Sounds v like my girl

Yes it could be
Or it could be that the pulling away changes to body language or makes him feel out of control

Best thing I have found is not to pull her away - or let the other dog get pulled away from her but get in a routine of greeting then get called away for a treat for the good greeting - then the focus is away from the other dog - and if need be put him in a sit and give loads of treats as the other dog walks away

You might need to borow stooge dogs to practise on so you can be confident they are not going to get pullled away before you are ready

I don`t know what`s in their heads - but yes, Shamus also has problems communicating. He doesn`t understand the rules of dog / dog relationships I think.
Again - I really feel that calling him back to you so he learns to be controlled around other dogs is the key.
If you want him to interact with other dogs, you can always walk with someone and let the dogs get to know each other. You never know what a strange dog will do, after all.
Shamus has now learned that if he detours around other dogs, they ignore him, and he`s a lot more confident.

I'm so upset and reaching the end of my tether!

Took Storm out for a walk and an old man (really old farmer) with a dog (quite youngish Collie cross) on a bit of rope came walking towards us down the lane. So I took out Storm's favourite ball (which he is totally obsessed with normally when we are out) and held it up to him to try and distract him until the man and dog went past, but as soon as Storm heard them, he turned around and started staring and pulling towards the dog (who was just walking past calmly). I couldn't get his attention back onto me at all and he just went beserk at dog and because the dog then started reacting back, the old man started hitting it on the nose with the rope lead! I didn't say anything, as I was desparately trying to keep a hold of Storm, even though he was on his lead, he was just going mental!!

I'm afraid I lost my temper with Storm then, especially as the other dog, who was doing nothing really got punished because of him and I really shouted at Storm, frog marched him home and now he is shut in the kitchen on his own. I know he probably doesn't realise what he's done wrong now, but I'm just so upset and angry with him.

What can we do?? It's just getting too much now. Just before this incident, down the same lane, we had met someone we knew with a female Lab, who was off lead and Storm was absolutely fine with her. I just mentioned this to my OH and it seems now that he is only like this with male dogs, not females.

I think we all loose the rag sometimes
I totaly feel for you, the thing to try and remember is he isnt doing it to be bad, he just dosent know what else to do at the moment

Sounds like at the moment he is too wound up. If he cant focus on you or his reward then he is just too far over the top

Just now I would just get out of the situation
If you are in any doubt about his reaction to other dogs just now turn around/cross the road/duck down a side street - and get out of there
Give him a chance to calm down

Then in a few days try working him on focusing on his ball when other dogs are around - but not so close as he will react

If at any point you overestimate how close a dog can be and he reacts just walk away

I hope you feel a little better soon, I know it is horible
sending the best vertual hugs I can - I have been there

Oh dear, I'm so sorry you've had these bad encounters again

Please don't take it out on your dog though, there's a reason behind all this even though you don't know what it is (nor do I!). I know how you feel though, I felt so bad when Zena had bitten another dog, I felt like she had let ME down in all honestly, but I've been lucky enough to find something that works well for her, so we're on the road to progress, and hopefully, someone can get you there too.

With Storm I don't think it's fear aggression like you said earlier, so in all honestly, to make you calmer throughout the whole walk, I really feel he should be muzzled, for the safety of other dogs if not himself. With me, it's totally different, because a lot of other dogs just don't seem to like my dog, even when owners have grabbed their dogs to walk past me when they've seen that I've put her onlead, the other dogs usually growls and snarls at mine, and yet mine is totally unswathed (sp?) by it all, she's never lunged or barked at any other dog (only bitten!), she just sits or walks. The lead thing with mine means nothing to her either, she can take it or leave it and still act the same, whereas there does seem to be a confliction with Storm when he is on the lead, you thought it made him worse, but I really don't think you could possibly risk leaving him off could you??! Hence the reason I'm loathe to muzzle mine because she's never been the aggressor until provoked!

Think back to when this behaviour suddenly started, it could give you a clue. Change of food/treats maybe? A confrontation with another dog or something?

Hopefully, somebody will be along to help, but I really know how you felt, I hated my dog after she did what she did, I felt terribly let down by her considering she had so many GOOD meetings with numerous dogs, she is always friendly and playful, everybody was telling me that, and then she goes and does that! Mine is 1 in 100, whereas yours is getting to be the majority of dogs, and there will be a key somewhere to find out just what's setting him off, you just gotta find it, with a little bit of help.

Didn't you post up once that he did this down the town once? I'm sure it was Storm when he was onlead and went to greet another dog and kicked off? I'm sorry, I don't know his history, don't know how long you've had him, and if it's not long, then of course, he could be a da dog, in which case in some ways, it's a lot easier to deal with, at least you know where you are at (I've had one myself!). All the very best, try not to upset yourself and moreover, try not to take it out on Storm, he's been bad for a reason.

if you`ve had a bad one - start afresh tomorrow.
What I would have done in that situation (and I learned to do this by painful experience ) is to turn round and walk away. This isn`t the time to test your control because you have found that needs some more work. You can`t train a stressed dog. What you need to do is to train in behaviours when the dog is calm that will stand you in good stead when he`s not.
Don`t beat yourself up, hun.

Yes, it does - I'm no expert but my dog used to be precisely like this.

He was so desperate to interact with every dog he saw, and pulling him away made it worse. He would go beserk - lunging, barking, jumping, dragging me towards the other dog.

In the end I had to take him to our local park, put him on a long line, and let him go and play with the other dogs!

It made a massive difference - his frustration began to decrease and in a matter of weeks, we were able to walk past other dogs in the street without my dog behaving like a raving lunatic.

I think it's called 'barrier frustration' - where a dog gets so over excited at the sight of other dogs, that we as the owners think they are being fearful or aggressive, so we avoid other dogs, so the dog gets even MORE desperate to mix with other dogs...and so on. It's a vicious circle.


Do you think this could be what's happening with you...?


Again, I'm certainly no expert, so if you are not sure, keep your dog on a long line at the park. Don't let him off leash if you don't have a solid recall or if you even suspect he may become aggressive with other dogs.

Oh poor you ((((hugs))))) Ive lost my rag and shouted at Cain once or twice when he's really lost it. I always felt absolutely awful afterwards But we're all human and these things happen.

Just to agree with what others have said about allowing him to calm down. Once a dog gets stressed, hormones fly around in their blood and stay up for 3 or so days. His threadhold will bw lower during this time and he'll more more likely to kick off, he won't focus as well and it won't help anything. Avoid anything stressful if possible for at least a few days then start again.

Do you know that old song? "Pick yourself up, brush yourself off, start all over again" Its hard but what's done is done, onwards and upwards!

I don't think Storm would actually be aggressive to other dogs, I think it's just a lot of noise. The only time he has 'seemed' to be really aggressive off lead was when he was playing with his ball and a dog tried/or succeeded in stealing it off of him. No blood has ever been drawn though and again it looked and sounded a lot worse than it actually was, so I'm not sure I want to muzzle him at this time. We've had him since almost 9 months now and no dog has ever been hurt by him, though I know there can always be a first time.

From what has been mentioned on here though, it does sound as though he could have Barrier Frustration. So, what I think we're going to try is this and we're going to start from tomorrow:

[dog forum link removed]

The only problem is, we don't have anyone to set up a positive meet and greet with.

Anyway, thanks so much for all your help and support!

Sounds like Parker, it's useful having one friendly dog with normal social skills isn't it!