Hello Everyone,
I am looking for any sugestions with my dogs behavior regarding other dogs.
When my 9 months old GSD sees another dog while on a walk or while riding in the car he goes crazy, acts really agressive, ignores me no matter what I do, distracting him doesn't work, corections with a prong collar, etc.... nothing else exsits to him but the other dog!
He is not dog agressive and was heavily socialized. Any sugestions on how to get him to ignore other dogs?

Thanks in advance for any replies,
Mike

Mike, Another dog is a big distraction so don't be discouraged. If your dog is more focussed on the other dog then possibly you haven't reached that point where your dog is fully trained.

Maybe working recalls on a long lead around milder distractions would be good then intensify the distraction to a place where there are dogs.

I use the local dog park when there are only a couple "safe" dogs in there to do this type of work and to proof my dogs recall. When the loose dogs approach I give my dog the "ignore" command and keep her on heel or sometimes I will give her the full 30 foot of line and ask her to come back. Just play around with what works for you.

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Hello Everyone,
When my 9 months old GSD sees another dog while on a walk or while riding in the car he goes crazy, acts really agressive, ... He is not dog agressive and was heavily socialized.
Mike

If he is acting really agressive towards dogs, then how is it that you have determined he is not dog agressive?

Agression is fear based. He may have been submissive in the past to other dogs, but now he is becoming stronger at 9 months old. The fear is still there, but now he could be dealing with it in a different manner. But I am just guessing on the small amount of info given. Please give more details.

i had same problem with female ,purchased eds video on dog aggresion and presto his teaching methodolgies are the best... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ask ed

Mike,

Another thing is that I suspect you might be letting the dog get too focused before correcting.

On a walk, when you're training the dog to focus on the handler (you), you want to correct the instant his attention strays....... not when he is lunging and pulling and barking his head off at the distraction. JMO.

A leash correction, along with whatever your "no" sound is, at the instant his attention wanders is, IMO, far far more effective than the highest level correction after his attention is fully engaged.

So I would keep walking, stay calm, correct him the second you see his attention flicker toward the distraction, and keep on moving.

There's a comment in the Leerburg Basic Obedience DVD (and this comment comes up all the time: with respect to decoys, trainers, behaviorists, and everyone involved in any way with dogs): The difference between good and not-so-good handling is often nothing but timing.

This is absolutely true, IME.

Good luck!

Well I know he is not agressive by the way he acts once he gets to meet the dog and by all past experinces with other dogs.
He is agressive only if he cant get to them and once he gets to them he doesn't act agressive, dominant but not agressive.
But agressive or not, my main problem is that he gets tunnel vision when he sees another dog like its the only thing in te world he cares about. Today he pulled so hard, with a prong collar on, that he snapped his leather leash. He is great with everything else but this. He can be in any situation with people, street fairs, carnivals, downtown in the city, and he is just fine. But when he sees another dog all bets are off.
He comes from good working lines, and I plan, and have been training him for schutzhund.

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........Agression is fear based........

Sometimes.

JMO

Hormones are raging now <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />. Keep his lead short. Try popping him with the pinch, instead of letting him pull. Do some quick about turns, etc.

i posted this already but it's not showing up, so i'll try again <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

i agree with both connie and susan: you need to watch for that "flicker" of inattention, then about turn to re-focus on you. it's easier said than done, but if you're really paying attention, you can get it just when he "flickers", do the turn, then PRAISE, REWARD.

maybe set up the scenario with a friend and a dog...

You'll need to curb the on leash craziness with other dogs for Schutzhund for parts of the trial. So at this stage, he's still a young guy in the head, so you shouldn't need to be totally correcting the tar out of him quite yet. I have a dog aggressive dog and have fostered others and I haven't had any major issues with controlling them in these situations if you get them focused, as the other posters have said, before they get fixated especially if they know you are totally in charge by proper groundwork/NILIF/whatever you want to call it procedures. I find the best thing to do is to bring the dog off to the side and make him go in a down stay. This serves two purposes. First, the down stay makes him automatically less interesting to other dogs, which is half the battle. Second, it's a more submissive posture, which also helps. If he tries to get up, you correct with the prong collar. If he stays, you give him a VERY good treat (not just a dog biscuit or whatever, but a piece of hot dog, cooked chicken, or cheese, etc) every few seconds he stays down.

Try this with a nice friendly dog on leash with another helper who will mostly ignore him. So this way he gets a choice: pay attention to you the handler and gets the yummy treat or ignores you and gets corrected. Gradually increase the time interval between treats and you can slowly add more distractions (i.e.-more than one dog, a more assertive dog, etc). If you've watched any of Cesar Millan, that's where the "shhhht" sound he does comes in or a gentle tap with the foot on their legs or side to break the fixation. You want to do this before he starts to intensely stare and definitely before any barking because if you don't, they'll get too keyed up to notice all but the hardest corrections, as I'm sure you've noticed. A well-timed (once again, a common theme) tap or noise (it can be the "shhht" or "ah ah!" or something not quite as harsh as no since you don't necessarily need to sound mad or angry) can do a lot to break a dog's fixation on a stimulus.