Hi, I'm hoping somebody can offer me some advice on this problem. I'm getting a bit desperate, so sorry if I ramble!! I have a 10 month old chocolate lab, Dylan. he is a lovely dog, with a fabulous nature and is utterly trainable in every way except one. When he sees another dog he goes blind, deaf - its as if everything he knows has been forgotten about, all he wants to do is get to that dog and jump on it. This is in an entirely playful and friendly manner, his tail is wagging, he gets in play position (front legs down) and if I were to let him, he would jump all over this dog, whether it wanted him to or not. I have tried every possible thing I can think of to make it clear to Dylan that this is not acceptable. I have been firm, with consistent NOs and LEAVE IT (commands he understands perfectly well at all other times) I have tried to distract him with toys and treats to absolutely no avail. I always put him on the lead as soon as I see another dog, because I cannot trust him to not run up to it, and so we always end up with me dragging him past the other dog, while he is straining desperately to get to it. I took Dylan to obedience classes with lots of other dogs, and he does eventually calm down, but this is not the case in a 'real life' situation i.e. when going past a dog in the street. I would be so grateful if anyone has any advice for me. Dylan is the first dog I have owned since leaving home, and I love him to bits, but I just seem to be getting nowhere with this, and I desperately want to go on walks wothout having to be constantly worrying about whether or not we will meet other dogs.
Thanks in advance
Zoe

Does he have any canine playmates. It is perfectly natural and desirable for him to want to interact with his own speices.

If he never gets to play with them he will be very frustrated.

Have you tried asking the other walkers in the park with young frindly dogs if they mind them getting to know each other and having a game???

If he gets to play sometimes, and knows that you allow it, then he won't see you as wanting to deprive him of his fun wehn you call him.

It sounds as though, although he loves you, he has a desperate need to be a dog too! There must be some friendly people you meet on your walks who would be happy to let the dogs play together? The fewer dogs he gets to socialise with, the more exciting the prospect becomes! Conversely, the more he meets and plays with, the quicker they will lose their novelty value.

I'm sure you feel pleased when you meet a friend in the street, and stop to pass the time of day. He wants to, too.

I'm not sure that letting him play with other dogs will necessarily cure him of the obvious interest. After all, a dog doesn't get fed up with chasing a ball no matter how many times you throw it. Something strange happens when they get this sort of 'red mist', so maybe a decent behavourist can help to find out exactly what is going on in his mind.

I have seen this with a friends dog, and not just where other dogs are concerned, but with other people, cats, crisp packets, leaves, you name it, when she sees it everything else goes out the window. And absolutely nothing will divert her attention, not shouting, food, smacks etc, and it's not like she hasn't seen a crisp packet or leaf blowing in the wind before :)

I agree with Dave on this. Even dogs who have playmates at home can still become totally obsessed about meeting new ones :)
Also I know exactly what Zoe means about the difference between the socialisation you get at training classes and the 'real life' situations you encounter when out walking.
Dylan is still only young so things might improve as he matures but I think the suggestion of contacting a behaviourist is probably worth bearing in mind.

Joyce

Lealoo
This is exactly the same as my Murph !!
I have posted about this a few times .
And I'm afraid I have to agree with DaveN--I let Murph play and run with other dogs from as soon as we got him and I think this is where I went wrong -the other dogs were more interesting to him than me .
He is lovely and playfull with dogs but unreliable in that he goes deaf and won't come back.At training class he is so excited he can't think straight !!
If we saw a dog in the street he would be on two legs trying to get to it !
Others may disagree with me here ,but i can only tell you what i have done -We have kept him away from dogs for a while and gone all out to be the best thing since sliced bread to him in terms of fun ,I have got him obsessed with a particular toy which only comes out on walks and nowhere else ,I have taught him the command 'walk on ' whether it be a child ,a man on a bike or a dog ( thanks to Mr Murphy for that one :) )
we are now seeing benefits - it has been hard but it is working, we no longer avoid other dogs, he still doesn't run off lead with others yet but it is only round the corner .
I'm not an expert ,I only have the one dog but this is how I have found it --HTH
Liz :)

Hi Liz

That sounds a good idea - walk on. Willis, my GD puppy is 18 weeks old and going through the "I want to jump up everyone I walk past if I am on the lead thankyouverymuch" stage... can you explain how you do it with Murph?

Thanks
Chloe

Ooerr Chloe !!--me giving advise !!!- I've gone all of a dither :D
I walk murph on my left and I hold the lead in my left hand ,so as I approach whatever it is I tell him 'walk on' ( I do repeat it depending on how interesting it is -dog, horse etc )and I've sort of developed a hand signal which is just a very open hand-sort of between us and the whatever and a treat as soon as we get passed ,
Hope this makes sense !!Anyway it's working for us -I started off with easy things ,things he would go passed anyway and then went on from there !
HTH
Liz :)

It sounds like the "Forward" command taught to trainee Guide Dogs - with a "swinging" forward arm gesture, palm upwards.

nearly --Ikeep palm paralell (SP) to my body !!
liz :)

Hi, I used to have this with my old GR, she would run the length of the field to get to another dog, even though we had two other dogs ourselves as well at the time, new people and strange dogs just had to be greeted, with people she just assumed everyone found her as charming as we did , so would stroke her, and other dogs even if they were displaying the most b***ger off or Ill bite you signals , she still assumed were fun and would bounce around them. I started with not letting her off whilst out, unless I was guaranteed there would be no other distractions about (farmers field) and did the same as liz, she had a Kong on a rope , that was reserved only for 'out' , so it was the bestest thing in the world to her. She did obedience, so mixed with plenty of other dogs all the time and wasnt fussed about mucking around with them in class, just out. I also had a similar 'walk on' command - i use 'get on' (i do agility and use walk on differently) and still use it with the other three dogs now! She eventually stopped the disappearing act, and could walk fine anywhere and ignore other dogs as long as I had her Kong rope toy with me to keep her focused. I did also send her away to play with others, so she didnt miss out, and when I needed her back , I just got the toy out of my pocket and she would fly back. Your dog is v. young , and you will eventually get there:) Another tip, is to not recall your dog and clip him on lead every time, they get wise that if they come back it means the end of fun/walk, so I call mine back several times during the walk, hold their collars, and then send them away to play again. also if you clip the lead on at the same spot every time, they get to know when the walk it going to end too. I have to outwit my dogs :D Julie:)

HI Zoe

At 10 months your boy will as others have already suggested be desperate to play with and meet other dogs - there is nothing wrong with this, and i wonder why you are concerned about it? :) It is very natural to be social :) unless you feel he is too boisterous and may get attacked?

The coming back from other dogs is an issue that can be solved with training. There are a few "rules" that I would suggest following:

Never call him when you see a dog headgin towrds you - you can guarantee your boy will ignore you
Wait til he has had his game, said hallo, and is hopefully tired. Then call him (which you willhave been practising at home and on walks when other dogs are not around LOL) in your most excitng voice, and use what he loves best - either some really great treat such as liver, or chicken (not just boring biscuits, the treat must be worth coming back for). If not treats, then a special toy which he has learnt to love and which you keep yourself, and which he gets a special game with if you let him.

So you are creating A) a situation where he is likely to return, and B) a really big incentive

You're basically creating the "WANT" - he wants to return.

If he does not return, don't call again - or youwill be teaching him that the command is meaningless. Just run away as fast as you can. (If it is safe to do so - no nearby roads etc - and hide where you can see him).

When he does come. ample praise and take hold of collar, give treat or play with toy. Then, use a release word (such as OK) and let him go.

Do this lots and lots, everywhere.

Gradually "up the criteria" and call him when he is not quite tired of the game, he should come if you hve been previously successful with the suggested training. Don't attempt this to quickly - lay the foundations and progress only when you feel sure of success :) ;)

Also use games with other safe dogs as a reward - so if he does come back, big praise and send him back to play. He will love this.

Train in different places - each place yo may have to go just a little bit back to goforwards. If he disobeys, you have probably gone too far too fast.

To support all this, practise teaching Leave It and do little bits of training every day, maybe 10 minutes morning and evening. Just Sits before you throw a toy, that sort of thing. Use your release word as this is teachign control which all filters down through his canine mind to other situations :)

Dont' expect this to work in a few weeks; it may take months of practice - you will see improvements and yoiu will have bad days, but overall he will get better. He is a young male and the hormones are raging ;) but at the end of the day he needs to listen to you.

After a while you will be able to reward occasionally, and then you will reward the best and the quickest recalls. Eventually you will only reward as a surprise because you think he is just a great dog and deserves it :)

Good luck, have fun :)

Lindsay

That's what we did with Chelsea - she would just hound others. Then we found the 'Frisbee' as I've said in other recall threads. Other dogs were not as exciting as the frisbee chase!! (thank goodness). And since we start and stop the game when WE choose she would never know when her next chance would come. People thought her name was Frisbee LOL.

Wendy

It's often about finding that one thing that the dog loves above all others, isn't it Wendy.......:) ....I have a friend whose Springer would only, for a while, recall for - bubbles!!!!!!

BAnya is fairly normal - its the Kong on a rope for her ;)

Lindsay

Hi Zoe

He may get a shock soon! Adult males will often "put up" with this time of behaviour from puppies but he is now reaching the age where a large amount of testosterone (up to 15 times adult amount) will be surging around him and adults will sense this and may well start having a go at him if he jumps on them.

Try to go on a walk with other dog owners where you can do training on the walk - stays, recalls, lead work etc. Have a word with your instructor and see if they would be willing to co-ordinate this for you as training out in "real life" is so much harder, and more important than only training in a hall or field.

Christine

Thanks so much to every one for your replies, you have given me a lot to think about. Some mentioned that it is natural for him to want to interact, and I fully appreciate that. He does have friends he meets in the field that I let him have a play with. The trouble is that they all seem content with a sniff and a bit of a run around, whilst Dylan seems to want to go on and on and on... Often he appears to 'get on their nerves', even with the dogs that are actually younger than him :) I suppose my ultimate aim would be to have a dog that is interested and friendly towards other dogs, but that will come to ME if I shout him even if he is halfway towards a 'meet and greet'. The favourite toy idea seems like a good way, and I will definitely give this a try. I would also like to be able to get past other dogs in places where Dylan can't race around (i.e. on the street) - and I will be trying the 'walk on' advice here. Steves description of the dogs being 'on 2 legs' made me smile - this is Dylan to a tee, and with me being 7 1/2 stone and 5'2, its pretty hard to get past whilst still holding on to him!!!
If I did feel I needed to get in touch with someone for further advice/training, does anybody know how to go about this? I live in Cheshire. Thanks again everyone for all your advice - its nice to know I'm not alone!!! I'll let you know how we get on

Hi again, Zoe. If you do decide you'd like to see a behaviourist you could ask at your vets - they can usually help with contacts etc.
I have found that some behaviourists are, shall we say, less effective than others !! But most will assess the problem, tell you why it's happening, show you the best way to handle it and then it's up to you! Long term success usually depends on how much work you are able to put in afterwards :)

Best of luck ! :D

Joyce

Thanks, Joyce, I appreciate all your help :)

Keep treats on hand to direct his attention to you and come up with a command like "Look at me" so he learns to do so.

To every one who so kindly posted advice, an update. I have been persevering with both the toy idea and the 'walk-on' method and I am beginning, after two weeks, to see developments :) :) :) Today, on a narrow river path, Dylan and I met a dog coming towards us. I used 'walk-on' with a treat in my hand and right until the very last minute, Dylan remained focussed on me. He did try to get to the dog just at the end, but responded immediately to my 'NO!' and then sat when I told him, and waited for ME to let him go and say hello (said in a tone of amazement!!!!! :) ) As far as toys go, we have got him obssessed with a frisbee-type thing, and while I am still keeping him on the lead if we spot another dog, he is starting to not notice the others around as much. I know Rome wasn't built in a day, and probabaly not every day will be as good as this, but I will persevere, and it seems I have come some way to finding a solution to what I thought (see first post!) was a hopeless situation. Thanks so very very much to everyone who gave me advice, we will get there in the end, and I actually think I love my doggy even more today!!! (If that's possible :) ) Thanks again. :D
Zoe

I'm really glad to hear there is what sounds like quite a big improvement, well done and keep up the training, it is so rewarding when you can see the dog starts to respond....

LIndsay :)

Good to hear that there's been such an improvement, Zoe. It's true, you feel SO much better about things when you start to see a glimmer of success after all the hard work. :) Keep at it !! :D

Joyce

glad to hear things are getting better and it was nice of you to come back and say so :)
Liz :)