Yes I'd noticed you were in Turkey. I'm in Cyprus and a lot of the perceived wisdom goes out the window when you live where the 'locals' have a totally different attitude towards dog and keeping dogs.

Keeping my own dog SAFE is my priority. I'm not setting out to educate the Cypriots about how to get their dogs to behave. They already think I'm very peculiar because I pick up my dog's poo. And very cruel because I had her spayed.

Hi Imbat,

Try not to yank him as you might inadvertently create a negative association with "ouch neck" and "other dog" by the sound of things your dog is still learning, try to use food to move him or if he is too freaked simply walk away (with him) and stay calm

My dog used to be super reactive and now she will stop with the "off" command but it's taken an awful long time to get to that stage.

Good luck

Haha, how true. They think I am weird for having mine on a lead but there you go. I don't want to penalise George by not walking him but I do worry that as he is not very street wise it could end in trouble
Keep safe

Never thought of that good point. I think he just needs more meetings that go well to make him relax a bit

Hi Imbat - in my limited experience of rotties they do seem to stare at other dogs (and humans) but they don't actually mean to be aggressive - it just seems to be a rottie quirk. A very unfortunate quirk I have to say because a lot of dogs misinterpret it too! I wonder if he hadn't seen your dog before and came over to investigate and they do tend to use their eyes rather than their noses.

Could possibly have been that as he did come in very calmly & just stared but after about 10 seconds he then started growling & turned very aggressive

That definitely isn't the behaviour of a dominant dog, they don't need to growl at all, growling is a warning to stay away. Lure your dogs focus away from other dogs by offering rewards(very high value food is a good reward)

I misread your post - so he stood and stared at your dog and because your dog wouldn't look away they then began growling at each other? Sounds a bit scary. I'm not defending the rottie but I just wondered if he was used to dogs looking away and when yours didn't it unnerved him.

Anyway I always think distraction is the best course of action - even when the other darn dog is in the wrong!!

Yes, it would put him at a disadvantage, and it might make him feel that he was being punished when he hasn't done anything wrong. By all means, snap him on lead and take him briskly away to avoid a confrontation, but don't make it a correction. Get him to look at you first, so he knows you're the one in charge of this, then lead him away. Use your voice to keep the situation calm.

If there is a confrontation and the owner isn't around, you might try a distraction. I've done this with a strange Dalmatian barrelling my tiny puppy all over the place. I just brandished a bag of treats and yelled SIT! There was sitting, there were treats, and all was happy. Just a thought.

If you can, it might help to talk to the other dog's owner-- sounds like they're aware of the possibility of aggression, so you may be able to come to some agreement.

Thanks for the suggestions unfortunately I cannot talk to the owner as my Turkish is not that good so I will concentrate on trying to distract George. The only problem is once he spots the dog he takes no notice to me or treats so hauling him away with him jumping & looking back seems the only option.