8 month old male puppy - dog aggressive

Hi Everyone,
My neutered 8 month old is getting more and more aggressive with other dogs and I'm just devastated. We have socialized him with dogs almost every day for the first few months we had him (starting at 8 weeks) and it's become less and less because he has bit dogs on occasion. Nothing too serious yet but I no longer want to take him anywhere that other dogs are off leash, because he bites, snaps, and lunges after smelling a dog that comes up to him. There is no pattern, it's all dogs of all kinds. He doesn't get aggressive with my other dog, or two other dogs that come to our house on a regular basis. He's not food aggressive, and he's not aggressive towards us at all.

Going to dog beach was one of my happiest things to do, and I can no longer do that with my new dog. I'm feeling hopeless and don't know if I can do this for the next 12-15 years. We are starting obedience training this week, but haven't started any specialized dog aggression training. Any suggestions? thanks.

Not something I have experience in but at 8 months he may just be going through that naughty stage. Keep socialising him and perhaps keep him on a long training lead so he can have freedom but you still have control. Sorry I cant be of anymore help but someone will be able to shed more light for you xx

I wouldn't panic too much!
I have owned a staffy some years ago (rescue dog) but only recently got a 4 month staffy x again and I am having a raft of problems myself!!

My last dog was terrible with other dogs until he was a couple of years old then he just chilled out and the socialising worked.

Keep working at it, stay calm (don't let him see it's affecting you), STAYING CALM seems to make a big difference for me.

Be positive when reprimanding. So the idea from what I know is to make him associate meeting other new dogs with good things, so that he ends up actively wanting to mix happily with other dogs.

I would definately seek the help of a professional so YOU can get training as well as the dog!!! That is what I am doing.

And remember he is still young, don't dread the future with him, just work in the present, one day at a time and with the right methods Im sure you will get there

That is really, really good to hear, thank you for responding. I would really like to muzzle him with a comfortable and discreet muzzle so I can learn to calm down when socializing him, but I'll have to talk to a trainer to make sure it doesn't have the opposite effect, and make his experience worse with other dogs.

Happy to offer advice and support as others have done for me!

I have spoken to my new dog trainer tonight and she has put my mind at ease about a lot of the issues we are dealing with.
Her knowledge was huge and this is why you need to seek advice immediately off a respected professional dog trainer.

I wouldn't like to advise for or against a muzzle but my gut instinct would be to book a 1 to 1 session with the trainer before doing anything. YOU NEED THE TRAINING as well as the dog!!! That is true for anyone struggling with doggy issues! as they will do what we ask of them, if they are shown how to do it in the right way.
See Cesar Milan for inspiration   

I would make a list of all your concerns, current problems your having with the dog and your current methods of dealing with them. That will give you a headstart.

At least, that's what I've been told to do! and it makes a lot of sense to me.

i watched Do whisperer videos on youtube (cesar milan)
a dog had same kinda thing as u describe,he basically said it was the owners fault, that the dog could feel the tension from the owner as other dogs approached. He took the dog and let it socialise on the lead with other dogs, then after what seemed minutes let the dog off. the dog was playing and having fun.

there are some great videos of puppy to adult dog vids he has up on youtube and really helped me understand dogs more. Not saying this is ur dogs problem but well worth a look i reckon. hope he calms down a bit for u

Hey Don't worry too much he's still very young and is probably just pushing the boundaries a little. I've gone through the same thing with my 2 year old, he started getting dog aggressive and it was completely out of the blue I was devastated as well as he was always fine but I took him to a dog trainer and we were told he was just doing it for fun! He was getting bored on his walks so he would start on any dog he saw. Anyway the trainer told us what to do and after 2 weeks of it he's finally starting to listen to us and calm down, we managed to walk him past a dog the other day with no growling or anything! I was so happy.

The trainer we saw told us to take a ball out with us, he's not allowed it at any other time but as soon as we approach and see his posture change we bounce the ball and his attention snaps back to us, when he's looking at us we praise him, it works for us

Also, the trainer told us to make sure we watch his body language so we stop him growling before he starts.

We still have the off day here and there but he's much better than he used to be so don't lose hope, with the proper training he will get over this phase

The trainer we saw told us to take a ball out with us, he's not allowed it at any other time but as soon as we approach and see his posture change we bounce the ball and his attention snaps back to us, when he's looking at us we praise him, it works for us

That was meant to read as soon as we "saw another dog approaching"... can't find the edit button lol