I looked for other posts regarding this particular topic, but couldn't really find any, so I'm going to see if anyone can help in this specific situation.
Adopted older male dog over 1.5 years ago, he was pretty classically timid, slow to warm up to people, but just very sweet. Was initially shy at the dog park, usually scared with fur up, but eventually warmed up to dogs, and was never mean. He grew comfortable around other dogs and we didn't really have any problems in that area, until--
another dog (3 month old female puppy at the time) showed up at our doorstep. She's been much more of a wildcard, and I think most of it has to do with her breed. Definitely part lab, part hound, not sure of what else. I originally posted to r/dogs a while back because I was having trouble with her biting, but I got really great advice and have been able to work on that. She is well-trained, but definitely seems to have selective hearing (if that's a thing) if there's something more interesting on a walk.
Anyways, this is what we're dealing with now. When she and my older dog are together, they become aggressive (pack mentality) towards other dogs. From what we can tell, the younger one is just going crazy, barking at a dog out of excitement, but the older one sees it and becomes aggressive. We think he's just trying to protect her. With all of this being said, he still does great by himself with other dogs, and she also isn't aggressive, though kind of plays rowdy in general (biting hind legs, getting mouthy in dogs' faces). We've been in two situations where they did decently, but the older dog (since he's more of the aggressor) had to meet the new dogs first, and then we'd bring in the younger female. However, even with this, and encouragement from afar, after maybe 10 minutes, usually there's another bout of aggression.
For example, they all meet, they're cool, and then maybe the younger dog gets a little rowdy & the new dog growls a little, so our older one comes over and feels the need to defend her.
Should I just get a trainer or slowly work with them and willing friends who have dogs? Or is there something I can do on my end (I try "leave it" and "quiet" which they both know, but in the moment will not obey). I feel like I can see the older dog's aggression being a real problem in the future. I don't really want to have to avoid other dogs for the rest of my life, but that's kind of the scenario i'm in now. Thank you so much for reading this and future advice.
Adopted older male dog over 1.5 years ago, he was pretty classically timid, slow to warm up to people, but just very sweet. Was initially shy at the dog park, usually scared with fur up, but eventually warmed up to dogs, and was never mean. He grew comfortable around other dogs and we didn't really have any problems in that area, until--
another dog (3 month old female puppy at the time) showed up at our doorstep. She's been much more of a wildcard, and I think most of it has to do with her breed. Definitely part lab, part hound, not sure of what else. I originally posted to r/dogs a while back because I was having trouble with her biting, but I got really great advice and have been able to work on that. She is well-trained, but definitely seems to have selective hearing (if that's a thing) if there's something more interesting on a walk.
Anyways, this is what we're dealing with now. When she and my older dog are together, they become aggressive (pack mentality) towards other dogs. From what we can tell, the younger one is just going crazy, barking at a dog out of excitement, but the older one sees it and becomes aggressive. We think he's just trying to protect her. With all of this being said, he still does great by himself with other dogs, and she also isn't aggressive, though kind of plays rowdy in general (biting hind legs, getting mouthy in dogs' faces). We've been in two situations where they did decently, but the older dog (since he's more of the aggressor) had to meet the new dogs first, and then we'd bring in the younger female. However, even with this, and encouragement from afar, after maybe 10 minutes, usually there's another bout of aggression.
For example, they all meet, they're cool, and then maybe the younger dog gets a little rowdy & the new dog growls a little, so our older one comes over and feels the need to defend her.
Should I just get a trainer or slowly work with them and willing friends who have dogs? Or is there something I can do on my end (I try "leave it" and "quiet" which they both know, but in the moment will not obey). I feel like I can see the older dog's aggression being a real problem in the future. I don't really want to have to avoid other dogs for the rest of my life, but that's kind of the scenario i'm in now. Thank you so much for reading this and future advice.