So I have a situation on my hands..

My dog Karma has always been SUPER dog friendly. He LOVES making new dog friends and has an ever growing canine social circle. He gets along with every different personality of dog there is, and with more than one dog. He is respectful of older dogs' boundaries and plays gently with little dogs. There is rarely a problem, and when there is it works itself out within minutes.

Up untill two weeks ago... when he was attacked by a huge male GSD that came out of nowhere (Karma was leashed, the GSD was not... obviously). Luckily he was not badly hurt.

Anyways, to make a long story short:
Karma now fears all dogs bigger than him that he doesn't already know (he's fine with his current friends), to the point of barking uncontrollably and lunging on his leash hackles up when he sees one coming. It's really just awful to watch him like this and I'm not sure what I can do. I've tried redirection to toys/food on him but it doesn't seem to be working. Once he's met the dog and knows it doesn't want to hurt him he's fine. He's not in an all out wanting to kill zone (though it sure sounds like it when he's barking like that!).

Before anyone asks I HAVE contacted a trainer (the only one who deals with aggression in our small area) but unfortunately being the only trainer here she has no room for me till fall.

Anything I could try to get started while I wait? If I wait till fall to do something he is probably only going to get worse.

Btw; Karma is a 14 month old neutered Dutch Shepherd/Malinois cross. He is usually very obedient and has a very high toy drive. When I got him at 9-10 weeks old he was a very insecure, shy and scared puppy (with some fear aggression), but has improved dramatically with confidence building excersizes and trick training.

Oh and, before he was attacked, he used to ignore most dogs we met or be easily redirected with a toy or ball. I would really love for him to go back to that.

Welcome! I'm sorry to hear about what happened - that realy sucks

How close do you get to the other dogs before he reacts?

I think the answer is going to be desenstizing all the way. I'd try enlisting the help of some friends with dogs that Karma likes and won't react to and start with that. Walk towrd each other and as you get closer to the other dog, start dishing out high value treats - lots of little tiny treats. As you walk past, the treats fade out and stop. Repeat once or twice and stop for the day.

Basically use the other dog to show him that approaching dogs = really good things.

During the next few weeks try to stay away from unfamiliar dogs because the more he reacts, the more ingrained it will become.

@Mara:

He acts up as soon as he sees another dog, no matter how far away it is, I think the incident really freaked him out. If were lucky I see them first and can get him concentrated on somthing till they are out of view. I've been using familiar dogs (and even strange dogs) as training distractions since he was a puppy and he's never paid much attention to them since now. As far as using dogs he already knows for that type of exercise I'm not sure it will work, but I'll try for sure anyways! Hopefully starting from square one will work