# I may have trained something bad to him,but....



## matt1970lemans (Mar 1, 2007)

I have a male gs that is just over a year old.I have been taking him out as much as possible to socailize.Now the problem I have is I let him say "hi" to every dog I see only if the owner says its ok.Now all he wants to do when he sees a dog is run over and say hi.Most of the time the other dog,mostly little ones,growl and the owner says I guess your GS is to agressive for him.whatever. Anyway how do I untrain him from going over to every dog he sees?He's more out to go over to every dog then every person.


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

Keep him leashed and train him in obedience while around other dogs. Teach him to focus on you and correct him if he tries to go for other dogs. You are his leader, you control what he can and cannot do. If he has some doggie friends that you and their owners allow to play together, make him work obedience with you before you release him to play. This will teach him that he only gets to play with dogs on YOUR command and ONLY after good obedience work.









Signing up for group training classes will also help to teach him that the presence of other dogs does not automatically equate playtime with other dogs. Above all, none of this will do any good if you're more boring than playing with other dogs. Make playtime with YOU the best thing ever! If he loves balls, never allow him access to balls when he's with other dogs. He only gets to play with balls with you and you alone.

There is a fine line between socializing your dog with other dogs and allowing him to become too "doggy," to the point where the dog-human bond begins to suffer. Dogs will naturally want to bond more with their own kind. You may want to reduce his time with other dogs drastically while you make him realize the wonders of playing with you and paying attention to people over other dogs. Also, if the other dogs growl at your dog, they could have their own problems but chances are your dog is rushing up to them and greeting them rudely. Watch out, this could get ugly if it continues.


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

This is one of the reasons I don't do alot of meets and greets with other dogs. If it is a dog I know fine, if not, then my dogs don't need to know them either. I didn't get Raya as a pup, but my other 3 dogs are not dog aggressive, nor do they feel the need to meet and greet every dog they see.

You need to keep you pups attention on you and the "Leave It" command is one my favorites for situations like this.


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## Kayla's Dad (Jul 2, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: matt1970lemans Anyway how do I untrain him from going over to every dog he sees?He's more out to go over to every dog then every person.


I don't think you should look at this as "untraining" your dog because IMO the socializing you've done so far is good, consodering he is a little over one year. You just need to take it to the next level-those steps suggested be DianeM and Wisc Tiger. I tend to think of socializing in several different ways-being able to meet n greet other dogs and being able to be with other dogs without actual interaction with them.

The piece you need to add to your training so far tie in to what Diane and wisc tiger advised. You now need to get control of/train your dog so he knows to look to you as to when it is okay to "meet n greet" and when it is time for him to focus and pay attention to you in the midst of other dogs about the two of you.

I spend a lot of time in parks where dogs are allowed off leash. In these places, Kayla may do a meet n' greets. Due to the size of most of these parks I can usually see and observe approaching dogs & owners. If there is something that makes me uncomfortable, we can move off in another direction or I can call Kayla to me. The leave it command works in this situation though I tend to use a recall or the command "with me". 

We also attend a lot of trials/fun matches. In these situations approaching other dogs is for the most part simply not done though they are all around. This is also socializing - the dog needs to be attentive to me and capable of moving around a lot of other dogs without interacting with them AND be able to control herself if another dog comes up on her-not everyone at these events is considerate of how others may not want the doggy interaction. Whether you plan on trialing your dog on not, you want the capability of being able to have your dog in this type of environment and completely well behaved and under your control - focused on you and capable of turning off the "need to say hi."


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

Whenever possible, I like to teach something brand new, not try to un-do something undesirable. It's just easier to teach our dogs a new trick every time! 

This is a great opportunity to do exactly that. Teach your pup "leave it." Start first with treats in a controlled envirnment, then you can work your way up to toys, then to other dogs, little kids in strollers holding yummy cookies at eye level, dead animals on the side of the road, all the stuff you want your dog to avoid. 


Here's my Cliffs Note version of how I teach Leave It. 

Put a leash on your dog. Toss a treat on the floor a few feet away. Your dog will move toward it. As she gets near it, tell her "leave it," THEN lightly pull her leash and redirect her toward you, who of course have a more wonderful treat (and praise as though she won the Nobel Prize) as a reward (I use biscuits on the floor and scrumptious meaty venison or liver treats as the redirect treats to start off. Then I work up to delicious treats on the floor as well). 

Don't pull the leash when you say "leave it." You'll see folks doing this all the time. Then the dog learns to associate "leave it" with "I'm about to be yanked into the proper position." What you want to do, of course, is teach your dog that "leave it" is something she does on her own (with a reward for that good behavior). 

When you're first starting out on this training, don't actually give her enough leash to be able to reach the treat on the floor, start a few inches short. Otherwise, you have to reach into her mouth and take the treat out if she does get it. She can't EVER take what you've told her to leave. Also, you can't *ever* give her permission to eat something that you've told her to leave. If you later decide that it's ok for her to do so, pick it up, and give it to her, like it's a whole new treat. (I don't do this. I just don't want my dog to get ideas that food that has been the subject of a leave it is ever edible. And I'm always packing treats. But if you run out, it's an option.)

You can toss treats around her, telling her to leave it; you can toss balls (or whatever her favorite toys are) past her in the yard (This is my favorite training exercise with my drivey toy-obsessed dog). When she ignores them all, then you can work outside the yard.

Start in the house and the yard.

Once your dog has shown that she fully understands Leave It means 'ignore that item and focus on my owner who has wonderful things to offer me,' THEN you can begin to use the command when you see other dogs. Don't start too soon. You need to make sure that he really understands the command. Be sure that the first few times you see another dog, you don't yank the leash when you say Leave It; the dog should always voluntarily respond. If she doens't, tell her No, (you can give a light leash correction to get her attention) and repeat the command. 

I would then work this on walks (other dogs walking by, running cats and squirrels are good to "leave," little kids, etc) for a while. (Tell her to leave it _as soon as you see her alert _on that stimulus -- her eyes dart in their direction or her ears turn.

Pretty soon, any time you tell your dog to Leave It, she'll look up at you, or at the very least, just keep looking straight and enjoying her walk with the other dogs pretty much forgotten. 
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