Rescue with aggression - Gone! :D

When I first got my rescue dog (staff x whippet) he had very bad agression problems towards other dogs, especially staffs, as soon as he saw another dog he would lunge at them growl and show and snap his teeth at them. He still pulls towards other dogs but he just gets excited and sometimes when he first meets another dog he does have a little growl at them.

Through the few years Ive had him he has got better and better there was still no major improvement. Yesterday we went for a walk in the park and we met a labradoodle, no growling even though the labradoodle showed its teeth at him. So we walked around for a bit and I kept him on the lead and we come across a collie x, it was busy playing rough and tumble with the lab when they came up to Billy and he did have a little growl but I told him no and pulled him back and he seemed fine with it after, so I let him off to play with all the other dogs in the field. He was very well behaved, even though the labradoodle snapped at him a few times because it was a bit wary, Billy just gave it a little growl back and run off to play. I put him on the lead because we were heading towards the main entrance of the park and we found a Great Dane puppy, my insant reaction is that he wouldnt like it and would growl, which he did but the pup just ignored him, as soon as he realised it wasnt going to rip his face off he just wanted to play with it. So I let him back off lead and walked around with these other dogs for about an hour, had a little bit of growling from him but he just wanted to play rough and tumble.
It was the first time he has ever been off the lead playing with the other dogs like he was. I was so happy to see him just behaving like a normal dog and being able to run, play and interact with other dogs. He doesnt really know how to behave around other dogs still but the other dogs put him in his place without him having a go back so he is learning.

Have major improvments on the staff side of things too. We met one a few weeks ago, first introductions had both dogs lunging and growling at each other, but after a few minutes they were both sitting next to each other totally ignoring each other, they both growled at each other everytime we tried to let them sniff but just to have him sitting next to another staffy was great. Came across one yesterday too, no lunging or growling and he even sniffed the other dog without a a big fuss.

Cant even explain how happy I am with him

Aww, well done you two

He's obviously learning from the interaction with other dogs. Sometimes, time is all it takes.

We don't know the history of our rescues. We have one, and we're still learning with her.

It's lovely to hear of some improvement.

Well done, you must be over the moon.

Sounds fantastic, must have been hard work but it's obviously paid off. Always nice to see stories like this