He is a calm well behaved dog in the house and with others. He came from a rescue organization that had 11 other dogs roaming free in the house. After I brought him home he liked meeting other dogs, but really doesn't play. Just goes off on his own. Now he is getting aggressive with new dogs that he meets yet still gets along fine with the dogs he already knows. I thought dog behavior was more black n' white. You either like other dogs or you don't. He's great with no distractions and will respond to most of what I ask him to do. We still have to work on a few things.