I have a similiar but not at the level you have. my 1 1/2 yr old male is reactive in training class to recalls only...dogs will be working one at a time doing agility and never reacts. have an owner place the dog in a sit...HE FIRES OFF....have tried everything with the trainer and he is getting better....I must say that I....thats right...ME....was part of the problem in the beginning especially....leave it didn't work....and trying to rationalize with him doesn't work either....so I did go to the shhhhh..mark mentions it with a correction....turning the dogs attention to you.... works really good on our walks

so...less said is better with a reactive pup and using a sound rather than a word as GSD's are very intuative and pu easily on any pitch in your voice...and WATCH you tension on the lead...another no..no...

lastly talk to your trainer and let her/him know what your having problems with and work on one thing at a time and don't be worried that your dog isn't where the other dogs are...just like humans somethings are easier for one person than another...work on the dogs strengths....he will respect you and work better... don't be afraid of the tools...even an ecollar if needed as that is what they are for...to aid in training a good canine

My Aussie,Maya, sounds very similar to your dog. She is a wonderful family dog, but hates little yappers. I can't take her to dog parks,and my neighbor (with a little dog) threatened to shoot her. (I don't talk with them anymore). She seems to get along OK with most bigger dogs. I use a prong collar to walk her in the neighborhood.Little dogs, off leash, have been aggressive towards her, and it seems she has gotten worse with them. I've tried a lot of things to solve this problem, but where little dogs are concerned, my best strategy is to keep her tightly controlled with the prong. Much of her exercise comes off leash with no people or dogs around, but I do have to walk her sometimes in the neighborhood. I'm very careful, and she has not hurt another dog. Incidentally, she is very nervous around strangers. We crate her when people are over, and I don't allow strange kids to pet her anymore. She appears very fearful, and I don't want an accident.We got her when she was nine months and think she was neglected. She is a case, but we love her. Regards, Steve

This has been a great thread, I have picked up a few things I think I can use!!! Thanks all. No group classes...I know my girl (Am Staff) would see this as a reward LOL

I guess I would add dealing with DA for me has been all about knowing my dog, what makes her tick. I have to say my girl is a pretty stable dog finally. After having a pure bred APBT and seeing such a mellow, confident dog, I mistakenly thought all PBs were of this nature. A total lack of education about the breed in general on my part. I really believe my girl is DA because she is a Pit Bull. I am not saying all Pit Bulls are DA because they are Pits, I am saying mine is. I think I took a very normal dog I did not understand and help to establish a foundation that promoted unstable behavior.

After coming to Leerburg and with the help of folks that breed and know Pit Bulls I learned my dog is OK, I like Mike have taught her to defer to me when a possible distraction may enter her field of vision. She is never fearful in these situations, if allowd she gets downright what I would call "joyfull". (to humanize a bit) It resonates with me when you say Teagon may "like" attacking other dogs, I think my girl "likes" the battle, I simply think she likes the fight - or is drawn to it - or what ever is in her and the dogs she came from most likely were prone to.

This realization...hard as it is...got me to the place where I could start to really work with her, and not be afraid or ashamed of it. My girl is not a throw away just like your Teagan, so we move forward, and she has taught me many things about myself, and how proud I feel when we take on another challange and do ourselves proud.

My Lilly will always be a threat to other dogs but for her house mate my APBT, it is what it is, but we now have an understanding between us, I am in control and she submits to me, I will protect her and she will let me, I will praise her when she chooses to respect me even though it means supressing what she is, so how cool is that! I really love this dog!

I agree, it's been a very helpful thread.

And me too - Teagan has taught me so much about myself and about dogs. Not that I wouldn't mind taking back at least one of those lessons, but there we are. Joyful is actually an excellent description - so I'm not the only one with the weird-o dog Teagan's been really great lately in situations where we've passed other reactive, not-in-control dogs, and I'm so proud of her. I know she modifies her behaviour for me, not because she thinks my way is the better way, and I really love her for that. I don't know about you, but part of why I love Teagan so much is because she's been such a challenge for me.

 Quote: jennifer mullen

I agree, it's been a very helpful thread.

And me too - Teagan has taught me so much about myself and about dogs. Not that I wouldn't mind taking back at least one of those lessons, but there we are. Joyful is actually an excellent description - so I'm not the only one with the weird-o dog Teagan's been really great lately in situations where we've passed other reactive, not-in-control dogs, and I'm so proud of her. I know she modifies her behaviour for me, not because she thinks my way is the better way, and I really love her for that. I don't know about you, but part of why I love Teagan so much is because she's been such a challenge for me.

OK that made me giggle a bit, but actually for the first time in a long time the opposite is true....I have come to discover my Am Staff is right as rain, and it is my strongly bred APBT that one might consider a "wierdo" as he gets on with all creatures like he does with humans...ironic isn't it???