I dont know what else to do

J is a 5 year old ESS who screeches and yaps everytime I take him out. He calms down after a while but if we see another dog he starts up again with this really high pitch screeching and barking and will not stop.

We have tried going back in, stopping until quiet but he never is so this one is pointless. We have seen a top behaviourist, J was fine in his environment but was the same when back in his own.

This is spoiling the enjoyment of owning J as I cant take him anywhere, he loses out.

What can I do?

Is he the same when someone else walks him? It may be you (sorry) that is the problem. I am not saying it is your fault but he may feel very protective towards you. It maybe fear aggression, does he get to run free off lead?
Find the cause and you will have the cure.

No he is the same with others but not quite so bad as when with us.

My Tilly (WSS) can be a bit like that - with some dogs. She was a lot worse when she was having problems with her hormones - that has been more or less sorted but the behaviour is back to a certain extent. I have been told it may be a breed characteristic. With her I am pretty sure it is a real excitement thing as she tends to do it if she sees a dog she hasn't met before, and if she is in a situation where she thinks she isn't going to get to greet it. She is fine if she does get to greet the dog (but of course you can only allow that if she is quiet if you don't want to reward the noise).
Tilly is the same whoever walks her.
I have decided just to ignore it when it happens and to try and let her meet and greet as many dogs as possible off the lead (and on the lead on the occasions when she is quiet). As it is frustration/excitement I reckon the more dogs she meets the better it should get - but it may well always be there to some extent.
I know what you mean about it spoiling walks though - they can be so loud and in Tilly's case it is tedious having to constantly explain to people that she isn't aggressive - just very noisy!
What did your behaviourist reckon the cause is with J?

J is so loud its difficult to ignore him.

The behavourist put it down to a behaviour he had learnt, only problem was he never helped much to solve it.

Have you tried doing something to get his attention on you and rewarding when he responds and ignores the other dog?

You could try offering a toy or a game. If you practice keeping his attention at home (eg by getting him to focus on you with the help of a treat) you could use this when out on walks, i.e. get him to sit and focus on you until the other dog is gone,then reward.

You could try distracting him too.

At home J is a completly different dog, he is very quiet and timid, will do anything you ask, he is 1 of 3 and accepts he is at the bottom in rank and we have no problems at all with him, infact he is a perfect dog, however put him on a lead to go out and his personality changes and he turns into this screeming, yappy monster.

My little Silk is deaf and while she can feel the vibtation herself when she makes noise, she cant regulate the sounds much as she oes`nt know what sounds she`s making [ if you see what I mean :smt101 ].
On walks, she sounds like a squealing chimpanzee, very loud indeed and anyone within earshot stares or laughs.
What do I do ?
I laugh with them and crack jokes
I can`t expect her to understand the sounds she makes, she does it because she is enjoying herself so much and I would not want to stop her expressing that anyway quite frankly, walks are for her enjoyment after all and I`d rather laugh about it than be embarrassed / stressed myself

Now, with her, I know why she does it and hers is a happy reason if noisy
With your doglet, do you know *why* he does it ?
Is it also from pleasure of the walk ?
Or is it stress ?
Is it `freedom` from heirachy if walked alone without the other dogs and letting off steam as a result of that ?

When you know why he does it, thats when you can address it, preferably without being oppressive about it so that it does`nt turn walks in to something more stressful [ if its a stress related behaviour ] or without squashing his pleasure of walks if its enjoyment expression.

I`m not suprised at the behaviour stopping in the behaviourists environment, dogs `know` when something is going on so its best [ imo ] to have a behaviourist see the dog in the *dogs* environment otherwise things can be masked / altered behaviours when the natural balance of things is changed - the behaviourist should have known that quite frankly, so I can`t say I`m suprised that he or she could`nt / did`nt help.

How is he with other dogs close up - well behaved / over-excited/wants to play / wants to fight / fearful/unconfident / desperate for contact etc etc ?

On the surface this sounds like a dog exuding sheer pleasure at being out and about and desperate to have contact with other dogs out of his heirachy, [ where he is at the bottom ], so that he can be around other dogs as an equal for play / interaction.
Thats just gut reaction I must stress, not having seen him doing the behaviours and not knowing if he is actually dog friendly or not so I`m guessing on a hunch is all but perhaps its food for thought / discussion ?

Patch, I know I'm not the original poster but your answer is very inspiring! Think I will try and cultivate a bit more of your attitude with my girl when out and about as I'm fairly certain her noise is also basically a happy one (wanting to meet and greet) and I can be in danger of getting too uptight about the whole thing. Cheers.

I`m so pleased you found it helpful, thank you so much for the feedback
Happy walking