Funny thing is that When he is at a park, parking lot, busy sidewalk he is really good. These are most of the places he has been socialized at since a puppy, but I am thinking now after reading everyone suggestions that I have ask him to leave it and not pull. I have not ask for his attention and focus.I am going to call the class instructor and watch the engagement dvd this morning.I also have Bernhard Flicks focus DVD, but haven't watched it in awhile.

Well I talked with the pet smart trainer and she had only one thought. Take him to a puppy daycare where he can learn to play with other dogs without me there. It is a place where the dogs run free,swim,and sleep in their house on their furniture for rest time. She has watched him and said that he is either protecting me or it is fear of other dogs since he was frighten as a puppy by a larger dog.Since his 3 weeks at petsmart he now pulls and lundges at every dog we pass while walking while on his pinch collar.I am pulling him out of class.

that really sucks-even more because of the non-advice you have gotten from this "trainer".

im no expert, but if i were in your situation, i would certainly NOT be taking my dog to the daycare.
to me, the solution for going baserk around other dogs is not to be let loose with them.


im sure others who explain things better will chime in, but i would think you might have to go back a bit in training, and work on your dog keeping his focus on you under the distraction of other dogs, starting from farther away than you think you would need. the last thing he needs now is to either self reward by getting in a fight, possibly making things worse, or learn by being in a dogs running loose situation that other dogs are SOOOOO much more fun than listening and minding them human-teaching the dog that everytime he sees other dogs, it IS time to go crazy, because its about to be play time.

 Quote: patricia angove

Well I talked with the pet smart trainer and she had only one thought. Take him to a puppy daycare where he can learn to play with other dogs without me there. It is a place where the dogs run free,swim,and sleep in their house on their furniture for rest time. She has watched him and said that he is either protecting me or it is fear of other dogs since he was frighten as a puppy by a larger dog.Since his 3 weeks at petsmart he now pulls and lundges at every dog we pass while walking while on his pinch collar.I am pulling him out of class.

"Protecting" you? Flood him (alone) at a daycare?

You are right to remove him from the class. If nothing else, that advice screams that the "trainer" is way out of her depth on a relatively simple issue. I know nothing about her, but those bits of advice are beyond belief.

Dennis, Lori, Willie, Leih, and others have given you some great suggestions.

Tell us what you know about desensitizing a reactive dog.

No, no, no to the puppy daycare! Here is one of the few places as a new dog owner that I can confidently share a been-there-done-that story and advice.

Maya as a puppy was not interested in playing with the dogs at our training class. They would take breaks during lessons and the puppies would tear around. Maya sat right by my side during these breaks, just watching. I was fine with this as the GSD I grew up with didn't really care about playing with other dogs, and Maya had met with dogs I knew and trusted already and had done just fine.

I really wish I had listened to myself and to my dog.

The trainer started to become concerned that Maya didn't want to play. She recommended doggy day care, and wanting to do what was right, I diligently took her there on a weekly basis. It's a well run facility, and the majority of the dogs just love it there. Not Maya. Her reactivity did not lessen, but it got worse. During a different class, we were supposed to walk up and greet a person while our dogs stood by our side. Maya started to give a little lunge and bark at the dogs. I saw her becoming nervous with new dogs.

The last time I took her to doggy day care was horrible. She was whining and trying to climb up my body to escape, and I could see her panicking. When they took her behind the desk, she slipped out of her collar and ran hiding under any place she could find. The poor worker couldn't catch her, so she broke the rules and had me come behind the desk. Maya was so relieved, and I took her on leash into another room. She walked right by my side, and I turned around and left. I still feel guilty about that--my young dog trusted I was taking her to a safe place, and I left her. I had thought I was doing the right thing, but on this day I knew I was wrong. I observed her out back to make sure she was okay before leaving. She wanted to be right by the humans, was okay with one dog, but got nervous if more than one approached or surprised her. And at doggy day care, there was always a dog to appraoch and surprise her.

I have been working so hard to change her reactivity since then. I can't say doggy daycare is what directly caused this, but I do think it added to it. As an already cautious creature, I think the day care just added to her nervousness about other dogs.

You can do a search here to learn about reactivity in dogs (I have posted a few messages myself).

Patricia,
Make sure they have cable tv for the dogs to watch!
And for crying out loud, no saggy cushions on the sofas!

Deal killers, either of them.

I'm glad you have decided to stop going to Petsmart.

If that is the only "advice" you have gotten, I would demand my money back, too. That "trainer" obviously has no idea of what they are doing.

As pointed out in the previous posts, daycare is a rotten idea for this dog. Or any dog for that matter. Unless it is a daycare that has a kennel set up, where they alternate the dogs thoughtfully, daycare is bad. SO many of them are just a wild free for all run by dog lovers that have no clue.

The most expensive and popular one here is set up like a living room, complete with couches for the dogs. They take the dogs on "field trips" where they basically open the back of a van and just let them run loose!

Plus, there is the whole dog park rank issue going on, only worse because it tends to be the same group everyday with random new dogs coming in and out.

The other thing that happens at daycare is that they can pick up very bad habits from other dogs. As hard as we try to communicate and teach them, they learn from each other so quick its crazy.

Before I knew better I took my dog to the dog park, where she learned resource guarding. She also quickly developed a habit of sleeping on top of the kitchen table, because of the owners who allow their dogs to lay on the picnic tables a the park. Imagine how much worse it would be if she was in that environment everyday without me!

If I were you I would complain to the highest level and demand a refund. This "trainer" has failed to help you with one of the most common problems dog owners face, has actually set back your training, and is also completely off in her suggestions of the core issue.

How lucky you are that you know better. Think of how many people this person works with to that don't know any better and actually try the advice!

I am afraid I really don't know how to go about desensitizing a reactive dog and I really need to know.Do you think he will ever be able to be in the presence of another dog and not react? I was hoping by this time to begin Schutzhund training,but as long as he continues to react this way I don't see how it will be possible.I have never wanted my dog to play with other dogs,but just to be in the same room or place and think yep I see you buddy,and not react to it.Is that possible and normal to want and expect that?

I think its absolutely possible!

It doesn't sound like he is aggressive, it sounds like he's just reactive and probably kind of hyper. Its a different thing.

My dog tends to be reactive with other dogs, too. One of the ways I have been dealing with this is to play with her when we pass another dog, like in the pack structure dvd. If I feel like its appropriate for the situation and that she is already focused on me, I will do some quick obedience with her as other dogs pass. Its made it a lot better.

If she just goes out and starts barking with any sort of aggression (that kind of bark that starts with a "roar!" sound) she gets a big correction and I push her butt to the ground, physically putting her in a sit. That only happened twice, though. She got the message pretty quickly.

(Keep in mind that my dog is still basically a puppy, not actually aggressive, and only moderately reactive. I wouldn't recommend doing what I just described if the dog is aggressive or highly reactive. An aggressive or very reactive dog might bite you if you get too physical while they are in that state of mind)

And here's a post that provides three links to desensitizing threads.

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=17&Number=267935&Searchpage=1&Main=25576&Words=desensitize&topic=0&Search=true#Post267935

Please ask questions after you check them out!

The third one is stories of successful desensitizing.