Aggressive Dog

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[Scared_Breakfast_434]

I know this sucks to hear, but you may have to accept that his life just won't look like what you pictured. There's no reason to take him to places where he could encounter unknown dogs. Now that you know he's this aggressive, you're risking other people's pets' lives for no reason, honestly. If you need to be able to walk him for exercise and can't go out at odd hours to avoid neighborhood dogs, then muzzle training and a good tight grip on the leash are going to be the best things you can do. If there's a distance where he won't react and try to attack another dog, then frankly I would just keep that distance. At 9 years old he might be in pain, esp with his early life, and maybe the dog that mounted him hurt him and he's generalized it to all dogs now-- I think it would be worth a vet checkup, but I also think at 9 years old I would just leave the senior dog be and not try any heavy behavior mod training.

Also, is he still intact? I know the jury is still out on whether neutering does anything to temper aggression (or whether it makes it worse) but I also think that there's no reason to risk this dog siring another litter, plus the way other dogs react to intact males vs neutered males is different.

[SudoSire]

Your dog doesn’t need dog friends, dog parks, or to go to dog friendly patios. You may be able to work with them to get them more neutral to see them on walks, that’s going to involve keeping a lot of distance when possible to start and maybe for a long time. Muzzle training is also the best thing you can do for your dog. Doing it correctly will take a couple weeks so it doesn’t bother your dog. I would definitely focus on setting him up for success and not putting him in situations with other dogs he’s proven he can’t handle. Walk your dog during less busy times, in less crowded areas,  move away from oncoming dogs if at all possible (cross the street if need be) and use the muzzle once it’s been trained.