Barbara, Mike said it beautifully! (can I call you Mike? or do you prefer Mr. Arnold? )

The only important socialization a puppy needs is to different environments and situations so it's stable as an adult.

There's no "need" to ever let your puppy or dog meet and play with strangers or other dogs (they're not part of his pack, he should ignore them unless you allow the interaction). It's a good idea to take a puppy or dog to new places when growing up and expose it to different things so it doesn't grow up nervous and unstable.

That's all you need though. The rest is all optional. Frankly, I don't see why you should even let your dog play with other dogs. You're his leader and you're the one he should be looking to for affection, food, play and entertainment

This will also make training a whole lot easier and more enjoyable for the both of you if he's used to not caring about other people and dogs! It can only help your bond with Max too.

Might want to try a prong collar if your dog doesn't respect you enough to return to you when given the command. Have Max on a long line EVERY TIME you walk him. You can drop the line and let him run free, but at least you'll always have him under your control.
I let my 10-month-old pup drag a 20 ft (Leerburg) cotton line on our walks when there are other dogs or people around. I can't remember the last time I had to "remind" him to return to me with a pop on it, but if some day he does ignore me, I can just grab the line and I won't lose control of the situation.
Even though my pup's obedience is highly reliable, the long line is a good safety measure and I like having it there, just in case.
Dogs don't know where a long line ends so you can just step on it, grab it and give it a jerk to remind him to obey your "come" command.

 Quote: yuko blum

.... Have Max on a long line EVERY TIME you walk him. You can drop the line and let him run free, but at least you'll always have him under your control. ..... I let my 10-month-old pup drag a 20 ft (Leerburg) cotton line on our walks when there are other dogs or people around. I can't remember the last time I had to "remind" him to return to me with a pop on it, but if some day he does ignore me, I can just grab the line and I won't lose control of the situation.

Isn't that light-weight line invaluable? I can't believe I just got it this winter, because I use it all the time.
http://www.leerburg.com/leashes.htm#cotton

I train the recall (other folks' dogs) on a long line (with untrained or badly-trained adults), and I had been using a clunky heavy line that has been known to burn my palm.

I love the new one.

Indeed!!!

I love how light it is; my pup doesn't even notice it when he's running around with it on. Plus it doesn't get tangled on stuff (including people) when the dog is running through the woods, like the heavier leashes do.

Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. So far every single product I've ordered from Leerburg has exceeded my expectations

(A useless note here my puppy was actually wearing the long line in that photo in my signature. I edited it out of the photo cause it was distracting - what with it being bright red and all - but it's there. I needed it in case he broke his stay and grabbed that orbee ball (also Leerburg) lying at his feet! lol)

Speaking of the Orbee ball... another excellent product.
Barbara, if your Max has good prey drive you could train him with the orbee ball (it's a squishy ball on a rope). Every time you walk past a distraction, like other dogs, you whip out the ball and get your dog to focus on it.

Make him go through a few obedience commands - some quick sits, downs, stands, come. Make him heel with eye contact. You can then reward him with the ball once you've walked past the distraction and play with him.

That way he'll learn to focus on you no matter how exciting the surrounding environment gets.

My pup is so crazy for that orbee that I can literally walk through a bunch of hyper dogs playing and jumping all around him and he'll never so much as break eye contact with me (ok, with the ball haha).

Conflict-free distraction training... doesn't get any better than that

 Quote: Yuko Blum

My pup is so crazy for that orbee that I can literally walk through a bunch of hyper dogs playing and jumping all around him and he'll never so much as break eye contact with me (ok, with the ball haha).

Don't you love that, I always try to explain to people that a dog that is so crazy (high in drive for ) his toy is the key to many Avenues..That to me is the answer for eveything else that follows..love it

 Quote: Yuko Blum

Indeed!!! ... I love how light it is; my pup doesn't even notice it when he's running around with it on. Plus it doesn't get tangled on stuff (including people) when the dog is running through the woods, like the heavier leashes do. ... Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. So far every single product I've ordered from Leerburg has exceeded my expectations ... (A useless note here my puppy was actually wearing the long line in that photo in my signature. I edited it out of the photo cause it was distracting - what with it being bright red

OK, this is funny.

Mine is black. Yours is red. And the one in the catalog is blue.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

Mine is black. Yours is red. And the one in the catalog is blue.

Now how about that!
Maybe they stock all the colours of the rainbow and the Leerburg office staff gets to pick and choose which ones to ship out depending on their mood

Hello, and thanks to everyone who bothered to reply to Max and his problem.
After your advice I loaned a long line from a friend and have put him on that today. He was very good and when he saw his first dog of course he stood there and refused to budge but I pulled him in and gave him a treat. Obviously its going to take sometime. If that does not work it looks like an electric coller has any one had experience of one?
I think prong collers are not allowed in GBritain.
Once again thanks to all of you out there who replied it is nice to think that you are not alone when you have a problem
Barbara