Meet Kronk! We adopted him ~3 years ago, after being given up on by 2 other families. When we adopted him, it was clear he was never socialized and is very reactive to other dogs and some people (Specifically men, which makes me wonder what kind of life he had as a pup). We’ve been working with a specialized Vet and Trainer for 2 years now, and he’s on some anxiety meds. He’s improved quite a bit, but he’s also gotten quite protective of my wife. So while I can walk him with only small reactions, my wife cannot. He’s very reactive and is a bite risk when someone gets close. And since he’s a cutie black lab, everyone wants to get close to pet him even when he’s actively snapping at them since they’re “Good with dogs” 😑 Anyways, we found a place that does a 3 week board and train to work with aggression, but I’m not sure how effective they are. I don’t think he’s going to get much better with us, since we have to focus on safety instead of training. And since he’s been given up on twice, I don’t want him to think we’re abandoning him since its a long program. Does anyone have experience with these type of training programs?
Not really answering the question but have you ruled out medical issues? You could be describing our dog and it turned out he’s got pretty bad hip dysplasia on both sides. Because both are bad he doesn’t limp at all and the outward signs are really subtle but he’s now on a bunch of pain killers and has gotten much better. He’s also booked in for a hip replacement next month.