Would there be any way of getting your dog round well balanced dogs? Maybe in a group situation. I only say in a group situation as my dog was like this when we got her. Would bowl every dog over and was very unpredictable with other dogs. However, we started taking her on organised GSD walks, and she has improved no end. She still barks at dogs whilst on lead (which seems to be a trait of GSD's) but when off, she will go straight to their bum now.

Your dog is best learning how to not be scared through other dogs IMO as they can tell your dog how it is in a language he will understand. (I hope that makes sense...)

She's a lot better than she was, she can now cope unless strange a dog passes her close by and she is stationary and the other dog is moving. If she is moving too she's usually ok about 80% of the time unless it eyeballs her or pulls to her. And with humans she is ok if they let her have a sniff first of an open hand she will allowed to be petted on her shoulders and chest by men, and anywhere by women and kids and this has taken like 3 years of work from her lunging and snapping at all strange dogs, noticing and running up to dogs from being a spot on the horizon and barking at them and snapping and even running circles round strangers and barking at them, especially men.

In your first post you said you said you use the leave command once he reacts.
You shouldn't be waiting until he reacts, as soon as he shows any alert body signs around dogs, use 'leave', then give him a treat, then change direction away from the other dog until (and if) he and the other dog are calm to meet.

If you are in a situation whereby there are so many dogs that you dont know to whom and when he will react,
then i would suggest you are picking the wrong time and location to sort out the problem.
You need quieter times, quieter places, known dogs.
How about just concentrating on the doggie friends has has now, which you mentioned earlier?
Or if you know the park (?) is the problem, then you need to back able to have the dog trained and focussed on yourself by using treats before you even enter the park.

An early 'leave' command is good, but if you can help it, try to even avoid getting to the point where you have to tell him to 'leave'.
It does sound like your dog know associates the command 'Leave' as a last minute panic reaction.
Which is where the Turid Rugaas and the Calming Signals i mentioned earlier comes in. This starts when the dogs are a very long distance away.

You need to teach your dog a good solid 'watch me' command at home first, then use that as soon as your dog shows calming signals. This is a confident yet reassuring command, as you are telling the dog you are taking responsibility for the situation and thus encouraging him to diffuse the situation before it starts.

If your dog is tense around other dogs and your are taking him to a place with lots of dogs (which i dont think is a good idea at this stage anyway), then it is crucial everything you do is calming.
Getting him to run around chasing balls is only going to keep his arousal and adrenaline levels high, which isn't a good idea if he is already tense and wound up.

It does sound like you have hit an impasse and are at the point of just reacting to a situation, instead of preventing it, despite all your hard work thus far.

There were lots of points in my earlier posts you havent commented upon.
ie, did the behaviourist go with you to the place where your dog kicks off?
Are you making your dog tense yourself by your own signals and stress?
Are you using a tense lead?
What equipment are you using?
Does the rescue have a trainer/behaviourist and did you consult them?
What diet is your dog on?
Is he neutered?

I do feel that that you need professional assistance to put into place what we are suggesting on here - whereabouts do you live?

BTW, fear and dominance don't really exist together.

Citronella collars can make a fearful dog more fearful, and require expert timing, and require some expert instruction.
Which again requires acting early, not in the heat of the moment or once he is well stuck in.

Agree with all the fear advice on here - I would not use a spray collar or anything as it can startle the dog and cause it to redirect its aggression even more

I am lucky at the moment my mum is training to be a bach flower therapist and she has mixed up a potion for Mia - and it is really helping, but the rescue remidy helpd lots in the early stages
It wont hurt your other dogs - but I found it made Ben too chilled - he looked all stoned!! I have found that if you hold the dropper just above their upper lip they lap it fine (careful they dont bite) and 3 drops 3 to 4 times a day is good

Mia sounds v similar - I am working on lots of things with her
One thing I like is a 'wheres my chicken' response

When she sees another dog, before she reacts I ask for a sit and a 'look at me' command and I feed her tasty treats
the idea is that eventualy when she sees a dog she will sit and look to me - this is a less threatining approach than the bounding up with stiff legs and tail up - makes other dogs less likely to attack

also - wondering if it might be an idea to practise some agility or trick training in the park - just go in for 5 min and work, not interacting with other dogs, reward lots and leave
then they may get the idea that it is a safe place and they dont have to interact with other dogs

I find this highlighted comment quite offensive, it is a sarcastic way of saying that anyone who physically touches a dog is actually kicking it and inflicting pain. Anyone with half a brain knows this is not necessarily so.

You are wrong in making such a statement and claiming that no benefit could accrue to the dog. A dog is an animal who naturally responds to physical contact , indeed this is likely to be more natural and less stressful than many other so called remedies .

You have had a problem with your dog for two years and it is only now "fairly normal", not exactly roaring success for your methods is it. So to make sarcastic comments about other's attempts to help their dogs is rather silly.

Three months ago I took a beautiful 2 .25 year old Boxer from the breeding kennel existence he had only known all his life and to my shame introduced him far too rapidly into our over complicated world. The result is one big mixed up Boy, extremly aggressive plus othe issues.

I will do whatever it takes to help this dog, and if that means being a bit physical with him I will, in spite of comments like yours. What I won't do is hurt him or in any way damage his spirit.

I am pleased to say that I am having great success with Yorkie who I am sure will not have to wait two years plus to resume a good life. Good news for my wife and myself also for we know well the stress of living with and helping aggressive dogs

which just goes to prove even experts such as yourself get it badly wrong. Its not a compitition, without knowing what issues C&D's dogs have, I find your comment really offensive,
yes we would all love to sort issues quickly, but the truth be known, many quick fixed issues, are not really fixed at all. Some things take longer, the fact that C&D has got there with her dog should be applauded, not condemend over the time it took. Many people would have just given up, stuck the dog back in rescue, I respect those who plough on no matter what it takes or how long.

Recognizing one's mistakes is the first step to learning, I recommend it to you. You could start by reading what is written and not interpreting it to suit yourself'

I didn't intentionally not answer your questions, I tend to ramble and miss the point when writing messages!

It's not so much that there are tons of dogs everywhere, when I said that I didn't know when and to which dog he would react I was generalising. On an average walk we will meet maybe 3 or 4 dogs. The problem is morre that we don't know which dogs we'll meet and many of them are new to him. The friends he has are randomly met. Sometimes we bump into them, many times we won't so we just take it as it comes.
He doesn't seek out dogs, he'll walk right past them if they aren't looking at him, it's mainly the ones who insist on saying hi and there seem to be many of them around here. Also, once he's decided he dislikes a dog, there's no changing his mind! He then dislikes every dog of that breed. He took a dislike to a red setter at the park and now just flies at any setter within 6 feet of him.
I would love a behaviourist to come but can't afford £200 for an hour like last time! We are in Basingstoke and I've been given a couple of numbers but haven't pursued it as the last time made little difference.

I've just started doing this. It took me 18 months to get him to train anywhere other than the training barn (incl the garden) so we're just getting to grips with training at the park!

He has started to head for the back end of the dog occasionally now instead of face on every time so something is happening!
Thankyou for all the replies and if anyone knows a good behaviourist in the area who doesn't cost an arm and a leg (I am willing to travel but I know they prefer to come to you) I'd love to hear of them!

Pot meet kettle? that is exactly what you just did. Took three words from another members post and blew it out of proportion. Feeling a little guilty that you like to get physical with your dogs? just because others can train without getting physical doesn't mean you need to get all shirty with them. If you get so defensive over a few words that were not even directed at you, you must really be questioning your training methods.

Everyone single one of your posts I have read reeks of arrogance.

well said, i cant give you reppies at the mo but thats what i would have said if i could have put it into words

that is just rude
you jumped on a bit of a post that had nothing to do with you
shona imo replied v well to what you put

if you are so experienced with this type of issue why not help the op with some constructive suggestions intead of jumping on those that do

i am really happy that a problem you caused in the first place you were able to address quickly, but that does not put you in a place to critasize those of us who are in the lond slow processs of rehabilitating dogs with unknown histories and real deep seated fears and behaviours, the op and C&D sound like they have done some amazing heartbreaking work

i know what it is like to have people tell you you have a truly domonent dog, to suggest all sorts of heavy handed training methods, but to then see that poor'aggressive domonant' dog run home and hide in her crate shaking (of course i do my best not to put her in those situations but you cannot control who is going to appear from around the corner)