Another bad walk experience.

[ann g]

It isn't all dogs, when I take him to the vet, he'll go right up to other dogs. Most of the time he's fine. Some dogs, he just goes crazy at first sight. We sat right next to another male shepherd at vet last week and the other dog tried to nip him several times and mine paid no attention to him. He just picks and chooses which dogs he doesn't like. As for walks I just cant be sure if its aggression or if he's just to excited to get to them. When he was puppy, there were several dogs that ran up on us and tried nipping him so he has always been leary when he see's dogs. When he went through obedience class at 18months he did great, best in his class. But that didn't change any behavior outside the class. We have tried keeping a distance and trying to reward behavior but his focus cant be broken if he smells or see's another dog. Food rewards don't work either for he isn't food motivated at all. I have tried walking with more slack, that just makes him worse. We probably will need to seek out a professional behaviorist, the only problem is where we live we have very few options with little experience with these types of problems.

[CurtisM]

As I was walking Frodo today, someones small dog ran out of their garage, charged him and barked uncontrollably at him. This happens almost every day, we encounter loose dogs running around us. How on earth is Frodo suppose to have positive associations with other dogs when this keeps happening. I live in a military community and they don't enforce leash rules. I understand that most of the time these are smaller dogs but just the same they are making him more fearful. He has never bit anyone or another dog but I am worried that one day he will. Where will that leave him since he is the bigger dog and in most peoples minds, the mean German Shepherd. I bought a Halti headcollar that that seems to get him in control better but I am still scared every time we walk. PAST INFO- he was nipped at a few times as a puppy when he was being walked(by loose dogs) do you think these situations have caused permanent damage?

You put a tool meant for a horse on a working dog. If he's uncontrollable you need to put him on a prong and teach him that pulling isn't allowed. I don't correct my dogs for barking at other dogs, I correct them for not doing what they KNOW they should be, which is walking next to me with a slack leash.

Of course, you can continue to listen to the treat hugs and kisses crowd and put a halter on your dog and see how that continues to "work"...

Save a dog, donate your halties to your nearest pony rescue!

[DaneMama]

You put a tool meant for a horse on a working dog. If he's uncontrollable you need to put him on a prong and teach him that pulling isn't allowed. I don't correct my dogs for barking at other dogs, I correct them for not doing what they KNOW they should be, which is walking next to me with a slack leash.

Of course, you can continue to listen to the treat hugs and kisses crowd and put a halter on your dog and see how that continues to "work"...

Save a dog, donate your halties to your nearest pony rescue!

Um...so you suggest her throwing away a tool that doesn't inflict pain while training for one that does inflict pain on a dog? That makes no sense to me. I personally believe harming a dog is the lazy way to train a dog and I feel sorry for the dogs that learn this way.

Ann- keep the gentle leader/halti and continue on working through behavior issues with positive reinforcement.

[RawFedDogs]

Um...so you suggest her throwing away a tool that doesn't inflict pain while training for one that does inflict pain on a dog? That makes no sense to me. I personally believe harming a dog is the lazy way to train a dog and I feel sorry for the dogs that learn this way.

Ann- keep the gentle leader/halti and continue on working through behavior issues with positive reinforcement.

Yes, listen to Natalie (danemama08). Curtis is still using training methods that went out of favor 20 years ago. There are more modern much more humane methods. Use them. Curtis is too lazy to learn the proper methods of dog training. Or he has the attitude, "worked for me 20 years ago and I'm not going to change. I don't care how much better the newer methods are." This should show everyone to be careful when picking a trainer for your dog. You might end up with one who will do more harm than good.

[ann g]

I am definately not going to use prong or choke collars, I don't want my dog to like/obey me out of fear because of a behavior that has been learned because of loose dogs that aren't being under the control of responsible dog owners. I am a responsible pet owner and I will take all the time I need to work on his problem but I wont inflict any kind of pain on him.