I'm in the process of setting up a PP trainer for my dog. With the help of Will, I think I found someone in my area. Thanks Will. In the meantime, if people like Will don't mind, I'd love to use this board to ask a question or two. Today I did the unthinkable...I brought my dog into Petco <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> !! I know a lot of you don't for good reason. I completely agree w/all the comments I've seen. My dog is an 11 month old GSD who is incredibly friendly and in my opinion, far too interested in other dogs. Sooo, I'm thinking of putting him in situations wherein I can sort of desensitize him. I.E. another dog nearby and I focus his attention on me kind of thing. But it's what happened at Petco that I'm writing.

While I was inside the store a man with a Russian mountain dog came in. It was the biggest dog I've ever seen, 190 lbs. and SOLID. He was a friendly, quiet 6 year old male. Question: My dog went crazy barking that deep bark at him and would not stop. He's NEVER barked at another dog before. I think he was scared because the other dog really did look like a lion. My dog stood his ground in that he didn't cower behind anything or me but he also wouldn't investigate and go closer to the dog. My question is what should I have done in that situation since I want to "ready" him for PP training? Should I have walked away immediately? Should I have allowed my dog to bark but tell him "It's OK"? Does my handling of an experience like this make absolutely no difference for my dog for future PP work? I'd like to handle my dog correctly in as many situations as possible but, unfortunately for my dog, I don't know my ars from my elbow when it comes to PP training <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> !! Any thoughts, I'd much appreciate hearing them.

I have no comment on the PP aspect, but my 20 male GSD, who is generally either friendly or aloof to other dogs, barked and lunged at an Irish Wolfhound. I restrained him, then kept an eye out in the future for the dog. After a few sightings, he stopped reacting to the dog. It may just be a matter of size, and the unusual appearance of the fur.

Animal aggression has nothing to do with human aggression. Your dog was scared, and the best thing would be to try and get him to focus on you. If you can get him distracted and away from the 900 lb dog, it's the better deal than to hammer him with corrections first.

If this critter was that much larger, your dog reacted in a manner which was pretty normal, he alerted...I don't see where it would affect anything much down the road. That certainly isn't going to happen that often where he'll get used to it. Though he may not much care for any of the bigs,
you need to beware of it, try to refocus before he turns up the heat.

From your post, it sounds like I did close to the right thing...my only correction to him at the time, in response to his barking beyond what I deemed a reasonable amount of time, was a tiny tug on the prong and said, "that's enough". When he didn't listen, I gave another tug. But he still didn't listen. That was when I knew he must be really rattled by the dog so I walked to another part of the store. Although I put distance between us and the 'lion', Gunnar seemed to stay somewhat rattled for several minutes, meaning he was very aware of his surroundings, he even barked at a young girl carrying a big box (something he's never done before). He seemed to be on the lookout for the beast for the rest of our time in the store! Which, btw, was only about 5 or 10 minutes. I didn't want him to stress over it anymore so we left. I'm not as sharp as all you guys! It takes me several signals from my dog before I get what's going on. Thanks again for your input.

What do you mean "try to refocus before he turns up the heat"? Get him to focus on me?

I wouldn't tell the dog it's OK because then he might think you are saying his reactive barking behavior is OK. Sounds like you handled it good. I think your dogs reaction was understandable. I wouldn't give a reasonable amount of time to bark though, I would immediately lead him away from the trigger and put him in a sit demanding his attention. Then if you feel brave you can lead him a little closer to the trigger, put him back in a sit and again demand his attention (focus), until he's calm and composed around it. But, since this is a mountain dog, the chances of you running into it again are slim. Sometimes corrections can make a problem worse, so if the dog is normally not over reactive to other dogs, or has no other issues for concern in that department, I wouldn't use a hard correction (prong or other). Doesn't sound like your dog looks for trouble, he was just surprised to see a bear in public <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

If you want to make your dog less interested in other dogs, you can work on a focus command when they are around.

dogs dont speak english. its ok means whatever the handler wants it to mean. to my dog it means "knock it off! there is no threat!".

right, hopefully before he starts barking...easier said than done, but if you can avoid him focusing on the other dog either before (completely avoiding barking) or very quickly
before any lunging, interupting your dog's next desire, you'll have your's attention, which is more than half the battle getting him to listen to any command.

As long as someone's mentioned OK, here OK would mean
"I see it, we'll be alright!" If you use OK for a release,
you just told the dog to go ahead and go crazy. This would be a prime example of why OK is NOT a good release command.
Too often used word with too many different meanings. They don't speak English, but they also should not have that word in the list that means anything! They do attach meaning to sound, and that one causes havoc if used for a release!!!

It really depends on the tone you use and the body language you show. I would also be concerned about using OK, because depending on how you use it, it could be construed by the dog as coddling, and coddling reinforces problems. Ex. dog is fearful and reacts aggressively toward XXXX, you baby the dog by trying to make it feel better about whatever it's afraid of with words like it's okay, and the dog continues it's fear of XXXX because you've reinforced it with the coddling. Sometimes depending on how you act or react, you could create problems that wouldn't otherwise be there. Dogs understand whatever language you teach them along with the body language you display. If she was saying Okay in a tone that meant knock it off, than I agree with you.