Thank you Mini, off to read your link now x

That is very helpful, and I am with the help of the behaviorist going to get fine tuned on how to do all the stuff in the right way, calmly.
But really want to know when in the situation of him airsnapping barking and growling at a dog when he is off lead (very unlikely to happen but still I want to be armed) How do I calmly intervene in that situation without shouting? Do I calmly walk over, re attach his lead and walk off, call him calmly away, I want to know, how do i let him know the behavior is wrong if I don't show any change in my body language???

OK, you want to avoid really thinking in terms of "letting him know the behaviour is wrong" ...

If he is fearful, anxious, wound up, frustrated etc that's not going to help and indeed, because he is phsically OTT then he may not actually hear you ver well, or be able to obey you even if he does.

Shouting etc can make dogs worse. So what I'd suggest is, try to avoid going near to other dogs and in fact keep your boy under close control until you've seen the b. and then you should get some help with the "what to do" bit and the "how to alter his behaviour" bit and that will lead onto the "alter his emotions from fearful to calmer" etc

See, tis easy

Seriously, hang on in there. Well done for getting professional help, too.

Wys
x

Thanks Wys, I am doing as above as much as is humanly possible, I guess I am wanting to jump forward a few steps, never a good thing, I know

Hi Zoe yes in this situation I would walk quietly over and put Sampson on the lead saying nothing to him.
Unless Sampson has an excellent recall it is best not to call him if you think he may ignore you.
Best still try to avoid confrontation by only letting him off the lead when there are no dogs around until you have both developed a suitable strategy to cope (as suggested in the earlier thread ).

Thanks again Mini, yeah I do only let him off in very open areas where I can see far ahead and behind and if I see anyone with dogs we recall and put his lead on or divert while still off lead if we can.
Today we diverted when I saw a lady with 2 dogs coming, her dog came running over before Samson noticed he/she was even there, had a sniff and Samson chased back to his/her owner sniffed both dogs fine and came back when I whistled all good? But I stayed completely calm.
This kind of meeting is always better than when I am nearby so I am guessing I am some sort of trigger to his behavior, but you are right I will do best getting a strategy in place with the behaviorist before I start jumping ahead