I know it seems a bit silly but Cesar Milan has a really good take on aggressive dogs. Check out his website or his book - there's a TV show as well but may not be available in your area.

http://www.cesarsway.com/

Basically, his premise is that you, as the human, are king. Your dog is a minor peon. When you allow your dog to get the upper hand, you are not being a good king. Anyway, your problem has been addressed by Cesar on his show multiple times but it will take some work on your part to retrain your dog.

Good luck!

Could be an abundance of Testosterone, probably neutering would help if nothing else works, a chat with your vet would be a good beginning towards corrective behaviour either way.

Ignore most of the TV trainers (Cesar Milan, especially) - a lot of their understanding of dog psychology is vastly outdated. The idea that wolf pack's are based on some very rigid structure and, basically, constant agression is completely wrong - based on what actual research has proven by now. [Most of these ideas originated from observing wolf packs in captivity, often including random members, rather than natural kinship. Plus - and that is important - dogs, after many many thousand of years are very different creatures than wolves; related but not the same. Also: Dogs are easily smart enough to tell apart humans from their own; it's unlikely they'd really see you as the leader of their pack community. For more on all that see John Bradshaw's <i>In Defence of Dogs</i> - but note it is not a training manual but an account by someone that has the actual research background to make some of these judgements and counteract the myths that abound.

Clicker training is the answer, really, Re-enforce behaviour want, discourage what you don't want - and, especially with aggression - talk to a good trainer that is following the ideas behind clicker training; aggression can be (and probably is more likely to be!) a sign of anxiety rather than simply being 'bossy' - and if it is anxiety as in must defend 'human friend'.

"Jimmy, do you like it when Scraps hold onto your leg and rubs up and down?"

Scraps is more like humping madly lol

Hhshaahahahaha :D good one.

Hmm... from my perspective dogs are easy to train in comparison to their masters. For some learning how to clean after their pets seems fairly impossible :-P

I used to do that as a kid sad to say. Dog does something on the floor and I'd act like I didn't notice it hoping for someone else to clean it up.

We got his book and it was worthless, then again we have a bulldog and they are notorious for being untrainable.

Oh, I see.

Well, I guess the oldest of rules still stands up - Licurg's advice. It's how I see things too.

Use an electrical shock collar for dogs. If he doesn't obey you, give him a shock. Hitting a dog is in my opinion not really good. He may get affraid of your hand or the object you are hitting him with. If he is for example in a fight with an other dog he is in a rush and may even bite you if you hit him with the hand. My cousins dog bit her in her arm because she stepped between a dogfight to separate her dog from the other.

Or, actually, again, don't. You create absolutely neurotic animals that way. Think about it - do you want an animal that obeys out of fear or one that cooperates because it has learnt that the 'right' things to do are intrinsically rewarding? See my reference to the research on dog behaviour up there. This type of 'training' using force and 'shock collars' might make good TV (they don't show you all the nasty sides of it; how long it actually takes) but is just wrong. Tap into the social aspects of dogs instead - they DO want to cooperate. Learn about their psychology and modern training techniques. Do get the help of a professional dog trainer if you feel unsure - that's fine; you are trying to communicate something to a non-human - which takes time to learn how to do well.

Yeah I'm not gonna do any of that, I don't think i could cure his aggressiveness by adding more anxiety to the fire, I appreciate the help though. I live in a small town so there aren't any dog trainers anywhere near so I'll have to deal with it myself somehow, a few nice tips in here so far, thanks guys.

I had a dog with serious agression issues. She was fine around family and friends, great with the kids. But taking her on a walk was like having to control a nuclear reaction. It took a long time and a lot of work before we got past that. In the end I would simply have her sit next to me when others came to close, she would sometimes wine and get her fur up but wouldn't move until I told her. I can't prove it but I think the stranger agression was not natural. When she was a puppy we had a mailman who carried dog treats, so every time he came she would run to the mail box and sit wagging her tail until she got her treat. Then we got a new mail man, when he came to our house and saw our dog running towards him and freaked and pepper sprayed her. After that she started to get real bad about barking at anyone and everyone who was just walking down the sidewalk. That's why I try to avoid all confusion by simply hitting the dog with a snack.

Well are you sure the dog even read the book?