I have a 6 month old Shar-Pei male. Unfortunatly now when I take him for a walk and let him off his lead he becomes a law unto himself and just does his own thing.  He often walks/runs too far in front of me and when he sees another dog he runs straight over to it and tries to mount it. Dogs warn him off but he just goes back for more and one day he will get seriously hurt.  He takes no notice when I shout of him to come back, although he does follow me, when hes ready!. I am aware he is only a pup, but he is old enough to know better. I dont want to keep him on a leader all the time. Any thoughts or suggestions??

hi, open a tin of hotdogs , drian away the juice and put in a tupperware box or sandwich bag ,and place a hotdog in your hand and show the puppy - they luv hotdogs and he'll soon come back to you

Thats a new one!! I'll try that, thanks.

Or smelly cheese does the trick too

Yeah smelly cheese ... mmm
they'll do anythin for that :)

It's training training and more training, keep him on  a long line until his recall is reliable again.  that way eh can move a fair distance (30 foot line will be fine), but you can real him in if he does not obey the command.  Certainly it is very bad manners for him to mount other dogs, and will get him a thick ear so to speak.  Has he much opportunity to socialise appropriately with other dogs?

Yes he goes out for regular walks and always meets other dogs. When he was younger he would just ignore them and stay close, now hes older and more confident like I say, when I let him off his leader he just runs off.  He does turn around to see where I am at then walks off again. When I shout he suddenly turns deaf!  The thing is with treats, he doesnt come back to see what im offering him, I tried with his biscuits. Im scared to give him cheese because shar-peis are funny with allergies etc. He will stop to let me put his leader back on then when I get close he walks away. I have to wait until he is sniffing grass then sly the collar on.

Firstly you need to stop letting him off as its just reinforcing his behaviour and he is learning to ignore you as well as it not being fair on the other dogs you are meeting.  I have a dog (rottie x GSD) who suffers fear aggression and I am slowly getting her confidence with quieter dogs and if I met your dog he would put me back months of hard work, so I would not be happy.  Also I in the past owned a small dog that suffered spine damage after a medium size friendly dog put its paw accross her back.  The weight of the dog caused the permanent spine damage.  You don't want your dog to injure smaller dogs do you? This is apart from the fact that one day another dog is not going to take kindly to your dogs actions and could seriously attack it.
I would get some nice smelly treats e.g hot dogs or liver and a long line and start some serious recall work.  Call your dog back at regular intervals on the walk and reward.  When you see another dog call and if your dog tries to ignore you or set off to the other dog then reel him in so he cannot head off and when he gets to you praise and reward.   You can then always walk on a lead over to the other dog and ask if its ok for them to socialise and then ensure he socialises politely.
His behaviour has become a habit now so will take a bit longer to break, but it can be done providing he does not get even one chance to repeat it until he has a good certain recall.

Shar pei are notorious for not coming back when called! It's a breed thing, they have never been reliable with recall & i doubt ever will be. Too busy investigating what is going on elsewhere & this is how they end up getting attacked by other dogs & sometimes stolen. Do him a favour & keep him on a long flexi, or you can even buy a long line so at least you can pull him back when he goes too far. 

Your advice is much appreciated, thankyou very much.  im going to buy him a flexi leader today and start with the training.  He is a very intelligent dog however he is certainly a dominant male. Even in the house if he is being naughty he takes no notice of shouting at him and I use my hand, rolled up news paper anything to smack his bottom (I dont hurt or injury him obviously) but he just goes for the item or me.  i know this is terrible behaviour for a dog to do, certainly turn on its owner if chastised, but I put it down to the fact that he is still a pup?  I will certainly start with the training today.  Thanks again

I am not convinced that smacking him will be of any benefit, and may make him think you are playing a game with him.
If you find shouting makes no difference, try speaking quietly but very firmly, then moving him away from the offense, firmly.
Sometimes all the shouting and flapping about seems like exciting fun to the dog, who will just join in!
If he doesn't respond to calm firm voice, you could try an aversive sound. Some people use a rattle can but this just made my dog more excited still. I have a 'pet corrector' which makes a loud hissing sound, this worked very well to stop my dog from naughtiness as an adolescent, the noise seemed to get his attention better than shouting. I also found a spray collar to be effective in training recall, for much the same reason, i think.

I would say smacking/shouting doesnt make a lot of difference. I have found that rewarding good behaviour works a lot better than acknowledging the bad behaviour. If its an intelligant dog it will do everything it can to please you so reinforce the right behaviour and the dog will keep doing it to get the praise. IMO :-)

He should certainly not be showing aggression towards you at this age, regardless of the situation. Some shar pei can be extremely stubborn, but aggression is a concern. Sounds like he is trying to be top dog right now, you need to establish some boundaries. Don't let him on furniture nor upstairs until he learns he cannot have his own way every time. A spray bottle filled with water is very effective with shar pei as most hate water & it's a quick way to stop them in their tracks without constant shouting or a smack. Turning on his owner is not down to him being a puppy, it's bad behaviour that needs correcting asap. What breeding is he?      

I am not convinced this is aggression, though, sounds more like playing to me, he is quite young still, and puppies do sometimes nip when playing. My collie/lab cross was like this as a pup, and responded very badly to the 'squawking rages' that sometimes came out of my mouth when i wanted to stop him, whereas calm but firm would produce good results. If the dog is easily excitable, likes to play etc, it just gets more excited if the owner is shouting and flapping things at him (newspaper or hands), and in that mode a nip can easily happen.

Have you tried the NILF (Nothing In Life for Free) method?

http://www.pets.ca/articles/article-dog_nilf.htm

It sounds like he would benefit :)

Hi,

Shouting and smacking his bum all be it with a newspaper will get you nowhere!  He is showing himself to be dominant and as you have seen he completely ignores negative behaviour from you and to be honest if he has a strong will he may very well turn around and give you a good nip or even a bite if you continue to show him negative behaviour.

Any good trainer will train any type of dog no matter how stubborn or dominant with their voice and eye contact, with constistancy, calmness and repetitive commands...... that truly is all that you need, if you can not control a dog with those means alone it means he certainly does not see you as someone with an air of authority so he will most definitely stand up to you as an adult in the worst possible way, if you are to shout and smack him.

Not everyone has an air or authority, in the  home, we can bring in techiques like segregation, which to a dog is one of the worst punishments, to be removed from their family and put somewhere alone for a little while, so if he refuses to obey your commands you pop him in the kitchen, the garden, the dinning room on his own for 10 minutes then allow him to come out and try your command again.

Outside he is coming up to and of an age now where he will be at his most stubborn anyway, it is his age and his own instincts are leading him astray, he needs as already said to be put on a long line, his recall will be at it's weakest for the next few months, and quite rightly as you have deduced he is on his way to having a good telling off or even a bite or fight if he goes around humping other dogs, so the long line will keep him in check here too and protect him from his own behaviour.  Putting your dog on a long line is better than a flexi lead as it gives him a lot of freedom and the minute he thinks he can run off, or hump another dog you can reel him in immediately.

If he is off lead and will not recall, when he does eventually come back, you may feel like punishing him, i.e a good telling off, it can be very frustrating, but bite your tongue, it is the worst thing to do, you must praise him.

Continue to praise him everytime he does something right, but above all else practise keeping a strong, stern, calm voice and strong eye contact you need to establish yourself as his master and repeat and repeat what you wish him to do until he does it.

Remember you are in control of him and you must not let him get away with anything, he will learn from positive reactions 100 times more than a negative one. :-)

Good luck.

Smacking will have one profound effect - it will make him believe that you are not someone he wants to pay attention to, at best.  At worst, he will start to see you as unpredictable and aggressive - humans' timing of punishment is usually terrible compared to other dogs, so while another dog might have a pop at him and their relationship be none the worse for wear, when a human does it ic an do serious damage to the relationship.

Trust me on this - I have been down this road.  My first pup, a dobe male, was an nightmare of a teenager - and I used to smack him.  The result?  It tooks years (literally) to get him doing as I asked, and even now he can be extremely independant and just choose to ignore me.  He's almost 5 now.

The same can be true of shouting - the best way forwards is patience and lots of tasty treats.  When he does something right, reward him; when he does something you don't like, ignore him if you can.  If it's something you can't ignore, then remove him from the situation without saying a word.  It does work - I live with four dogs this way, and the good behaviour I reward, the better behaved they are all round.  Even my oldest - a 6 yr old dobe who had 5 years of doing pretty much whatever she wanted before I took her on - is a mile away from the dog she used to be, much more obedient and better behaved.

TBH I'm not that surprised your dog has snapped at you - if I lived with someone who used physical violence (which basically is what youa re doing) to chastise me for everything, without showing me what I should be doing (which is the major downside of punishment - it tells the dog what gets it punished, but not what it should be doing instead), then I would snap as well.  And the more it happened, the worse I'd get.

Ive had him out today on his new leader and he did very well. I took hotdogs out with me and it didnt take him long before he was returning straight to me when I shouted "here". I appreciate one fine day doesnt make a summer but today was very pleasing. lloyd is the type of dog that is very energetic and thinks everything is a game, even punishment!! i have took on board everyones fantastic comments and suggestions.  Lloyd is an independant Shar-Pei, he is not very loving to be honest. He will greet me when I come home and follows me everywhere. He sits on the sofa beside me and if I go to give him a cuddle he just turns away!!  He sits on the stairs and watches me through the spindles. He is a great dog and a little character.  Once ive cracked the recall with him he will be spot on. I will have to work on his behaviour though punishment wise. When I say naughty I mean pulling the rug around the floor or his bed and when i go to take them away from him thats when he hangs onto it for dear life and bites. When i put him in another room, he scratches frantacly at the door and barks none stop until it becomes unbearable and I have no choice but to let him back in.  For my neighbours sake if not my own.!!  Hope I havent made him out to be a monster, hes just a typical little boy!! :-)

No you havn't made him out to be a monster just a typical little lad testing the boundaries as they all do at some point.  But you have shown yourself to be a very good owner as you genuinly care about learning how to best go forward and work through your problems with him.
You have taken on board all the advice etc given and are willing to try and use it to get things right.
To me a good dog owner is one that however many years they have had dogs is always willing to say when things are not going right and take on board advice and help given by people that may have experienced it and had success dealing with it.
As for the rug pulling etc I wouldn't get into a battle of trying to get it away as he looks at it as a game and that could eventually turn into resource guarding.  Instead divert his attention with a few tasty treats and get him sitting, staying laying down anything to use his brain and distract from the naughty behaviour.  Perhaps stuff a kong with some tasty morsels and have it in the freezer as a distraction that will keep him occupied.  maybe take the rug up for a little while so he doesn't have it to start pulling around and supply plenty of toys to chew and throw and drag about.  Give lots of praise when he is playing with the right things.  Teach him the name of each toy so if you see him starting to get naughty thoughts you can ask him to get a certain toy etc.
Good Luck with your lad he sounds adorable really.

another method i use is having 2 toys, one a squeaker Kong (long sausage one) to get there attention and then another long sausage kong on a rope. Both my dogs love these toys, but the only time they ever get to play with these 2 are when they do a recall on a walk. because of the squeak they find you an exciting person to be with rather than just standing there saying here, you actually look like fun so will want to come back. You need to find out what makes him tick whether it be a certain food toy etc and use this only for doing recall work.  Things will get better with time and it will be a long path, but like you say he is still a pup and still maturing....