Since this is Mack's first blog you'll have to hang with me a minute for the background info. Mack is a seven month old Lab/Red Nose Pitt/GSD/Rott cross. He's 70lbs and a very dominant personality. Up till this week he's always been leery of strangers however when greeted with a lowered hand by his nose he would warm up to them quickly. He's playful and usually happy. Also until this past week he was extremely well behaved, especially in public. I've never clicker trained before, he always learned quickly for a kind word and an ear scratch. He isn't brilliant by any means, however he has moments of immense ingenuity, ie. he taught himself how to drink out of a water fountain the other day while we were out walking.
Here's the problem. He has suddenly developed an irrational dislike of strangers. Especially men and he absolutely can't stand men in uniforms. He will go from being all mellow and polite to lunging and snapping at them without clear warning. He will wait to growl until after the initial lunge and it's quite unnerving for me. I feel horrid because I can no longer allow ANYONE to come near him (or me when he's with me) due to his behavior. He went for a kid at the park the other day, covering a distance of 25 yrds within seconds. (it's an off leash park and I was in the process of re-leashing him when I saw the kid) The only thing that protected that child is the fact that I've worked very hard on two commands which I figured would be a stepping stone for future behaviors. "Enough" and "Plotz!" I never thought I'd need them for this type of situation but was willing to be prepared due to his high prey drive. I apologized reapetedly to the child and his parents and made sure that the little boy was unharmed before returning home very shaken.
I understand the hormonal changes may be a factor, as well as a growth spurt and diet, he was neutered about three weeks ago, I'm in the process of deciding on an organic diet and the growth spurt began last week sometime. He's not teething, I've been using TTouch and now I'm going to attempt to correct this behavior with clicker training. If you have any ideas let me know. I'll keep posting on his progress.
Sorry I forgot something.
He's always been protective over food towards any EXCEPT me. I can do anything to him without arousing a negative response. I played midwife to his mother the day he was born and have raised him from a pup. He's not well socialized due to my lack of transport but he's been around other people and dogs as frequently as I could arrange. His behavior towards other dogs is hit and miss. He is good with those that are submissive but if the other dog even looks as though they want to be "top dog" he will immediately become very defensive.