I was out walking Cujo earlier past a house that a new family just moved into - and outside there was a GSD on a tether, as soon as I got near the house, their GSD was baring teeth and lunged to the end of its tether trying to get at my dog, Cujo tried to bolt till I told him to heel, he was torn between knowing he should heel and wanting to get away from the dog that was barking at him.

How should I approach a situation like this? Keep my dog away from their house all together? Get him used to walking by this dog to understand that this other dog can't get at him? I don't know if he's scared of the dog because it was the same time that he reached the end of the leash n the prong collar got him pretty good so he associates the discomfort with that dog or something. He's never been scared of any other dog, he always damn near pulled my arm out of its socket trying to get to other dogs he saw until I recently managed to get him to heel under the distraction of my neighbors dogs.

I'm not quite sure what kinda dog it is, I mean, it looks like a GSD, but its very skinny (bare in mind that I HATE when people tell me my dog is skinny... this dog WAS too thin), but its facial expression is very stupid n goofy, n its hair is very soft n fluffy in appearance. Either they have a dog with a goofy expression that just had a bath, or somewhere out there GSD's with fluffy hair exist, or it's crossed with something.

I don't want to screw something up by making him be even more scared. So as always any advice would be much appreciated.

Mike,
What I have done in the past is if the "crazy" dog is behind a chainlink fence, depending on how scared my dog would be depends on how far back from the fence I stand, the more scared the farther away (if you don't have a bond with your dog IMO you severly lessen how effective this is) and while the other dog is going to town, acting all "cujo like" (no pun intended <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I get down on my knees and let my dog come into me, petting him and talking to him in his ear, good boy, good boy, and just loving him up. He soon realizes (maybe after a few times, some it was instant) that the other dog won't or can't hurt him but is just acting crazy, also, he learns by me talking and petting him not to focus on the dog. At first I would notice with some puppies them looking back, but gradually the amount they look back lessens, until they wouldn't look back or pay any attention to the dog. This worked for me.

Same concept, but I use food and/or toys as the reward is greater and results will be faster. Reward for attention to you, then move along.

There can be a lot of work done here depending on your dog's reaction. But if your dog is just a little scared or passive you can easily correct it with simple rewards for attention to you. Over time you will innure your dog to other animals and he'll look to you for direction and rewards when they are present.

I know Ed's articles have mentioned something about being the pack leader means protecting your dog(your pack)from other dogs(not in the pack). Where a dog might try to intrude on you and your dog, you would make loud noises and scare the dog away. How far do you take this? How could this be used in Mike's situation considering the dog is behind a fence or tied? I guess it depends on your relationship or bond with your dog too- Does he consider you his protector and leader or would it freak him out more?

On the otherhand, technically, nurturing would worsen his reaction, right? or do you just calm him down? Again owner & dog bond probably plays a role I assume.
I do think food would be the best thing though. It works!

I don't know about yelling/making loud noises at the other dog, I think this would serve to increase the likelihood of an aggressive or nervous response from your dog. If the other dog is contained or otherwise can’t reach you I would simply tell my dog to heel and watch me, and I would reward for this behavior. If my dog tried to bolt I would calmly correct him for breaking heel. The key here is as a handler you need to remain absolutely calm and allow your dog to key off of your attitude.

Yesterday when I came into this situation, I walked past the house in question 4 or 5 times with treats in my pocket, rewarded Cujo for heeling with a treat, then figured the owners of the house might wonder why I was walking up n down the sidewalk in front of their house provoking their dog and didn't want to do something wrong from a training perspective so headed back home to post this question on here.

Today I walked by the same house, and the lady that lives there was walking the GSD and her Chihuaha (sp?) - she got off the sidewalk and about 10ft into the grass to keep the GSD away from Cujo when she saw me coming.... to my amazement, Cujo wanted to go greet the GSD that he had shyed away from the day before. I put him in a sit/stay which he didn't even try to break, n their GSD was being quiet, just kickin up grass with hind legs and rolling around at the ladies feet. I guess that because the dog wasnt going nuts lunging towards Cujo that he was ok with the situation.

I have a strong leadership role with my dog, he trusts me with everything and knows I will protect him from bad situations, I've had to do it in the past.... except when i tell him he can swim... he likes the sea and lakes (won't swim but will go chest depth), but won't get in the pool, I don't know how to get him to try it without making him fear it, so I don't bother.