And he doesn't just go and attack another dog its not like that. He just tries to dominate and only if the other dog resists then he goes into fight mode. How do I handle this correctly and how do I control this behavior? You don't let other dogs over to HIS territory. This is the kind of shit that gives dobes bad names. 'Oh Danielles dobes is mean, it attack pookey when I brought him over to her house.' Other friend, 'See I told you dobes were mean.' Avoid it, don't let your friend bring dogs over, if they dog put him away. My old pet dobe was like this, so dogs just didn't come over, I never took him camping, and he was on a leash all the time outside.

If you still feel the need to push it, DO NOT INTRODUCE YOUR DOG OFF LEASH. It is not a poodle, that would be giving up control. Very bad.

Robert

Caniche, Your post should be heeded. Great information. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Both My GSD and Akita do not have any doggie friends(I hate that word doggie). Both are very social with other animals if not threatened. Hell most humans have less friends then their dogs. Give me a break. Dogs IMO do not need other K-9 friends. They just have to tolorate them in public. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Never ever are either off leash in public. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Well I guess no more K-9 visitors for us. I guess I was under the impression that dogs need social interaction with other dogs to prevent them from getting aggresive, but I guess I was wrong. As far as giving Dobermans a bad name, I think its bad either way. Whether its "hey I took my dog over to Danielle's house and her dog bit mine" or "hey guys don't bring your dog over because my dog isn't friendly with other dogs" its still the same thing. Anyways.... is there a chance that he wouldn't be so "i gotta be the top dog" in a neutral place like a park? Should I try or should I just leave it alone?

He is very obedient and responds to my verbal commands very well. I just don't want to have a monster that I can't take to the park with me because he starts fights.

Danielle,

Some will do ok with it, most won't. The fact that the dog isn't great at home doesn't mean that it is going to start fights when it is out. The dogs actions are your responsibility and this is an obedience issue. The dog just isn't allowed to start a fight, that is under your control. If the dog isn't going to follow your direction on that issue, you need better obedience control.

Danielle,
Dogs are pack animals (as you well know), and they try to set a pecking order when they are around each other. As others and you have resolved, I think this is more a territorial problem.

You may have a point on neutral grounds on lease he may act better. I'd try to set up with a training session with a friend that has a dog, and one that knows that your dog is working on socailizing (so theres no shock, if aggression is shown).

You probably already know but here a good test,
walk by each other a couple of times with dogs on opposite side (away from each other), then on the same side, then stop place them in a sit or down and you and the friend talk or play chat (watching their reactions, holding the lease in preparation).

I have two GSDs one male and a female, they are fairly socail with other dogs. As long as the dog is not close to me, they will ignore (but keep an eye on) an aggressive dog.

If the dogs on their side behind a fence barking or loose barking and running behind its ignored (until they get withing certain range (3-7 feet) or bite range, then we all start barking).

I use a command to bring things back to order, I won't let my dogs get bit, even if it means hitting the aggressive dog with a rock or something. Having a animal/dog aggressive dog (a long with getting a reputation (smile)),can stops him from going to a lot of social events. Like Pets stores dogs, cats, birds and rabbits are abound inside, these stores. This is a shoping event I enjoy I think the dogs do to.

I still think that dogs get something out of a relationship with other dogs that humans, no matter how hard we try, cannot replace. Granted not all dogs will tolerate others, whether through dominance/personality issues or poor initial canine socialization. Just as not all children like or play well together, so too with dogs. It certainly is nice to be able to take your dog out and if you meet someone with a compatible dog, to let them have a run together. It's always in neutral territory though because I'm an avid gardener and there's hardly any grass left in the backyard what with all of the perennial beds. Thankfully I live behind an 8 acre park and have a gate into it.
Perhaps a park-like situation is best, but only when there aren't any other people around, like fall, spring or winter (my park is used in the summer for kids soccer, but is pretty much deserted for the rest of the year). I've mentioned before that I'm an advocate for free running, but if you do that you have to be sure your dog is 100% reliable in the recall. And, leash him up when you spot a person, or another dog, until you can assess the situation.
It's still a matter of personal opinion, and also depends on how hard you're willing to work on obedience to control your dog and modify his behaviour in this type of social situation.
Sometimes it still just won't work.

I am also a advocate for free runing, and yes,as Caniche says, you have to be in 100% control of your dog. The biggest negative I have observed is when domanant dogs get used to the free run area, it then becomes an extension of their terratory. I don't believe in dog parks. To many untrained people.

Thanks everybody for your replies. I decided to take my dog to a park where its no too busy to see how he would act in a neutral setting. And this is what happened. I sat down at a picnic table and I had him on a leash. I trust him with the recall 99% so until I trust him 100% he will not get to run free. Anyways, I was sitting there just watching his reaction every time a dog went by on the path. He was alert, noticed that there was a dog but no real excitement or anything. No growling or any kind of aggressive behaviour.

At some point a black lab was off leash and was running straight towards us. I told the owner to call her dog, but she just ignored me and said "he doesn't bite". Well as soon as he got really close about 6 feet my dog just went berserk. And I mean he just freaked. Luckily the dog took off. Actually the dog really took off. It got scared and ran away and the owner couldn't find him and she was mad at me for it and told me that I shouldn't bring such and "anti-social" animal to the park. Anyways, my dog has been around pretty much the same dogs all his life. Sometimes we encountered strange dogs on our walks but I rarely let him interact with dog that I didn't know. Now he was completely fine when dogs were walking by and not paying attention to him. But as soon as a dog got close to him that was it.

Now, I don't really care if my dog "plays" with other dogs or nor. But I would like to take my dog to the park every once in a while. How do I handle this properly? Do I just not take him to the park? Do I tell people to call their dogs if they're off leash (it obviously didn't work last time). What do I make of last night's behaviour?

Thanks

You were entirely in the right here. There is not much you can do with idiots like this. This board has had big discussions about this very thing. The conclusion is that to many people are offended if everyones dog doesn't have the same Golden retrever type attitude with other dogs. That's their loss. Different people have different personalities, but dogs aren't allowed to bee this way. These people should raise lab mice. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Danielle,
Responding to your first post, I'll just say that not all dogs get along. I have a similar situation with my heeler bitch. My friend has a basenji type bitch, and the two do NOT get along. We do not get them together to "play". If we're both at the same place with our bitches, we take turns having them out. Another friend has a Mastiff mix bitch, which my bitch gets along with, and my friends basenji type gets along with. My Lab gets along with all of them, so he can go "play" with whoever. It all comes down to management, and getting the dogs together with other dogs that they get along with, and not with dogs they don't get along with. We don't try to force things. If it doesn't work, then we don't do it.
As far as the on leash thing, I don't know what to tell you. My heeler bitch has on lead aggression issues that I have struggled with for years, but most of the time, I am able to walk her without incident. Occasionally, there is that idiot that lets their dog run loose, and when I tell them to call their dog, they just stand there like an even bigger idiot. What I have started doing, is I say something like "My dog is NOT friendly! Call your dog!". That gets it right out in the open immediately that my dog is not friendly (actually, she's incredibly friendly toward human beings, but very dominant with other dogs off leash, and very aggressive toward other dogs when on leash). Another idea that I have heard about in the dog park circles is to carry the small super soaker pistol, and when a dog comes charging up to your dog, let er rip! You might piss off the owner, but if they're stupid enough to let their dog run off leash in a public place, then screw em.