[Jehoseph]

So I've had my dog since January this year.
He's about a year, and a half.
Australian shepherd, and catahula mix we believe.

My fiance, and I decided to get him together.
This is my first experience with a dog; I grew up with cats.
He's usually sweet enough with people, will bark at strangers for sure usually calming after being closer to them.

I do really care for the dog, but there has been basically two huge hurdles which are: socializing, and pulling / overexcitedness on walks.
He doesn't do well with meeting other dogs on walks, and often in a house or yard he can also play a bit too rough, or aggressively. Very loud high pitched barking; even once at a pet store. Took him out of there quickly.
He did come from a home previously where he was apparently bullied by an older female dog. I imagine that may be some role in all of this.

He doesn't focus on treats during walks, so we need a different strategy to deal with the leash pulling it seems, and his excitedness is usually when exposed to other dogs.
How do we rightly introduce him? Even when another dog is calm he seems to want to dominate in playtime, or is too aggressive for some dogs scaring them off a bit.

I also hope for him to be much calmer on walks in the future. Again very young dog.

Any advice, or support?

Thanks in advance.

 

[elrohwen]

I would stop letting him meet other dogs on walks. Meeting on leash is a very weird and unnatural way for dogs to meet, and it's often asking for somebody to growl or get reactive. It's not an effective way to socialize. If you run into another dog and can't help it, let them sniff and count 1-2-3 and then move on. Do not let him hang around longer than that.

For play dates, find dogs who can handle his play style. If he's overwhelming to other dogs, find other young dogs who enjoy playing like that. That's really all you can do. You can't tell him to play differently, and it's not fair to subject other dogs to his over the top style. He will probably mellow with age.

In general, he does not need to meet and play with so many dogs. Socialization is about getting dogs comfortable with being in new places and functioning around new people and things. It's not about requiring your dog to play with and get along with every one. It's great to find a dog that your dog can really let loose with, but I think the way you're going about it is overkill and not helping his dog manners, but probably making him more reactive and excited about dogs on walks because he thinks he will get to meet all of them.

For walks, it sounds like he's a bit reactive. Do some research on Look At That (LAT) training. You will need to work far enough away from the other dogs that he can still focus on you.

What kind of treats are you using? Bring out the most exciting food in the world when you do your training on walks. Things like hot dogs, steak, chicken, etc.

 

[cookieface]

What Elrohwen said. Dogs don't need to meet or play with other dogs. Some dogs enjoy it and behave appropriately, but many dogs either don't enjoy it and/or act inappropriately. I think what she suggested about expecting to meet every other dog is one of the things that happened with my dog (my husband is just now starting to understand that she does not need to say hi to every other dog). Now that we've (he's) stopped, she's gotten much better.

For not taking treats on walks, try higher value items as suggested, but you also will want to notice what is going on around you. If he's excitedly pulling towards another dog, that's kinda too late to work on getting his attention back on you. You'll need to stay focused on the environment, notice other dogs and distractions before he does, and get his attention before he can react. I know where all the dogs in our neighborhood live and a few steps before we get into their line of sight, I'm calling Katie's name, reinforcing her attention on me, and asking for things like "touch" and "watch" so that she's engaged. It takes time, lots of time, but your dog sounds he needs to redirect his excitement into something more appropriate than barking and lunging towards other dogs. Hopefully, he'll quickly learn that playing with you is more exciting than the other dogs.

Also, check out the sticky on leash reactivity at the top of this section. Tons of great information there!

 

[Nissa M]

I've asked some similar questions on here and received very similar advice. I followed it very consistently and continue to use these methods and wanted to say that it really does help. My young dog also goes over threshold quite easily and when that happens it's really hard to get through to him. I just wanted to add and emphasize that the quality of the treats for some dogs can make all the difference. Like your dog, mine won't take treats either when he's excited and even at the best of times he is not very food motivated. I've found that, while it may seem like a giant pain to cut up cheese or fry up steak, it is totally worth it. Good luck!

Eta: very cute pup!