Enoch is 10 months old now and a pretty good dog. He walks very nicely on leash now after doing marker training with him the minute he came home. But a few things have changed. He used to not notice other dogs. We would pass a dog and he would be too busy sniffing to really care. Now when we go on walks and we pass a dog he tries to pull towards the dog or if not that he keeps looking back and slowly walking. To my novice eyes it doesn't appear aggressive but an intense curiosity. He knows the command "watch me" but he pretends he's deaf when he sees another dog. I'm at a crossroads at what to do to get his attention on me. He's only displayed this in the last couple of weeks.

Also one day we were walking and two construction guys pulled up to a house that we walk past every morning. The construction guys being there was not an unusual event. I believe he was startled but he barked at them and even when I told him no he continued to bark at them. When he was a few months old every blue moon he would bark at someone but that stopped months ago. This is the first time he has barked outside of the house at a stranger. Is this typical adolescent behavior in a dog and what steps do I need to take at this point in his growing to insure he continues to remain a good and stable dog?

great question. My boy is 15 mnths old and I was wondering when they hit maturity.

If I were in your shoes I would ramp up the dog encounters.

 Quote: maisha butler

He knows the command "watch me" but he pretends he's deaf when he sees another dog.

He's at the age where other dogs are a distraction. If you are 110% sure that he knows the command and is blowing you off, he needs a correction. You need to let him know that ignoring you whenever he feels like it is not an option.

I always make a point to find something to reward for after I have to correct a dog. So if he ignores you, give him a correction (hard enough that he starts to listen) then reward when he is doing it correctly.

If possible, don't get too close to other dogs - the closer the strange dog, the higher the distraction. You want to start with level 1 distractions which would be a strange dog at a distance. Later you can start getting closer until you are able to walk past and your dog will focus on you!

I am working on this with my dog also.

I always wondered how do you know the dog KNOWS the command a 100%? Thanks for the advice Angela.

From what I have gathered, the dog knows the command if he performs it perfectly, 100% of the time, even if you ask out of the blue with no hand motions, in a distraction-free environment.

Then you move into the correction phase of training where you introduce distractions gradually, and correct if the dog ignores a command under low distraction.

It would not be fair to go from distraction-free to heavy distractions.

Do you have any of Ed's videos? He demonstrates this in Basic Obedience.

Now, wait until you get confirmation from someone else on this... but I think maybe a dog acting up on leash while he's supposed to be walking calmly can be considered a pack behaviour infraction (and thus be corrected without a command?)