You have reinforced for him that when he sees another dog bad things happen. Think about it :) Pinning him, shouting, going home, losing walk privileges. No you didn't cause the initial problem, but you unintentionally made it worse.

It sounds like you tried some counter conditioning but not enough. Fill your pockets with kibble or small treats before you go on walks. When you see another dog a few blocks or even half a mile away, start treating him. Keep treating him as you get closer but do not try to greet the other dog. Keep your distance and move briskly past the other dog. No greetings. Any noise or aggressive reaction from your dog, stop the treats. Don't correct him! Keep moving, and just stop the treats.

It's critical that you start the treating well before the behavior starts. If you hear a dog bark in the distance, treat. See a dog on a cross street 3 blocks away, treat. If you do this on every single walk, he will within a few days or weeks start to associate SEEING another dog with getting treats. Keep working on it and ignore any relapses. Do not reprimand him for the bad reaction, reward him for the good. The key is that you MUST start rewarding him when he is far enough away from the other dog to still be calm and in control.

If you are consistent he will begin to look at you for treats when he sees another dog, and you will have changed his association of 'strange dog= bad things' to 'see strange dog = get cookies'.

You might pick up a copy of Jean Donaldson's 'Culture Clash' for a better understanding of how to manage your dog based on the way dog's think, not the way human's think :)

Cynthia's suggestions are great. Also start really working on obedience commands or tricks. Sit , down, spin, shake anything like that. Stop all causual interactions with him. Don't just pet him, he must do something to earn the petting. When he gets fed ask him to do something in exchange for the food. This will help him understand his place in your pack and he will come to look at you more as the leader and to look at you for clues on how to react to a given situation.

Lisa

My best advice to you is to consult a professional. My guess is that your dog has a fear/aggresion problem and that is very tricky. This can be heightened when the dog is walked on a leash.

I think the idea of really working on training your dog, heel, sit, stay and then on to some exercise that keeps his/her mind occupied might help.

Also, the dog probably needs some heavy duty exercise, not just a quiet walk around the block.

Here is CeCe, my rescue. She attacked dogs unprovoked and if I tried to stop her she would bite me. I worked with her on a pinch collar, with a quick correction if she went for another dog, then I praised her for good behavior. She has mellowed over the years, but she has an alpha personality and even though she is over 11 years, I watch her all the time.

{{!gwi}}

Good luck, it takes work, but it is worthwhile.

"She attacked dogs unprovoked and if I tried to stop her she would bite me. I worked with her on a pinch collar, with a quick correction if she went for another dog, then I praised her for good behavior. I watch her all the time. "

So how did that work for you? Sounds like not too well.

Bluesjibe, It's never too late for some positive training :) I'm sorry that you weren't able to find a positive trainer to help you when she was younger, but it is not too late to try positive methods and they will work if you're consistent.

Before this thread goes the direction that turtle's thread did, I want to say there's not one definite technique that will work for every dog and I hope this thread doesn't become another soapbox for 'my way is best'.

Cynthia's method works well for her, blues worked well for him.........it all depends on the dog,his mental state, and the problem.

I'm not a trainer but I've seen pinch collars do wonders where treats didn't faze a dog, and I've also seen the reverse. So let's please just give venassam advice.
My advice..........for help training an aggressive dog, I'd seek a professional trainer.

OK.........climbing down off my box.............

I would correct my dog if it was lunging or pulling on the leash. The key is to make the correction before the behavior happens.

Keep your dogs attention while walking, both you and he needs to ignore passers by...don't let him even look at another dog, and keep walking.

Annz, Yes indeed NEGATIVE abusive methods do work to some extent for all dogs. But there is more risk to the dog and the handler with those methods than with positive methods. If I misread, I apologize, but the words I quoted sounded like Blues still has some level of management problem with her dog, since she indicated she had to 'watch her all the time.' Punitive methods teach fear. Positive methods help a dog to relate to more than just one handler and one situation.

I frequently use a combination of both positive and negative reinforcement when training my dogs. It depends upon hte dog and the situation. I've had dogs who never needed negative reinforcement. I've also had dogs who never responded to positive reinforcement.

Negative reinforcement does not equate to abuse as cynthia seems to infer.

I think everyone has given some good suggestions, that the OP could try.

CeCe is an alpha dog, I just have to be a tad bit more alpha. She is a wonderful dog and consistant training worked wonders. My guess is that she was a dog left in a backyard with not much human contact for first few months of her life.

Pinch collars are very effective if they are used in a humantarian way, quick correction, quick praise. She always knew she was doing wrong, it was a question of training her to think before acting, and that is a slow process.

In any case, I wouldn't have recommended the way I worked with CeCe to someone else, if it hadn't worked. It did work, and it does take time.

Work on sit and stay while you are not in the presence of another dog. While you are at home, use the tv dogs as a training tool. When your dog sees the dog on tv, put your dog into a sit and stay position. The critical part is that the milisecond your dog looks at the tv, correct him. This is a crucial part of training.
Question - How much outside exercise time does your dog get? Is there a place other than your backyard where you can leash walk your dog, where there are not so many other dogs - maybe a nearby fire road???