doesn't want to fight them, he wants to play. I know this is a form of aggression, but am not sure of the best way to handle it. Here's some background:

My dog is a 1 year old male (intact) Australian shepherd. He is around my girlfriends 3 little dogs all the time and he's fine with them. When he sees other dogs he barks and growls, it's embarrassing because he sounds like he wants to fight and people don't want to bring their dogs near him. However, when he gets around a strange dog he's very sweet and playful and a little submissive. He shows NO aggression in any other way. He's extremely friendly to people, kids, cats, ferrets..etc. It's just the initial reaction to other dogs. I am currently training him using the DVD's from this site. I have an e collar, prong, and just got a dominant dog collar that is his regular collar, but I ordered it a little to big. I know I need to get him around other dogs so we can get over this, but I am not sure of what type of corrections/markers etc. I should use to deal with this. Any advice from anyone who's dealt with this successfully would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post!!

jon

Well, I'd look at it as reactive, period.

So I'd consider the other dogs to be high-level distractions and I'd read about desensitizing here (desensitize and desensitizing as your search terms).

Yes, quite a bit of dog-aggro and dog-fearful desensitizing success has been described here.

And it's a process that enhances a lot, from bullet-proof Ob to your bond with the dog.

I use marker work outside the edge of the trigger area. But this is described in lots of detail in three or four long threads, including one of dog reactive success stories.

Thanks Connie! I will do a search!!

Jon