How to deal with a dominent dog?

George is still quite a scared dog but is improving with other dogs letting them approach with not to much reaction. Depending on the other dog he will either try & scare him off or just looks a bit aggitated however there is one off lead Rotti that really caused a problem when they met. The dog came straight up & looked George straight in the eyes & when George just stood his ground he started to growl. Luckily before it kicked off his owner heard the noise & bellowed at the dog to come which it reluctantly did. We try to avoid it now but as it lives close it is only a matter of time before we meet again. I was just wondering what I could do with my dog to try & stop the problem from erupting????

That's a difficult one isn't it, especially as it's not your dog.

I would probably do the same as you and if I did see it in the future just walk away (if possible) the good thing is that although reluctant when called it still went back to its owner

Hopefully someone will be along who can be of more help

Just know where and when the rotti is about and avoid him. definitely don't let them meet off lead.

It is quite difficult encountering such dogs, especially if they're off lead and the owners are nowhere to be seen..
My suggestion is to try and avoid that dog as much as possible and if you do meet him, try and put a barrier between him and your dog. Walk around a car, a house, a fence, anything that comes between you. It creates distance and breaks the stare, it gives you a bit more time to perhaps let the owner know to call their dog back.
Teach your dog a command like 'watch me' so you can get him to focus on you instead of the other dog when he's around, that way you avoid a 'staring contest' which can escalate.
Good luck, I hope you don't have any more problems with that dog!

What I do is to stand in front of my dog, if the other dog tries to get round me I keep stepping in front. I the owner is close by I can ask the owner to get her/his dog, if not I use the voice of doom and give the dog a command like sit or down.

I always step forward putting myself between my dogs and the incoming dog and tell it to "Back off" in a commanding voice. Nothing has ever got past me yet. TBF I expect all strange dogs to greet me before greeting my dogs, dogs they know can just come and say hello.

If this Rottie was really dominant he would not growl & simply by posture & stance attempt to "dominate" another dog.

Sounds like your boy is still learning canine body language to avoid any "problems"like meeting a dog who has no manners, but isn't scared of other dogs, is as the others have said, break your dogs focus on the dog & if needs be turn away from the other dog.

Teaching your dog to focus on you-the"watch"needs some very high value rewards & training away from distration at first. Have a look here

As said before - concentrate on keeping your dog away from the other one for now if you can. Not everyone is confident their commands given to strange big dogs will be obeyed. Or confident enough to try it!

At the end of the day you can only really control what YOUR dog does, not other people's dogs. So I'd avoid the area where you are likely to run into it for now. And, keep your eyes peeled for it and if you see it try to divert your dog in another direction or try to make sure he doesn't see it.

There are only a couple of dogs I try to avoid 'bumping into' here. Both of them have 'gone for' Bella in the past and her being a bit dim she goes potty if she sees either of them! (She'd fit in their mouths)

With the first, a GSD, the owner walks two at the same time every morning so I either go much earlier or after he has gone home (he isn't out long his poor GSDs only get about a 10 minute walk every day which probably contributes towards their irritability).

With the other I just keep a good eye out. It's a big brown Shar Pei and that owner also walks two together (but unfathomably keeps the friendly one on the lead and lets the over boisterous one run free? Probably finds it too hard to control it on a lead)

I use cars and wheelie bins to walk round if I want to block my dog's view of something.

Most dogs are off lead here & most are without an owner so it can be a bit diconcerting. If he comes in again would it be right for me to yank Georges lead to break the stare & move him away or would this just put my dog at a disadvantage?

Yeah, I try & walk very early in the morning & late afternoon but these dogs have no routine as they are just let out to wander. George is just like yours & does not seem to have the common sense to avoid the bad ones
Thanks everyone