# My dog won't leave other dogs alone.



## sydneyechoted (Aug 20, 2013)

Help! My dog is dog obsessed!

I'm feeling a bit depressed today. For the past 2+ years I have been working with my 3 year old Toller Sydney (neutered) to try and get him better with other dogs. He would like to drag me over to every dog we see and after pulling me over several times and knocked over a bin (so embarrassing) I knew I had to do something. 
So two years down the line and we can do heel work past other dogs provided we are at least a metre and a bit away, 95% of the time he will walk past looking at me and then gets a treat, but he still occasionally lunges at other dogs (especially collies). But i think he's better than he was, the distance he needs is a lot less than it used to be. We go to Keswick a lot to train.
He's worse when we are running, usually because i don't have as much time to prepare for another dog and get the treats under his nose, but if he lunges at the first dog its very very hard to get his focus back and stop him lunging at every single one.

But last night I think we took about 500 paces backwards, and maybe all my work has made no real difference. We were at agility class and he was interested in the dogs waiting on the other side of the field who were in the next class but I got his attention (I had bacon!) and I was being really OTT to try and keep his attention, but he came out of the tunnel and instead of coming round to me he darts off the other side of the field to this one collie and there's a lot of growling (I think from both but my mum says it was the other dog) but the guy who's dog it was was holding it up on two legs on its lead to try and get it away from Sydney. And he came straight back when I called him. Luckily no one took it very seriously and our trainer said he'll get better with other dogs by doing agility. But I was so embarrassed and I just feel like crying about it all! 

But now I'm wondering if he's aggressive with other dogs, I've always assumed he just wanted to play, but he does make horrible growly snarly noises when he gets to the other dog and when it happens on walks sometimes the other owners are shocked and think he's trying to attack their dog. But that's how he plays with my other dogs and it sounds really vicious but they're always wagging their tails and prancing about and have relaxed body language. I can always tell when they're having a real fight. Sometimes i think he stares at other dogs but i dont know if hes just watching/looking at them. So I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know how to progress.

So I don't really know what to do, I feel so useless and I don't know how to cope with him. I just want him to ignore other dogs, or at least walk past them and not interact with them. I feel like he should be better for all the work we've done, he's in an obedience class and an agility class every week with other dogs and every time we go for a walk I'm training him past other dogs. 

So I guess my real questions are:
- do you think he's aggressive / scared of the other dogs? Or is just trying to play, and being too boisterous.
- how can I get him to ignore other dogs? Without having to do heelwork past all of them or stop and sit and watch me, which is fine on a walk or in town but not if we are running or doing agility.


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## smokeybear (Oct 19, 2011)

I would suggest you find a trainer to whom you can go to and learn how to practices self control exercises with your dog.

If there has been so little improvement in two years you could do with some help.

It is impossible to diagnose over the ether whether or not your dog is displaying aggression or frustration.

If you do not have sufficient control over your dog in this situation then you should not be doing agility as obviously dogs are far more interesting than the jumps, the bacon or you.


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## Owned By A Yellow Lab (May 16, 2012)

It might be frustration rather than aggression - but impossible to say without seeing your dog.

My Lab used to be fixated on other dogs, it's taken over two years to get a decent recall. So I feel your pain 

I do wonder if maybe by being 'OTT' and running, you might be taking your dog a bit over threshold and exacerbating the issue slightly? It sounds as though your dog is getting very excited and then growling etc when he finally reaches another dog.

Personally I try to keep my dog as calm as possible, especially when he's on a lead. Have you used a 'watch me'? That works really well if you practise a lot without distractions and get a solid response before seeking to use it around other dogs.

Hope that helps a bit. If you have a trainer in your area who is good and uses positive methods, then it might be an idea to contact them 

Don't be too hard on yourself, you're doing your best, I know how frustrating it is


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