I am working with a dog who is reactive to dogs especially but also other things. I took him to a local dog walking area this weekend for some practise. I am now very fed up of the dog owners who think that because their dog is friendly it is OK to let it wander around totally out of they control.

I was in the carpark using my car as a base and walking my boy round rewarding him for being calm when he saw other dogs. The first incident was an elderly man with a youngish Goldie. He got out of his car and let the dog off the lead she looked around saw us standing at the other end of the carpark and charged towards us. I shouted to the owner to call his dog and of course he just said oh its OK she's friendly. I was struggling to keep Henry calm and failing. I was trapped as the goldie was between me and the car. When she arrived Henry barked at her so she galloped away and I mwas able to get henry back under control fairly quickly. The owner then arrived and explained that it would do his dog good to meet dogs that didmm't like her as she thought everyone was her friend. He couldn't understand that I might not want my dog learning to bark at other dogs. On the bright side henry then let the man stroke him and was very happy to do so.

While I was talking to the owner the goldie had galloped to the pond where a couple were calmly feeding the ducks. The goldie sent all the ducks flying and then jumped up at the couple even though she was soaking wet. They were not amused.

The next incident was not so good. I was again in the car park when a car arrived. It obviously had several dogs in judging by the frantic barks coming from inside. I went back and hid behind the car while the owner got the dogs out. Unfortunately I had presumed he would take the dogs out on lead and walk them to somewhere safe to let them go but no. he just opened the boot and let them fly out. into a busy car park! then one of them spotted us behind the car and ran towards us barking madly. Henry obviously started barking too and as I was trying to regain control he managed to bite me badly on the hand. :( 

I would muzzle him when training but if I do that I cant feed him titbits or play with his ball which is a very good distraction. He is obviously always on the lead.

Does anyone have any suggestions on places to go where we might be able to find sensible dog owners so we can carry on working?

You can feed him with a muzzle on. I have pushed bits of sausages and hotdogs through a normal basket muzzle, but the newest Baskerville ultra muzzle has been made really strong and with gaps big enough in it to enable giving a dog treats through it. http://www.doggiesolutions.co.uk/baskerville-ultra-muzzle-16682-0.html

I do know of a group for dogs like this, but only in Lincoln so quite a distance for you I'm afraid. It's just once a month on a Saturday though so maybe worth considering? I used to take my problem Mali there and his litter brother is still going and has improved so much I could hardly believe it when I last saw him -this was a pup from the problem litter I had 5 years ago. The owner of the dog I bred travels all the way from down south to get to the class.
http://www.teamworktraining.co.uk/gnasher-club

I have a dog reactive dog too, I personally wouldn't take her anywhere there were likely to be other dogs that weren't under control. I'm afraid expecting other dog walkers to be sensible is just asking for trouble .
You really need to either go to a specific class for aggression, or try and arrange for willing helpers and their dogs to act as stooges, who will be sensible and follow your directions.

I agree with Celli that public places with out of control dogs ( which is always the case in public places ) is the last thing you want to be doing. a training class with a sympathetic trainer is definitely the answer. I wouldn't say it would need to be secifically for aggression (I suspect such a class might be hard to find apart from anything else) but a good trainer should welcome dogs with all sorts of problems, and being surrounded by dogs who are all under control in a controlled situation is exactly what you need.

We have just lost our dog reactive dog a few weeks back, sadly I am afraid, in the ten yrs we had her, I learnt very early on, you will meet stupid dog owners EVERYWHERE  , there is no escape from them if you walk in public areas ...it became easier for us to accept this and walk in isolation, it was better for her and us.  We became " Billy no mates " it was was it was....you can't get away from other dog walkers in popular places, so can't see an answer to for you.

Could you not find a class that would allow you to go and work him around the dogs there. One day at flyball a lady came with a Dalmatian who was dog aggressive as she wanted to get her around other dogs. After a while she had its muzzle off and was running it over the jumps with the dogs standing back. That way you will be around other dogs who will be under control so you can work with yours with out worrie of dogs running up.

very much for all the help and advice everyone but I have had to admit defeat and Henry has gone back to the rescue centre. He lunged after a car catching me by surprise and pulling me over. I have cracked a bone in my wrist. I have had to face the fact that he is really too big and strong for me to safely handle. I am heartbroken as I had really got to love him in the short time I had him but he was too much for me. Thanls again for all your help.

Really sorry to hear this newyork... hope your wrist heals soon. And I hope there's a good outcome for this boy, will the rescue let you know?

No one an say you didn't try...you went above and beyond for this dog. Im sorry it didn't work out as you clearly were very committed to this boy.Hopefully he will get a new placing and another chance. I hope your wrist heals fast and you don't feel you let him down as you really did do your best.

You did your very best, I know that I would never be able to handle difficult dogs like that, you have to think of your own safety as well. x

Aww.... that's a shame newyork, he needed that muzzle on for now and he really did need those training classes. But, it really was always going to be a test of endurance. A few years on it would have paid off, but not many of us would have been able to cope well.

I hope that your post will help when people are just deciding on breeds for their looks or because they look the part, without doing their homework and unfortunately not going to breeders who will be extremely fussy when vetting as so many dogs like this end up in rescue.

You were only fostering him and you did try very hard, and many may well have come to the same decision, so don't beat yourself up, it is the people who get these dogs as puppies and then cast them out who are to blame along with careless breeders.

I hope that you will soon heal, poor you, {{hug}} they say no good deed goes unpunished, happens all the time, you tried and you cared, he was just too much for you. xx

I feel for the poor boy............. I hope the rescue will vet really carefully.

oh its OK she's friendly

Yep, the eternal flowers of wisdom which will never die.
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I was trapped as the goldie was between me and the car

Ahh yes, another golden oldie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaeHRQgqmLg
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