I have 2 GSDs that are like this. The male won't bark, but his hair stands on end and his head lowers, as if too attack The girl on the other hand, 'gobs off' then throws herself to the ground and becomes really submissive.

As others have posted, distract your dogs when you have an idea that you have to pass any other dogs. Use a strong smelling, tasty treat, either walk in the opposite direction, or make her sit. You must keep her attention on you. If she isn't food orientated, try her favourite toy. Make it into something that she's going to enjoy.

Also try introducing your girl to other friendlier dogs. This is probably better done with friends dogs, who don't mind her barking. It could be more to do with fear than anything else. She's going to try her best to 'scare off' the other dogs, before they 'attack' her. She will also pick up on your body language too, so try and stay as calm and stress free as you can.

Hope you get on ok tomorrow

Hi there, thanks for reply, dont think fear is the problem i think we socialised her wrong when a puppy , we let her run up to all dogs and play its more an excitement thing if other dog walkers walked up to us she would be very friendly, its strange situation as off lead in the field she wont bark just play. I will post how i get on tomorrow, all good advise and very appreciated, Pauline x

One thing you will note is that you may not get very far on your walk, the amount of times I have to walk backwards and forwards is amazing but the dogs are slowly learning, consistancy is the key, never ever miss an opportunity as that will set you back quite a bit.
Good Luck and keep us posted.
Becky

I'm glad it's not only me, this sounds exactly the same as my boy Takoda.

This is exactly what we do too...We are still working on it but he is getting better over time...just give it lots and lots of time as it does / can take a long while.

The thing is with my boy, onlead he can look like a raving loonatic...He doesn't really bark as mine don't bark too much...but boy he can make some sounds!...All in all he ends up looking so aggressive and people have looked horrified at him and think I'm taking the **** when I say he is actually friendly and don't give us a chance.

Off lead however he is all sweetness and light especially if a dog doesn't run from him and in that case he will walk to them, touch noses and actually be a little spooked so I know full well all this comotion on the lead doesn't mean he wants to do any harm.

I actually think my boy is quite sensitive and most likely a little fearful and this is why he feels better off lead (so he could run - away! - if he wanted to) where as onlead he feels like he has to stick his chest out real proud and make a show to warn other dogs off, because although he lunges to get at them he doesn't actually want them near him onlead!

I personally can pin point a couple things that probably led to this behaviour. I think once you understand 'why' and then you set about changing the behaviour and with lots of patience you can make it better.

**a note about the headcollars...It's akward because you do need the extra help in restraint but at the same time I too found that the more restrictive ones really fulled his lunging and noise and he would really get him self wound up more...I use a canny collar on my boy now when I want to get from a to b or walk both my dogs at the same time, as it is less restrictive on the face than the others but the best training times for him are one to one and just collar and lead, (using Mahooli's suggestion) you then have to time his reactions just right so that you turn away before he really gets his lunge on and has not gone into full power, if you turn at just the right time you deflect his soon to be forward momentum, putting you back in power, but you have to get the timing right or you do end up on your butt.

Another tip is when you are doing the training walks try to make sure he gets the opportunity to let off alot of steam one way or another on separate runs, the more excersized they are the more willing to comply in these training walks they will be.

Good luck

I have a four month GSD who is going through the exact same thing I use a mixture of treats and a toy.

The toy I use is a rubber ring I feel this is better than a ball as the dog can get a close tug of war with mum or dad as you pass the other dog taking his mind of it.

The results I have had in a short space of time is now when the pup sees another dog approaching he immediately comes to heal and walks past the other dog completely focussed on me waiting for his reward.

Once your dog is passing dogs with you playing with her extend it so you dont reward her until after you pass another dog, this not only looks better to other dog owners it means you can give her a bigger play when the obstacle (other dog has past)


remember at the first stage make yourself and the toy animated it has to be the best thing in the world to take her mind of the other dogs
Good luck

Would I be right in thinking that she pulls on the leash too?

Thanks for that it makes all the diff knowing others have a similar problem, when i walk my dog i only ever meet very well behaved ones.
Is that canny collar the one advertised on dogsey home page, just spotted it tonight, might buy one and give it a try.
We went for a long walk today(3 miles) typical no dogs, i usually have to avoid them, today none. I felt so confident with my new plan i really enjoyed it so did Sassy, she got a good run and a paddle in the river, both of us came back covered in mud and very wet. Ive never had the confidence to walk that far with her as its very busy, on way out of field we walked straight into a woman with a collie, but i stayed calm (so proud of myself) Sas didnt bark she was as surprised as me, i asked if they could meet, my dog was fantastic just had sniff, but collie snapped at her no damage done, it was like winning the lottery she still didnt bark, off out tomorrow with my new plan and more confidence, i know we might go backwards some days but i have the patience, for 1st time in ages i was so proud of her and enjoyed her.
SO BIG BIG THANKYOU TO YOU ALL
LOL Pauline XX

Hi there, Yes she pulls till she has a run then she is good as gold, i tend to give her quick run in football field then go for our walk, its that excitement again, she dont just pull she bounces all over the place crying she is like a kid in sweety shop when she first gets out, ive tried taking her out evey hour to see if she would calm but each time she still so so so excited. Dont want her to calm to much as she is so funny and has great personality. LOL Pauline

That is such good news your right some days will be better than others, but days like this make you feel great Well done to you guys!

(I think it is the canny collar on here yes, also do a quick search and you should come up with their homepage.)