Edtheaussiesmum

Possibly! that is something to think about! thank you.

Ah thanks so much, this is very helpful! I do agree, some we have met almost seemed territorial so that could also be a part of it!

Hello! We don't let him roam the beach without being near us or approach other dogs, we usually tend to stick to a secluded area away from all the dogs to practice recall (on a long lead) and at these times the dogs have spotted us and approached, it has also happened to us as soon as we have arrived to the beach. We do allow him off lead when he is with his fur friend as they stick together in the one area but as they are off lead they do come in contact with other dogs which again ends in him being snapped at.

Yes he does have a full tail. We have had 2different dogs at separate times come straight to us as soon as we have arrived at the beach and snap after the first sniff but on other occasions it has been my boy saying hello in a very friendly way and he yet again gets snapped at. The dogs tend to hang around close until their owner collects them and usually involves me trying to shoo them away.

Hi All, Seeking some advice here please (long story sorry) I have an 8month old Australian Shepherd boy who is very friendly, polite and well socialised. He is great with all dogs and has a lovely temperament but we're finding as he is getting older, quite a lot of unknown dogs are starting to snap at him, always quite an aggressive snap too that we experience, never a little "please leave me alone" kind of snap. This is only occurring at off lead areas such as our local dog beach, on lead walks and meeting dogs at cafes etc are completely fine. It's not all dogs as he has plays really well with friendly dogs and other puppys, it's only a selected few that target him in a way. When this happens, at first he gets quite scared and will try and hide behind me but then shakes it off and moves on (he is pretty resilient). Most of the time it's unknown dogs running up to us first and snapping at our boy pretty much straight away, we watch our boys body language closely and he is not doing anything wrong that we can notice? always polite and friendly. I'm wondering why this is happening so often to us? I feel like we can't have a positive play at the beach or practice recall now without being snapped at. Some things that we have been thinking are: - Not desexed yet (we are waiting for 12 months old) could this play a part in these incidents? - Can unknown dogs be intimidated by a confident & friendly dog? - Maybe because he's just a silly/playful puppy? OR have we just been unlucky to meet so many non friendly dogs at off lead areas where these dogs should be ON lead instead? I am starting to think we should avoid the off lead areas until he is desexed and a little more mature? Thank you for reading and taking the time to help. Thank you!! Jamie