Can anyone help?  We have a terrier who we collected from a rescue centre at about 1 year old - we have had him six months now.  He is the perfect dog.  He is very affectionate.  He is hardly ever left on his own.  He has at least an hour and a half walk every day, off the lead.  He is a happy dog.

The only problem is, during the last six months his behaviour with other dogs has got worse.  He just seems to run over to them, any kind of dog, and bark in their faces, and when they arent showing much interested he tends to attack them.  This is getting progressively worse.  He doesnt come back when called if he see another dog and i just dont know what to do.  I dont want to put him on a lead all the time because it runs the enjoyment as he loves running around.  if there were no other dogs in the world he would be fine, but, of course, there are.
Does anyone have any tips which could help?

Is he dressed/neutered?

Being honest. I would put him on a lead, extendable one may be the best option. Then work on his recall.

Probably not much help. :-)

Pam

hi
he is neutered.
his recall is absolutely fine when there is no other dogs about - when there is, his recall goes out the window! 
I have an extendable lead but, to be honest, if he is going to be aggresive then he is going to have to find another home because i cant have it - he comes to work with me and it would be terrible.  I enjoy walking with him off the lead - it ruins the walk with him on the lead.  I cant be responsible for him attacking other dogs.  he is a lovely dog and if i cant find a solution then i will be sorry to find him another home but he will be better with someone who likes walking him on the lead.
help?

Sorry you feel this strongly.  Is there more to this than just the walking?   I find it difficult to understand how him being on a lead or off a lead would make the difference to you keeping him or not :-(

Some dogs, just cannot be walked  off the lead all the time. It doesn't mean the dog is aggressive and it would probably not affect your work unless you work with other animals.

Not sure what to suggest to you. 

We have a labrador that is walked off the lead all the time and we also have westies all of which are walked on the extendable leads until we get to the fields then they are let off to run around.

My dog is walked on the lead all the time when in the town or to the car etc etc.  But, he has walks in the woods and the countryside for hours every week - i live in the country and there are dogs everywhere - i cant keep him on the lead all the time.  He is fine when there are no dogs around but just turns aggresive when we come across one - he can spot them a mile off and will just take off and bite them!
I love walking and walk for miles and if i have to walk for miles over the downs with my dog on the lead it just isnt as pleasurable.  At the end of the day he is just a dog and if he is taking the enjoyment out of my walking and if he will be no worse off with someone else then i will be far more suited to a dog that doesnt attack other dogs and one that will walk off the lead.  When i first got him he would never do this.  I have had him six months - he was fine to start with then he started just barking in other dogs faces and now he has started going for them.  I have had dogs all my life and none have them have been aggresive towards other dogs.  Any dog i have had has had a great life - they are walked for miles every week, they are taken to work with me, hardly ever left and in return i dont expect them to be aggresive.  My last dog was a border terrier and i didnt even possess a lead when i had him.  He would walk through the high street to heel with no lead.  He wouldnt even look at other dogs and would just ignore them and carry on walking.

Until recently I had the opposite problem. My border terrier is absolutely fine off the lead and completely ignores other dogs and people. He is happy running around on his own with a tennis ball and even ignores dogs who jump all over him - it's as if they are invisible (he does have a problem when meeting german shepherds so I always put him on his lead if one comes too close). However, I've had an awful time with him on his lead showing aggression towards other dogs. It started last May/June time and I've been in tears on many occasions, it's frightening and embarrassing. I did seek advise from my vet, and with their help, the last few weeks have seen an amazing improvement. Very basically, I've had to teach him that meeting others is nothing to fear. I am now at the stage where he looks at me when he spots another dog. With calm words and lots of treats he can now walk past without worrying. A lot of aggression I'm sure is due to fear/apprehension. It may be the case with your boy. Maybe he feels threatened and just decides to get in there first before they get him. When he's on the lead he has you nearby for comfort - off lead he's on his own.
I'm sorry I can't help you, but I'm sure that with time he'll be ok. I do know what it's like when walks turn into nightmares.
Don't do anything hasty.
Hope things get better soon.

I've got a rescue Terrier who I've had for 18 months now and he is exactly the same as your dog.  This is only my own personal experience but Copper has been through every training regime I could find and he is the same now with other dogs as he was at the start.  It's an ongoing struggle with him and I believe that he will always be like this to some extent, attacking and biting other dogs.  I almost never let him off the lead as his recall is zero, although with no distractions (i.e. other animals) it is very good. 

I have a hint from your post that this dog is getting on your nerves? (not a critcism, mine hacks me off too at times).  I would love to walk for miles with my dog scampering at my side and behaving in what I would call a "normal" manner.  But the reality of it is, he won't and probably never will.  I've decided I can deal with that, I'll walk him on the lead.  If the dog's behaviour is irritating to you then you might be giving those vibes out to the dog, which won't help.  I was giving nervous vibes to my dog when we were out and it was making him worse.

I have no doubt that the dog will have a great life with you but you may have to accept that he may not do what you expect of him and a huge amount of time, patience and effort will be needed to change that and dogs can be very stubborn.  At the end of the day you might decide that he is not suited to you and your situation, in which case that might be the time to move him on.

I really hope you decide to keep him - mine can be a right royal pain in the backside but he's worth it in other ways.  Good luck with what you decide :)

CG

Our new terrier from the Rescue, Pip, we have had about six weeks and the going is still tough!  He is a sort of JR/Fox Terrier cross and no malice in him at all - except on the lead when he spots another dog (in the distance even!).  We take him to training classes once a week and do homework with him every evening.

But Pip is very good OFF the lead,  doesn't attack other dogs just has a good run, our Westie is the same.  But both of them are awful ON their leads! 

Sadly, mines the same on or off the lead.  Can't trust him at all.  But he's quite happy to be walked on the lead as long as we don't encounter other dogs.  I'll be the first person, plus dog, to take up residence on the moon :D

CG