Killer Labrador

Came across a woman a few weeks ago who has a golden and black Lab, the black lab is fine but the 7 year old bitch golden Lab has maimed several dogs around the face and neck area...

It has also managed to kill two deer and got into a pheasant pen and killed 15 pheasants, the owner just managed to get the dog in time before the farmer found his shotgun to shoot it...

I observed the aggression and saw it was of a very high level with plenty of intent, very wolf like with its head near the ground and teeth showing with lips curled back to show all the weaponry (teeth), with a very low toned aggressive growl.

This happens any time a dog gets about 3 foot away, no attack happens unless the dog comes any closer..

The dog also has an obsession with large stones and the owner throws them for her to retrieve, most of the dogs teeth have been worn away as a result...she feels she has to throw the stones as the dog just barks at her until she does, I taught her how to 'own' the stone and just remain calm and the dog will stop barking when you get that message across, took about 1 min for the dog to stop barking and by the end of the session was not asking for the stone any more....

I spent an hour with her showing her a few things, within 30 mins I got her dog walking side by side of mine, with a few timely corrections of a short sharp noise I managed to reduce the aggression by about 90%, my dog sniffed her butt, she had a go then, but she has never had a dog this close to her without a full scale fight, so was a massive improvement.

I then spent time empowering the owner by teaching her to be a calm leader, she accepted after my explanation that she had unintentionally taught her dog to be aggressive by being a weak leader, in just 30 mins of practice there was a massive improvement, in most part she could now control the dog, we even had other dogs come along and the lab showed no aggression whatsoever....

This is not a done deal by any stretch of the imagination, but with some work she can do it...

She took the dog to many dog training classes and some said that the dog should be shot.

With some pack behaviour knowledge it just shows what can be achieved.

I also found out that the Lab was in season, so even more remarkable that the aggression was reduced by 90% in one session...

Sounds interesting. Its a bit of a myth that labs are the ideal family pet, not sure why. I do get the impression that this dog has had little or no effort put into training in the past.

The 'in season' comment is interesting. I have found that aggressive bitches can change (be more subdued) when in season, so perhaps this actually contributed?

Killing of deer and birds is pretty instinctive in big dogs (little dogs are probably held back by their physical limitations), so that does not surprise me too much. At least she gives a warning to other dogs to stay away. It sounds like you made good progress pretty quickly but the will to continue has to come from the owner...

I think you summed it up very well, interesting you should say about aggressive bitches in season becoming more subdued, I bought some eggs from a local farm a few weeks ago, when walking in to the their enclosed off large garden I noticed they had a chocolate Labrador, I have never been there before and the Labrador just ignored me and carried on lying down (sphinx like) as it was before I entered the 'territory' it didn't seem inquisitive about me at all (prob coz used of strangers visiting) and to me seemed very calm....

I mentioned this to the farmers wife while purchasing the eggs and she said that its because she is in season at the moment...the Lab, I am told is not aggressive at all...

To me it was almost like the Lab did not know how to be a dog, which supports what you say about little or no effort had been put into training in the past, I say this as not once did the Lab try and sniff the ground or even the back of my hand when I put it near her nose, she didn't even seem to be using her nose to smell the air, most dogs you can see their nostrils twitch all the time while sniffing information from scent, not once did I see her use her nose......

As you say the Lab gave dogs clear warnings not to come any closer, its not like she went to attack them, which to me is not that bad at all, but society these days does not allow dogs to be dogs in this and many other regards.

I have a feeling that possibly this Lab was taken away from its mother far to early and missed vital teachings from her...

The owner was very excited about what she saw and it gave her hope and at least showed her what was possible, however just a week later she had gone back to 'normal' and stopped everything I had shown her to do and the dog was walking along with a stone in its mouth dripping with blood from chewing it.....having been here many times before I knew there was nothing more I could do to help this poor dog......can't save them all....