So there are these dog trainers near me who have this fantastic program for dog socialisation. The idea is that it's supposed to be a substitute for dog parks, with several trainers present and numerous dogs of differing temperaments.
I took Sarge (Cane Corso) out there today to get a temp test to see if he was dog friendly (I've only had him a month) and he failed miserably It seems he has a problem with male dogs, especially unneutered males. He was fence and leash aggressive, and would have done some serious harm to those dogs if he caught one.
Luckily, the trainers absolutely loved him, they're used to big bully breeds, and were very impressed with his general temperament and physical condition. They were keen to work with him on social skills and so I've enrolled in an 8 week, one on one course.
Hopefully I'll have good news to report after a few weeks

I'd like to hear how he progresses and what they are doing, training-wise, to help

Do you stay with him? No drop-off-and-train, right? What are their methods? Do they "flood" the reactive dog? Does "one on one" mean no flooding?

They train YOU and the dog, right?

What equipment if any is used?

Did you watch a session with another dog?

Did someone you know, with a reactive or aggressive dog, do this and report favorably?

YOU are doing the training though, right?

it's not them handling your dog then giving him back, right?

You need to be present and involved with the training.

There really are so many questions you need to ask them before enrolling.

We can give you a more comprehensive list if you'd like.

just realize...not all dogs WANT to be social.

Tucker is DA....horrible when I first got him. Lunging, growling, hackles, fence fighting, all of it.

now...those reactions are non existent as long as the dog doesn't come into his safe zone. But he still has no use for other dogs. He doesn't want to play with them, doesn't want to be social. But he'll still lay into one if they get close.
So, I don't allow that to happen. I control everything and keep him out of those situations.

Is there a specific need that your dog HAS to get along with other dogs???

In fact, there are dogs who cannot be dog-friendly, period. There's more than one reason, but there are dogs who will never be dog-sociable and for whom the very best thing that can happen is to learn to be tolerant and to ignore other dogs, and for their owner to manage them, and just keep them out of flooding situations.

How much of this does a facility that wants your money tell you?

The methods that are often used to "socialize" a dog like this in a "leave and train" situation would horrify you.

OF COURSE I'm not saying this is necessarily the case here. I would love to read that it's not leave-and-train and that they work with you!

But we can't just not speak and not warn you that the likelihood is there.

Jackie, do you have a link or can you give us the name of the facility?

we aren't being judgemental...we just want to make sure you're doing the best thing for your dog, and that this training facility is not going to cause you more problems with your guy.

^^^
Exactly. My dog is one of these, and to a degree the same with people. But after some training, people can even pet him as a obedience exercise. Its just not his nature to be friendly...yet rarely he will take a liking to a stranger or particular dog. He was good friends with my neighbors Rottie and GSP.

So yeah, the goal is the training should be not that you make your dog friendly, but you teach him to ignore the other dogs and trust you.

I'm actually really happy with these trainers, I've had some bad experiences with another one whose methods were simply - correct the dog, all the time.

The temp test started with one woman taking Sarge from me and walking past dogs, and walking towards dogs. He did badly on those. But when I took the leash and repeated it, he did much better. It went on like this for about an hour.

They believe in training the owner to train the dog, they said we'll be going to different locations with Sarge (They don't have a facility) and their pack (6 male dogs) and working on his drives, testing his triggers, and giving him a job to do. They say he'll make a great weight-pulling dog, and were keen to get him swimming.

Their methods are primarily motivational, they're experienced in training guard/protection dogs so they believe in harnessing a dogs drives and putting it to use. They do use corrections as well.

http://www.k9trainingacademy.net/Home_Page.html This is the link to their website. Don't take note of the spelling errors, they just did over their site and are working out the kinks.

Tell me what you think