The opposite of 'dog aggressive'

[ferky]

Miles (7 1/2 mo. old, 11 pound Shih Tzu) is continuing to grow into a wonderful dog, he understands who his masters are and he has done really well with command training (sit, stay, down) and also trick training (wave, play dead, roll over).

My problem is certainly not uncommon, but I don't know the first thing about combating it: Miles turns absolutely deaf to mine or anybody else's commands when there is another dog around.

It happens with people too, especially children, but when there is another dog within visual range (and sometimes he just needs to hear one) I lose all control over him. He has such a love for all dogs, and he has been so well socialized and spends so much of his time running, playing and wrestling with his doggy friends, that he absolutely will not be denied his right to run over to another dog to sniff, jump, wrestle, play, etc. Miles is not intimidated by size or demeanor, in his mind, a strange dog is a playmate he hasn't met yet.

Not only is this dangerous (he is small and doesn't yet know that not all dogs love each other), it also shows me how much further we have to go in his training. Just yesterday Miles and I were walking when we came upon a small (maltese, bichon?). Miles went beserk. He isn't yappy, but he was crying and whining and occasionally barking, and, of course, struggling against his leash, because he wanted to run over to this dog. I gave him his sit command, his stay command, everything under the sun and he simply would not listen. I gave good, hard tugs on the leash but he wasn't detered. At one point I got him to sit by squeezing his back-end and forcing him down, REALLY HARD (I felt very bad for doing it but it got his attention), I then gave him the 'stay' command which he obeyed for a full 3 seconds before he was back up whining and straining against the leash to go meet this new dog.

Please help me with some advice/reading/resources on how to better train Miles for these situations. I love that he is so friendly, but many times I would like to be able to walk past another dog or running adult or baby stroller without Miles needing to meet and greet. It is also disheartening to me because it shows how all of the great training we do away from distractions falls apart in the "real world." Help!

[Shelteez2]

First of all, good for you for training your small dog. So many people don't bother.
Second of all you are right to recognise that while he may behave perfectly at home, he will need practice with distractions. Do you know of someone with a well behaved dog that can help you set up situations for training. What you want to do is have a friend with their dog on one side of your yard (or other controlled environment) and take Miles to a point where he is interested in the dog, but the dog is still far enough away that he's not getting overexcited. Give Miles his command and make sure he does it. Do not let him get away with not listening, so if you have to gently place him in postion and hold him there then do that. Praise him though like he never needed your help. His reward of course will be playing with the dog since that seems to be his highest motivating factor. After a few minutes of play go get him and repeat the exercise. Since he likes other dogs so much he should fast learn that by obeying you chances are high he will get what he wants.

Good luck!

[Shelteez2]

Also here is a great link full of info on all things training related.
It is a lot of info to take in at once though, so maybe just bookmark it and look at it whenever you have time :)

Dr. P's Dog Training Library (http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/library.htm)

[clara4457]

You might also have to use the "jackpot treat" at first. Is there a specific treat that he goes absolutely bezerk over? If there is - save it for those times when you want him to focus on you and not another dog. You need to start with something that he likes better than anything else.

I would also take it in smaller steps. Start with getting him to focus on you when there is a dog a block away (using jackpot treats) - then when he is good at that, do the focus exercises when another dog is a little closer, etc. Don't go too fast - make sure he is 100% trained at a block away before you move closer.

If he does a good job of focusing on you, then let him play with the other dog. Eventually he will learn that being calm and polite will get him what he wants.

[wolfsoul]

My dog Timber used to be like that too. Sometimes she still gets a kick out of it. :p

There is a special type of collar (I can't remember what it's called) that, when the dog pulls on the leash, emits a high-pitched whistle. It confuses and surprises the dog. He might associate the scary whistling with pulling the leash and won't try to jump over to greet another dog. However some dogs may ignore the whistle and find the dogs more fascinating.

I agree, get some obedience training. It's worth it. :)