Just talked to my son - last night, while Archer was on his trolley, a friend of Jess's went up to him - he raised his hackles and, it is said, bit her on the arm (no harm done, she had a heavy coat, no skin broken, no jacket torn.)

But, this is exceedingly concerning - Archer frequently responds to new people with barking, backing off and hackles raised.  He also may be a bit leash reactive and I know, if held by the collar he becomes very agitated and flips around, pulls and appears defensive.  

I am afraid this will fall to me to remedy as Josh, first of all, hasn't a clue and second of all, is away too much to consistently train, and Jess has been fairly miserable with her pregnancy, has a respiratory illness that just won't quit and is now on antibiotics.

I will read everything I can on here but any suggestions are most welcome as I've never dealt with an aggressive dog before.

Thanks, in advance.

EDIT: also, he was sprayed by a skunk, do not know if this was before or after...

Since you say he doesn't have a clue or time to handle this, and Jess is pregnant and has a lot on her hands, I highly recommend you find a trainer who can handle/rehab aggression. This can only get worse and needs intensive intervention.

For professionals who can deal with aggression--and fix it--within just a few weeks, I highly recommend http://www.offleashk9training.com/contact.html

They work miracles with aggressive animals. They will come to Josh's home to work with Archer, or if they'd prefer, they can send Archer to them for 2 weeks and come back a perfectly trained saint. I've seen them firsthand work wonders with ex-fighting dogs, extreme cases, etc.

I am in no way paid or associated with them, except they trained Anya into an angel.

Some videos of their work with aggressive dogs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYeUhcgOdNs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIrC0i6n1LM

I am not a happy camper - Archer got skunked on Wednesday night, Jess, for whatever reasons, did not clean him up, just left him on his tether (or in his crate in the garage, I'm not sure) overnight. He didn't get cleaned up until Josh arrived home on Thurs. at midnight when Josh gave him a bath.

We've been gone since Sunday, so Archer has not had any play time, Jess has been working so he's been on his trolley probably 8 hours a day and since Jess has been sick, I'm sure he has not been walked, only let out for pee/pooping (they have invisible fence, also.)

How much this contributed to his defensive behavior, I am not sure but when we get home, if Josh is gone again, I think I will ask Jess if she wants us to take the dog until she's feeling better...and I will be doing some concentrated, active socialization with him - he's always skittish with new people but as soon as Wayne or I or Ami are interacting, Archer then comes wagging. I'm thinking he has been too isolated with just us and Jess (we don't take him out much, we stay home a lot and taking 2 dogs is a chore...but now the stakes are higher...

Kat - thank you for the information - I'm not sure offleashK9 will work for us - they are 4.5 hours away and I don't think Josh has the funds for this at the moment.

Amy, I think you answered your own question. If Archer was an older dog, I would seriously consider Kat's suggestion. Hackles up may mean aggression, however, it also means excitability, socialization will work wonders on his people skills as in greeting and if done on leash it will help him. Being young and full of energy he probably just could not hold his excitement and his only means of greeting on trolly away from his people is to mouth. did this person approach Archer properly as in speak his name and let him sniff, was Jess near him for the introduction? Most people assume raised hackles as aggression, when for the most part it is not. My dad has been around big dogs for all his life and when he met Miya she charged at him (off leash) hackles raised and her deep woof woof woof at him. My dads first words man I thought she was friendly is she going to bite me. I said no she is excited to meet you, let her sniff your hand and she is fine.

Amy it is a problem, but I think you can fix this. I feel bad for Archer, he has a much more fulfilling and enriching life with you. If left unfixed, then I believe there will be a problem. I hope I gave you some insight, and perhaps some moral support.

Renee, thanks for the moral support. Being away, I feel really helpless. And I know archer likes to grab forearms as in a mouthy pup. I also know he is suspicious of strangers. I just hope the kids don't over react and create more problem before I get home.

Sorry you're going through this, even if from afar. Personally, I'm worried about the little ones. If Archer thinks being mouthy is OK, he could easily take a big bite out of small children and think he was "playing." It may take some time and a lot of consistency, but even now you can out-train mouthiness and over-excitability. You will need the support and commitment of Jess and Josh, however, which may be the most difficult part of this journey.

And what Renee says about raised hackles is absolutely true; it indicates excitement, not necessarily aggression. Most often it's excitement.

Liz, thanks for the thoughts.

At the moment, I'm not worried about kids with archer... he's shown himself to be exceedingly gentle withthe little ones. His mouthing seems to be with the adults he wants to play with. And much of the time, his raised hackles really are excitement.

The real worry for me is when strangers come to the property... both mine and Josh's. He dances around, hackles raised, barking and staying a good 20 feet away.
He is clearly defending his territory and is uncomfortable... until we say "it's ok, archer" and start talking with the person or Ami approaches and is getting petted. The character of his barking is one of warning us... he does not growl or make any attempt to threaten. He also uses the same tone with deer across the street, cars, bicycles etc. But what is really noteworthy is, at least at our house, is once we say it's ok and introduce him, he's a sweet love bug.

I'd really like to question jess closely about what happened but she can get defensive even when though I'm not being critical only trying to understand.

I'm glad you're not worried about the children and that he's good with them! That's the first thing my mind went to. It's easy for a larger dog like Archer to forget how big he is when playing with little ones, but it's good that he's gentle and trustworthy around them.

In the case of strangers, a good way to calm him down would be to have someone with him at a distance constantly feeding him treats as the strangers enter. Keep him at a distance until he seems calm enough to have them approach. Again, keep feeding treats. They need to be SUPER high-value. Since he's leash-reactive and isn't normally on leash in the house anyway, keep him off leash; he can be held gently but firmly by the collar. Then you can let him greet the people -- let them approach HIM -- and when he shows behavior you want, mark it ("good boy!") with lots of praise and a "jackpot" of treats.

Keep doing this and eventually you'll be able to slowly take away the treat aspect as he becomes naturally comfortable. This is called "modeling" a behavior, sort of like cognitive behavior therapy for humans. As I mentioned, it will take lots of time, and you or Josh and Jess would need to do this consistently for it to work. Hope this helps!

Thanks, Liz. I won't be able to hold his collar as that is even worse than on leash but he is wonderfully responsive to the vibrate on the ecollar.... actually treats alone can keep him in place. That boy loves his belly.

Now, I just need to get strangers to the house on demand