Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum but hope everyone is well and able to stay safe during COVID.

I have had my first dog, a lovely Golden Retriever, for two years now, who definitely still has a puppy personality, but is well behaved and doing fantastically with obedience and recall training. Just to mention as well, he was purchased through this site from an official Kennel Club breeder and his health is perfect (no fleas, infections, illnesses etc.). Since we have had him, he has had several minor incidences where dogs have come too close and given him a little nip. I did a little research and found this can be common when neutered dogs encounter a non-neutered dog. Unfortunately, however, around a month ago he was viciously attacked by a dog off the lead. The incident was incredibly traumatic (the dog broke my Mum's finger and shook my boy by the throat) and I have noticed a big difference in him since. He has never been aggressive and thankfully this remains the same, but now whenever we go out on walks, he will stop in fear when he sees a dog. Even once the dog has gone past, he is still scared to move and it takes a while before he will carry on. I have also noticed he has started crying in the house for things he was usually confident with.

Throughout his life I have always tried to socialise him well, particularly when he was a puppy, but I feel what would really help him is to have a play with some other dogs who are calm and who have nailed obedience etc. My problem is that due to COVID, there are no local dog groups open, and I don't feel that he needs to attend a training class, as he has always responded well to the training we have given him. I'm also struggling as we don't have many friends with dogs, and unfortunately those we know have somewhat badly behaved pups.What would be great if we could visit someone with two or more dogs that would be happy with another large dog coming into their territory and let him gain his confidence a bit. I realise this is a very big ask, especially at the moment, and we would always keep 2 metres away and wear masks if necessary, but I would love to have this nipped in the bud before becoming more serious.

I live in the Wilmslow area near Manchester, but am happy to travel up to 30 miles or so as I realise the opportunity may not be local. Please feel free to send me a message or post below if you think you might be able to help.

Thanks everyone & take care!

I would suggest a one to one dog behaviourist.  They will own at least one dog. probably multiple and be able to guide the meetings with your dog and read body language to get the best result. 

I do admit years ago my dog was attacked badly and became fearful and veering towards aggressive- she had previously been a confident friendly dog- we got very lucky as met someone with an elderly large blind near deaf spaniel who was friendly and being disabled completely ignored my dogs fearful reactions.   several walks with her calmed my dog down and she went back to her previous confident friendly self.   A younger more alert dog I think may have been a problem as it would have read my fearful dog as a threat and possibly reacted causing the problem to get worse and this is why I think you would be best with a dog professional who knows her dogs inside out and knows who would be good at being a nanny to yours while confidence is rebuilt.

Hi there, thank you so much for taking the time to help. That sounds like a really good idea, I will have a search on Google for a behaviourist rather than a general class. I'm so sorry to hear about your poor pup. I'm so glad the blind dog was able to help her get back to her normal self.

Can i check is he still entire? If so don't think about castration now as you never neuter a fearful dog as this will make matters worse 
Re a behaviourist I would look up apbc website for one.

Hi there, thank you so much for your reply. Yes he is entire. Definitely won't be considering having him done as I'd like to keep his coat soft, his hormones to be working naturally etc. Thanks so much for the recommendation, I'll start there I think.

I can really sympathise, it’s deeply frustrating when your friendly calm dog is attacked by someone’s else’s dog and the fallout can be very sad. Did you report the dog and owner to a dog warden or the police.
My GR was attacked badly when we were on holiday. Initially she was nervous of larger dogs, but she gradually got over it and returned to how she normally is. She does have a very sound temperament which helped her.
On the other hand my previous GR was chased by an over eager lurcher which frightened her badly and she was fear aggressive to other dogs for the rest of her life. Her temperament wasn’t that good even as a puppy, rather on the nervy barky side.

Will your dog take treats and be distracted when he is frightened seeing another dog? If so try and take his attention off the approaching dog with tasty treats and get his attention onto you and try to block his view of the approaching dog. What you are trying to achieve is for him to see approaching dogs as a signal to focus on you and have a nice treat rather then being scared.

Hi Jodi, thank you so much for your help. I'm so sorry to hear about your two incidences. It really is frustrating when the situation is completely out of your control. I did report the owner to the police and I think they hammered down quite hard on her due to my Mum's injury. We didn't press charges as the owner agreed to never take her dog off the lead again (hopefully not wishful thinking on our part) but said we would press charges if there was another incident reported with the owner.

I've always been very alert when walking him as we have large fields nearby our house and we've trained him for recall since he was small. Whenever I see a dog coming I have always changed direction and tried to encourage him with chicken hearts (his favourite and he never gets them other when he is being walked) and/or toys (these as well are only used outside, he has other ones for inside). He's also been trained to 'watch" me and keep his eyes on me, so I have also tried this, but unfortunately none of these are working. He senses the dogs before I do and will not respond to me at all. He also digs his paws into the ground and it's a real struggle to get him to move.

I've just been having a look through the registered behaviourists and there are a lot in my area so hopefully one of them will work out!

I guessed he would be likely to behave this way, my previous dog was the same, she fixated and that was it.
I took her to some training classes to try to get her used to being somewhere with other dogs about. To a degree it worked as I could get her to ignore them and just concentrate on me. There was no way she would lie down as I think she felt that this was going to far and she felt unsafe in a down. All was coming along nicely when a dog suddenly went for her quite unprovoked, so we stopped going.
What did work pretty well was going to some fun agility classes as she really enjoyed going around all the obstacles and was able to ignore the other dogs. Unfortunately I had to stop after a couple of years as she tore a crusciate.
What is your dog like with other GR’s? My last one was absolutely fine with them, I often wondered if she realised she could trust her own kind.
Well done for reporting the owner, not a lot of people do thinking it’s just one of things. Hope your mum is ok now

I would recommend lots and lots of safe socialisation.  Going to places where you know dogs will be on a leash and where paths are fairly wide so you can keep a good distance if necessary.  National Trust parks/grounds are normally really good for strolls where lots of dogs can be seen but you can keep your distance.  Take every opportunity you can to let him sit or stand and absorb watching dogs from a safe position.  Look for whether there are any trends in what scares him, is it size, breed, colour, gender etc. then you can start closer socialisation with those dogs that don't fit the criteria that scares and go out of your way to find lots of those.  With these dogs chat to the owners and see if you can have some nice introductions.  It will take some time but done carefully he should overcome most of his fears.  Also for you, be calm, loose lead always, reassure constantly and let him go at his own pace.  He sounds a lovely boy.

>Since we have had him, he has had several minor incidences where dogs have come too close and given him a little nip. I did a little research and found this can be common when neutered dogs encounter a non-neutered dog. Unfortunately, however, around a month ago he was viciously attacked by a dog off the lead.

I'm really sorry to hear about what happened to your dog. I am in no way blaming you for what happened, here. But just to say - do be as proactive as you can, when it comes to avoiding strange dogs out and about. This might mean walking in locations or times of day where others don't walk. Or just heading in a very avoidant direction as soon as you see someone else with a dog, rather than risking an encounter.

People always laugh when I tell them the huge lengths I go to, to avoid every dog encounter I can. (Scanning the area for any other dogs/cars before deciding to exercise there, walking in ridiculous routes to get out of the way of other dogs even when this is really inconvenient in terms of getting back to my car and so on.) Yet my 6yo dog has not had a single bad experience with another dog in her life, as a result. And we live in quite a built up and dog dense area, whilst also being mainly rural.

Of course sometimes there are situations you can't avoid, when you think you've checked it all out and another dog comes running around a corner or something. But really these are the minority of incidences. Most of them occur when an owner has decided to allow a meeting to happen...

Meanwhile of course providing lots of positive experiences with other dogs at training classes, ringcraft, and with friends or family's dogs you know are friendly...

my preference for avoiding out of control off lead dogs is to walk by very busy roads where any off lead badly behaved dog would be flattened by a car. makes for far more relaxing walks when you know you are only going to encounter on lead dogs

I have one who shows nervous aggression towards other dogs and we too therefore avoid those situations .
I walk around looking like a meercat in alert ducking up drives or behind trees
.yes busy roads are better as dogs are on leads but I still find I have to be very careful as u need wide pavements to avoid others with dogs  .so lots of treats as we walk practicing focus on me .
What I have learned having worked with behaviourists is that not to overload her with seeing other dogs even those I perceive as friendly .dosent  mean she does. Flooding her can make it worse .
Mine would hate being in situations like training ring craft etc unless she was far enough away from the others so she didn't react so it becomes a positive experience.
.  Sometimes taking time out with no walk  so it's a relaxing day is well worth it to descalate and be calm as often the dog remains on edge even if I don't see it 
  .

ff, I agree, there is a balance somewhere and everyday is certainly not the same.  They need the right socialisation but not to the point of being overwhelmed. Learning to "read" your dog is paramount.

The biggest and simplest tip I was given was when u see another dog make sure u are only as close as your dog can handle.. that is showing now sign of being stressed that could.mean the other side of the park for some or maybe just a few yards away . 
As soon as mine twitches her lips we step back as I know the next step would be too much as well as increasing my stress.
I do think having a good behaviourist to teach u in a real environment helps a lot

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your help. So sorry if I miss someone's question out. Unfortunately the dogs we have encountered that have been violent have run about 400 metres or so to get to us and have been off lead. The owner is miles away and often nowhere to be seen - absolutely appalling. I genuinely cannot get over the amount of badly behaved dogs in our area. I have often been shouted at by the owner for making a fuss when they finally arrive. My boy absolutely loves walking in green areas and I have PTSD so busy roads are unfortunately a no-no. I often get up at 5am to walk him so there are fewer dogs around - the main attack happened at 6am. I have tried different times and days for months and unfortunately there seems to be no patterns as to when people walk. I have been looking on Google maps for more areas where we can walk and have contacted a behaviourist who seems to be just what we need and can start sessions with him soon. I'm also going to try taking him into town a bit more and just sitting and letting him dog watch - thank you to the person who suggested that. Thanks again to everybody for all your help, you have all been fantastic and I wouldn't have even thought of a behaviourist with out you. TTFN xx

It would be lovely if you could come back at a later date to tell us how you get on with your dog and if a behaviourist was able to help

Yes of course!

It won't help with your dogs fear of others but it may be something just to relax occasionally and for a good run round, Google for 'dog walking fields' or this is on f/book

https://www.facebook.com/dogwalkingfields/?eid=ARBKxi8y2BWWcvkwkxUrC799pgVvV2LrN34qLaGt2U2nOXiAuCJzL1NYfbUk1S-doOX9rnR8PX3-Bbiq

Gah! The rest of my post didn't send! Just realised I hadn't answered one of your questions Jodi. Unfortunately it was another GR who attacked him - an older and much bigger male. I saw him coming and changed direction and he kept following us. I kept turning around and shouting at the owner to call him and she did nothing. This happens all the time and I think it's because the owners haven't trained their dog in recall and they know they won't come even if they try. Shockingly as well, when it was all over she muzzled him. I couldn't believe that if she had a muzzle for him whilst he was on the lead that she would allow him to be offlead in the first place.

That looks fantastic tatty-ead, thank you so much!

Have u considered dog walking fields ?
There is website that shows ones in each area. Yes it costs,  about £10 an hour IME but allows u private use of secure field so u can both relax . Doesn't solve the issue but allows relaxed walks and doesn't make matters worse

Forget what I just said I missed tatty heads post

Thanks furriefriends, it definitely sounds like what we need!

Oh heavens above, what is wrong with some people. The dog should not have been off the lead let alone not muzzled.

There’s a dog walking field opened up near where I live. I’m not sure how much it costs, but it looks really nice. It has deer fencing all round not so much to keep dogs in, but to keep deer out. There’s a nice central area with some play stuff for dogs and a special kind of septic tank for you to dispose of dog poo, spade and scraper provided. There’s even a washing area for muddy dogs and boots. A well thought out dog walking field.

That sounds fantastic. It would be so helpful to have a cleaning area before he got back in the house or car - there is something about GRs and the attraction of mud

Mud and goldens go together like a horse and carriage don’t yer know

I swear my last golden could have found mud in a desert