I have a 10 month old yellow Lab that is an Alpha male, and this is my first experience with a dog with this type of personality. He is in his second month of training, and when I went to visit him last week he had a few war wounds. The trainer said that he got into a fight and that is where he got the marks from. The trainer says that the dog doesn't go looking for a fight but doesn't take no shit from the other dogs either. My question is could this be a problem down the road with him? He was well socialized with other dogs since I got him as a puppy. He did try to show is dominance to the other dogs as he got older by trying to hump them. I always tried to get him to stop, and it never progressed to them getting into an actual fight. What are y'alls thoughts on this? Nothing to worry about or a problem in the making?

Ten months seems kind of young to be fighting, he might have growled and then got his ass kicked. You could have him fixed that will tame him some. May be a hard habit to break down the road. I've had two dogs like that, it was a problem from time to time.

Why is the trainer letting dogs fight to the point of getting "war wounds". I have an alpaa that pisses off every dog around him and humps anything that stands still but that still does not mean he ends up bleeding. I am sure if I just let him and a few other dogs loose in a yard and left them alone it might happen. Keep that Alpha male on a "short lead" and demand the guy you are paying to train keep him in one piece.

The dogs are kept in separate kennels and are only all together when they have a "play time". Guess he couldn't get to them to separate them in time.

Im on my second lab that has that personality,,,,it kinda sucks cause you always have to watch him around other dogs...

My first chocolate was about 70 pounds and got into plenty fights, most dogs would back down after fighting a little and they were ok after. Its bad when you have to seperate them from each other cause they wont stop! I know my lab wouldnt have ever challenged me or hurt a kid or small dog, but when locked up with another big dog, he has bitten me when i jumped in to stop them so just be cautious...

The one i got now scares me cause he is dog agressive and is over 90 pounds and none of its fat,,,so i keep him wrapped tight cause he got into it with two labs at once and it was an all out free for all....he ended up doing some pretty good damage to one...And actually it was the smaller dog that bowed up to him....I guess he fucked up...but im not sure if you can stop that behavior, just monitor and watch em close...

Mine is an alpha as well. Two months isn't too early to tell. He was in a litter with my uncle's pup and his brother in law's pup. He wouldn't take $hit even then. He is great around our miniture snauzer and a good duck dog. But......get him hunting or retrieving with other dogs and another dog grabs his duck or dummy and that dog will not enjoy the next moments. I watched him bite right through his brother's ear when he took a dove out of mine's mouth.

My dog is a pretty big dog for only being 10 months old and is all muscle. Will just have to keep an eye on him and talk with the trainer to see how exactly it all went down. Wasn't too concerned with it at the time but after thinking about it for a while it just started to concern me.

The trainer didn't seem too concerned about the fact that he got into a fight. Like I said in the first post he doesn't go picking a fight but isn't going to back down from it either.

So is that a good or bad thing I guess only time will tell.

Are you going to be hunting with him around other dogs often? If not and he is not aggressive to you or other people then maybe that energy will be channeled into hunting. Other than that the rest here have made excellent suggestions.

Will be hunting him by hisself mostly. My cousin has a dog but his is an alpha as well, and they are both at the same trainer now, so I guess hunting them together would be out of the question to say the least! Mine isn't aggressive to me or anyone else. He does have good drive for retrieving and looks like he is going to make a fine gun dog according to the trainer!

You should be fine then. One of my friends has an alpha male that tries to get aggressive with my dog from time to time. We just keep him tight to us and haven't had a real issue, if anything he tries harder when they are together like he has something to prove.

He tries to out do his competition! That is a good thing.

Like P.H. Said,,,,you will have to keep an eye on him and it will be fine...

Just make sure if other dogs are around you have one leashed,,,AND BY ALL MEANS,,,,DO NOT,,I REPEAT, DO NOT TRY AND GRAB THE DOGS COLLARS WHEN THEY ARE GOING AT IT!!!! I got me a trip to the dr. and 12 sticthes!!!

Some people thinkg oh,,,they are just labs...but damn they still bite hard!!! My dog was tearing the shit out of my brothers dog and he was pretty pissed so i ran in and played police and grabbed them and got my ass chewed up..

GRAB THE BACK LEGS...

By grabbing the back legs does it prevent them from being able to bite the hell out ouf you?

Thanks for all the input guys. I will just have to keep an eye on him when we are around other dogs.

"Play Time" with dogs that fight sounds like a load of C$%&*. I have dealt with mine for 8.5 years. Just don't put him in situations you know will get him in a fight. Make sure you keep at the discipline part of training forever so he listens to you even when he wants to get at another dog. Being able to call a dog to you even when he wants to do something else can save you a lot of trouble.

^^^I emailed the trainer to clarify when and how the fight he was in happened. The guy training my dog was highly recommend to me by my cousin, who had his dog there for basic retriever training. My cousin said that the trainer did a fantastic job with his dog, so that is why I chose this particular trainer.

This is the email that my trainer sent to me in respone to my questioning what happened with my dog and him getting into fights:


"I would not be too concerned about Harley and his dogfights. Right now I am training mostly male dogs and had one of the two females came in heat recently. This will cause all males to become terrtorial and more aggressive. Harley and the other dog fought in the field while I was running them with the 4 wheeler. The other dog approached Harley first. I have not seen Harley pick any fights. It is fairly common for any dog, male or female to guard their food in the kennel as well. Once his training is completed and you bring him home, everything will fall into place once he makes the adjustment to being home. If he does become territorial, it may be best to seperate him from other dogs. However, I don't think this is going to be a major issue. I can assure you he is one of the finest pups I've trained in a long time and is going to make a fine duck dog. Thanks again for sending him to me for his training!"
"

That all makes sense, sounds like you've got a great dog on your hands! My dog is a complete bastard when he gets around dogs in heat

Yes!!! Grab the back legs....

do not!!!! i repeat,,,do not grab the collar or neck....lol

it cost me and cost the dog cause i beat the living hell out of him and he didnt even know why,,,he was in kill mode...

you will be fine!!! if not call Cesar milan...lmao...PSSTTTT...

don't we all!

Thanks tchauvin! Cesar Milan would cost to much though! LOL

Thanks for explaining the difference, kwicklabs. I did not know there was a difference! He was a real pain in my behind to train but that was when I was trying to do some basic obenience commands, he would only come to me when he wanted or I had a treat in my hand! That is why he went to the trainer.

Kwicklabs is right Alpha gets tossed around alot. My older dog has dominance issues, serious dominance issues. 8.5 years old and I still can't give him an inch. Great hunter but pain in the a$$ sometimes.

Much better explanation from your trainer. Good luck with the pup.

Alfalfa dog...dominant dog....SAME SAME...

But for real,,,not sure what term is right or wrong,,,but my two damn dogs were dog agressive....couldnt put them with another male un attended!!! Like i said,,,i thought no big deal, they are labs...

Then,,,,holy shit hell, they turn into killing machines...lmao. It sounds that way sometimes, but they do bite hard dont doubt that for one second!!! They got BIG TEEF'S.....

This is a pick from two months ago before he left for training. Can you believe he has gotten bigger since then!

That's a fine looking pup!

Thanks Paleo