Hi I know this may sound daft,but my Afghan Red was dog reactive,So I brought into the house a younger bitch,to help him,he never went for her,and they used to play,go out on walks,I think he was smitten,ate together,eventually he could go out and was not aggresive,It was important that we got over this problem,because he was a racer,and although when racing had to wear a muzzle,but all the dogs socialised afterwards,he used to be all het up after a race and even more aggressive,so we used tohave to go back to the car and away from the event.So had been offered a whippet and it took a while but he became better,and he would tolerate dogs,which was a lot better than him trying to kill a dog as he had many times,he was very difficult to read,as he would go into a play bow,a dog would comeup all friendly and a fight would happen crystalgirl

That's great that you're home most of the day with him, and yes, try and spare some "him" only time. Everytime you get up and go into the kitchen, call him (if he's not behind you already lol!) be exciting when he arrives, make it a fun visit, make your voice exciting, he'll price up his ears and put his head from side to side, that's what you want to gain all this focus on YOU, make him sit, give you a paw, give him a bit of cheese, then go and get a toy and give him 5 mins, that's all it needs, just 5 mins here and there, and over time, you will find he will look to you for guidance when out and about too, and will focus on you when you ask him to sit nicely by your side, sometimes he gets a treat, sometimes he doesn't (but I'm mean!) and way down the line, he'll just do it anyway, no treats required, because he WANTS to do it because he wants to please you.

With these dogs, I have always found, they never want to put a foot out of line and do anything you wouldn't want of them, purely because they wouldn't want to upset you, and I have NEVER shouted at this current dog of mine ever, because I've never had the need to, she's always been so eager to please, but maybe she knows me too well

They love to "find" too, so when you're home alone with him, hide some treats, make him sit and wait, let him see what you're doing and you'll be surprised just how quickly he'll find each one and be so happy about it and come back to you to do it all over again.

It's not all about going to training classes, most dogs do what is asked of them in a class, it's all about you having that advantage of being home alone with him 24/7 and making him part of YOUR world there, they yearn for this these shepherds, they are people dogs, he should be in heaven with you there, and although they're happy to lie at your feet all day, it doesn't take much out of anyone's life to spend those vital 5 mins here and there to get the message really home of what you want of them. It will prove to be invaluable to you in a sticky situation when out that he listens to you.

When you're out with him offlead, instil your recall not just for when you need to, but lots of times, give him a treat for coming back to you and send him away again. Remember, you only get back what you put in, and although it will seem to take over your whole life at first, it won't once he's learned everything, it'll be 2nd nature.

Please let us know how you're getting on now and again, I would love to hear how you're doing by giving him just that little bit more time, you'll never look back to these dark old days I'm sure, it's all do-able.

hi Crystalgirl, that's what we were thinking too a while back but a kennel chap brought two bitches and introduced them UNDER the fence at the back of our Garden so Cap of course went nuts. then in the car park ( we live at a pub ) he went for the two pups, even though he was muzzled. He may well be ok with a bitch. I am going to see if the behaviourist who is coming to see him on Weds can help him with her dogs. We shall see thanks for your feedback!!

hi Helena, thanks for that. To be honest, that's exactly what I do all the time anyway, in terms of calling him to come with me and the excited voice etc. I always try to involve him in anything we do, and give him jobs etc. He gets 3-4 hours downstairs in the pub in the morning while my OH preps etc, and then comes up to see me in the afternoon. I always make a fuss of him, too much my OH would say, and ask for paw etc - we call it High Five!! and he's really good at it. This morning, I got him to drop a ball in return for a treat. So little bit better
it's really good to know he's not the only dog having trouble and it is really stressful for owners who really care because we think about everything, how it affects the dog, the public, our selves, our home life. But to anyone reading this, and those who already know me, please rest assured I'm in this for the long haul. I love Captain more than anything and will do whatever it takes to help him. I've always said, if I can't help him change his behaviour at least we may be able to find a better way to manage it. I love him as he is, so I don't want him to be a robot just a little less psycho.

by the way, Helena, your doggie on the picture is beautiful!

Sounds like he has a fantastic life with you, he's busy, he has something to watch all the time, lots of love and attention, so don't beat yourself up about it, you've got to respect the fact that he was traumatised in his past life, so much so perhaps, that he could never get over it perhaps, who knows, but you really do seem to be giving him what he needs from what I can gather anyway

I once had an aggressive gsd, who I'd brought up from a pup, she was well socialised, we had another gsd living with her and yet on walks she was a nightmare with other dogs around. I never knew what set it off, I tried walking with friends with groups of dogs to no avail, she just hated all other dogs. I just learned to live with it in the end, as yer do!

My dog would love the life your dog has at the pub, but she'd be sorting out everybody who walked through the door too lol! Just like your boy, she has her issues with visitors, but I can never change that, it's in her make up, so I have to control rather than cure.

thanks for your lovely comment there and good luck with your training I'm sure you will get to a happy medium some day soon.

thanks Helena I hope so he is a really good boy. I love Rotties but a lot of males apparently have this aversion to most other dogs. Must the be the guardian in him. Really interesting too, my OH sometimes walks him when i go away with work, and he goes across the flat of this area whereas I go up and around the top (it's an old mining pit area) - today, the OH went across the flat and I went up top and Cap came with me I think he's just a mummies boy. the first day I brought him home he let me bath, dry and put cream on his wet eczema, we've been bezzie mates since!
hope you stay safe in all this snow. x

You've had some great advice on this thread. Good luck with your behaviourist. Let us know what she says and we'll let you know if we approve.(Only joking)

As you said you're interested in clicker training, here are some very useful tutorials.

http://dogmantics.com/free-video-list/

There's just about everything you could need there. Do start from the basic ones on introducing the clicker. I'd suggest maybe teaching some easy to learn tricks next and then you could move onto "Let's Go" to get you out of the freezing set up. As has already been said, keep him below his fear threshold and become the focus of his life. You have the right attitude to do it.

When you've been clicker training for a while, I'm sure you would be able to get Captain into the car. Then the world's your oyster and off you can go to training classes!

What a shame your pub is so far away. A nice glass of red would go down quite nicely right now.

Cheers,
Nicky

hi Nicky, yeah I have a bottle of Berberana in the cupboard dying to be opened, lol. feel free to drop in any time.
thanks for your kind words, it's nice to know I'm on the right path and will defintely feed back when I've seen the lady on Weds. One thing she did say was that she would bring him a more suitable muzzle to put on in case he reacted if she had to "check him hard" - does this mean she is going to do something awful like the collar jerking etc? I do hope not I want him happy not scared. Maybe I am prejudging but I'd rather not start if it's that kind of training... will keep you posted.

I think you'll get there in the end just because you are so determined to do so. And you have the time to spend to make it work.

Helena said
Having owned GSDs I couldn't agree more with that. I used to say they were never happier than when they were doing what you wanted them to do or were teaching them to do and they were GETTING IT RIGHT! And I never had to shout at mine (what I called 'sergeant majoring' them) it seems to me that blokes are more likely to shout at their dogs - dunno why.

Good luck.

Doesn't sound too promising. I'm sure you'll ask all the relevant questions first beforehand. You are so right though, you don't want him to be scared at all. That would be a real backwards step.