My dog goes mad when he sees labradors!

We adopted a dog in October,he has come over from Romania where he was a street dog,he was then taken to a public shelter.He was lucky enough to be rescued and taken in to a private shelter before travelling to the UK.We are not sure what breed he is,he is a similar shape to a corgi.

We also have a rescued Golden Retriever bitch who we have had for about 5 years and is extremely placid.

Derek is great with the vast majority of dogs but goes mad if he sees a labrador!It is quite difficult as there are several labs locally,all very nice dogs,and he goes beserk every time he sees one.

He is changing his behaviour in some ways in that if he is worried by something he will come to me now,when we first got him he would go and hide if scared.I am hoping he may be realising that I am here to protect him not the other way around and this may help with this issue?

He has had to start from scratch with a lot of things as he had never lived in a home before.He is lovely in the house,great with my children and cats.He really is a dear little chap and I would love to help him get over this hurdle.

Any ideas as to how I can improve the situation would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Hi melcat

It's great to hear that you rescued this lucky little guy and that he's adapting to you and your household well.

This problem is quite common, it's usually to do with a bad experience with that particular breed, often when they were puppies and quite vulnerable.

My Border Collie, Meg, always used to have issues with Red and White Collies. This was due to her not getting on with a Red and White Collie that she lived with before I got her. It took a while for her to realise that they weren't all like the one she used to know, but she is still definitely more skeptical with that breed than any other.

In my opinion, it is very hard to resolve an issue like this quickly. It will just take time and lot's of socialising for Derek to realise that he doesn't need to worry about Labradors anymore. I would try not to completely avoid Labradors (for example, walking in the opposite direction when you see one) as this won't resolve the issue long term. Just keep him on a lead as you go past one, with a safe distance of course, and just remain nice and calm and keep talking to him in a calm manner, so he realises that there is nothing to worry about. Overtime he should start to relax.

I hope my advise helps and I'm sure you will overcome the issue

P.S As Labradors are a very common breed, you'll probably find it easier to overcome than I did!

Thanks so much for the advice.I always have rescued animals,I wouldn't consider doing anything else when there are so many in need.(we have 4 cats and 3 guinea pigs as well as the 2 dogs! I would have more if I had the space!)

A friend of mine has a large,chocolate lab.We have met a few times on walks and Derek has done his "thing"!! She has offered to come for some walks with me and Derek to see if that helps.We have a harness for him now which he can't get out of so he can't do any harm.

Her lab is very placid and just ignores Derek when he is saying his piece so hopefully it will help.

He is such a lovely dog in every other way and we all love him very much,it would be great if we could get to the stage where we weren't worried about taking him out and about!

Thanks again,hopefully Derek will learn to behave in a more socially acceptable manner soon!

You're welcome

That's great that your friend might be able to help get Derek used to Labradors.

Good luck!