Hi there I have a four year old male rescue Staffy called Waldo ( see photo) he was neutered before I got him .. about a year ago I believe.. He is a great dog and as good as gold in every way. Except, that is, when it comes to to other dogs that he meets out and about. He desperatly wants to interact with them. Usually he start by pulling hard and whineing then jumping up at them with his front paws ( he is big and this scares both the dog and the owner) he just doesnt listen to me when this happens. I try to be pretty tough with him. But finding a balance with allowing him to interact and disciplining him by tugging on the lead and repremanding him vocally is difficult. If he gets to sniff the other dog in the normal way he calms down quickly and chills out. I give a lo of praise if he is good with a dog he meets.
I really want to get to him to intereact in a more gentle way with other dogs so I can trust him more and allow him free reiagn to socialize.
I have only had him 6 months and he is much better with me. He looks at and listens to me when we are outdoors now. I can let him off the lead and he comes back to me on command happily now... but.. if there is another dog around he wont listen to me and goes straight for them and is pretty dominant, VERY exiited ...not agressive just too eager and it frightens the other dog and the owners and makes me tense and can escalate in to a bit of a scrap with certain dogs.
Any help or advice with this would be really most helpful thanks.
best from Ty in the UK

Is there anywhere you can take him to safely socialize? I have a smaller rescue who was also very excited when meeting other dogs...which wasn't as much of a problem for me because she isn't hard to restrain or intimidating...but we still wanted her to listen to us when another dog was around. We joined flyball and agility with her (dog sports) and after a while she became so used to other dogs being near her, but not necessairly playing with her, that now she can walk by another dog off lead and not go up to it.

Maybe there is some type of class you can get your dog in? Obedience would also be good, just something where you're in a place with other dogs but your dog needs to focus on you.

I would enroll him in a class to socialize him with other dogs. Some shelters offer "puppy kindergarten" and "socialization classes". Check around. Once he learns to be social around others, it shouldn't be such a problem. Good luck.

Thank you for your ideas.... I will give them a go. I guess If it is in an environment where they understand he has this issue it will be ok. Many thanks for reading my post
Best Ty

I recently had a client with a hyper Boxer. She would jump and swat any new dog she approached. There are two ways to stop this. First, when you approach another dog, put your dog in a sit command, sitting away from the dog. He will break the command but be calm and assertive. Once he's calm, then he can meet the dog.

If he continues the behavior, put him in a down command. If he breaks it, put him back in it. Only after he is calm will he be able to meet the new dog.

The boxer I train now runs up to other dogs and the dog park and simply sits in front of the dog. It does take a while but Rome wasn't built in a day. Dog training is a combination of work and patients. Good luck!

Chad Thompson
Professional Dog Trainer
www.VirtualDogTrainer.com