"gswork" wrote in message
om...
We have two lovely older (nearly 9) rescue dogs, male and female
siblings (dark haired lab crossbreeds). We were told that the female
only shows aggression occasionally, notably when her brother is under
threat from other dogs.

The male is fairly laid back with other dogs. A couple of times when
he has gone to another dog, and that dog reacts aggressively, he'll
just walk off but she will make a beeline for the aggressor with a
growl, no attempt to bite though. It's more when she is on the leash,
which makes me think that she may feel more easily threatened or
anxious when leashed. When the other dog is friendly toward them they
both respond quite happily. They're both good off the leash but we
don't want to risk them when near unpredictable roads etc.

It's not really a problem, they both respond to 'leave' or even just
some kind words. Just wondering if you've experienced similar
'protecting' behaviours (which seem perfectly natural to me).

my male dog does this. whenever he decides another dog is part of his
"pack", he always puts himself between them and "intruding" dogs who come to
the area. he does this with his "sister" (not a blood relative) and
neighborhood dogs, but he also does it with puppies when i used him as a
demo dog for breed education booths. he seems very protective of anyone he
has decided is part of his pack.
once, when i had him in an obedience class, he'd bark and growl at any dog
who came into the room after class had started the trainer thought he was
just letting the new guy know that this was "his" pack, and they better play
nice.

-kelly