I have a 7 month GSD Female. When she sees other dogs, she goes crazy - not aggressive, but wants to get to them and sniff and play. I try to distract her with food, but I cannot get her interested in anything but the other dog. She is in a "zone" and completely ignores me. I want to be able to take her for walks without her reacting so badly when she sees another dog. Any advice would be appreciated.

How much obedience work have you done?

When not distracted, she does the following with no problem: sit, down, stay, leave it, heel. We work with her everyday. She is also in a obedience class at petsmart. she listens unless other dogs are around. I don't know how to get her to listen when other dogs are around. She knows all the commands.

More info.


Exactly what happens on walks? How far away does she react?

Keep working on the leave it command.

If you are walking down the street with no dogs around, does she know all of these obedience commands (have you tested her to see if she will perform the commands on the sidewalk without the dogs?)

The best thing to help is distance. Personally I would stay away from the class and introduce distractions slower. Are you interested in doing formal ob?

I practice obedience with her when out on walks when no other dogs are around. She will perform the commands on the sidewalk without dogs.

When she sees another dog, she pulls on the leash, barks and tries desperately to get to the other dog. The dog can be on the other side of the street and she reacts. I have a tough time trying to move away from the dog.

Notwithstanding the fact that I think she is rather young, and I'm not a huge fan of group obedience for such a young dog, if she acts like a dink on walks and you know she knows the leave it command, here's what I'd do:

First, I'd attempt to avoid other dogs for now. Let her mature, some of this is just puppy behavior. If you see a dog coming, try crossing the street.

Second, I'd keep working on the OB. I would also recommend focus building exercises and incorporating a lot of duration practice. It sounds like the time has definitely come to introduce a negative marker.

Finally, a dog that is being an absolute dink on a walk, at 7 mos, if I truly knew that the dog understood the command leave it, and was ignoring my command, and I'd done everything I could to keep the distraction to a managable level, worked with the dog on focus under distraction, well, I'd correct the little turd. BUT only if all those things had been done.

A correction can be as mild as a negative marker. It can be a light pop on the leash. Start at the lowest level.

Personally though, I wouldn't walk a 7 month old dog if these issues were coming up. I'd find a quieter time of day for walks, or just exercise in the yard with a ball.
I like to set puppies up for success.

What types of focus building exercises and duration practce do you recommend?