Dog toward Dog Aggression

Can anyone think of a way of helping me with my 18 month old Black
Lab, I got him from a dog rescue centre when he was 14 months old. He
had never been given any training I found out after I'd took him,
everything was new to him... eg: leafs blowing on the ground,
streams, birds, other dogs.. and so on. His teeth were very sharp,
so had never had a bone to chew, he went mad when he saw people, sheep
and so on.

Since I've had him I've got him heeling, sitting, staying, down, leave
and he's now very good with people and sheep, birds etc.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Those are all very good signs, Gus.

The problem is that on a walk if he sees another dog his ears point
forwards, his head erects and his tail slowly wags, nothing.. and I do
mean NOTHING will snap him out of this trance, as he get closer he
gets fast and will not heel, he then goes all out to attack the other
dog. If I turn round and walk away from the other dog before we get
to it he will not stop looking round and pulling me back. Treats will
not distract him as we get closer. haltis, choke chains, harnesses
don't work. noise distraction doesn't work.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Gus, all those tools work just fine. But as with all tools, they
must be used *properly.*

I think you need the help of a professional trainer, not just an
obedience class. A class at this point might actually be
counter-productive.

A good professional trainer will know how to get your dog through
this phase, and also will show you how to behave around your dog,
especially when other dogs are around.

In the meantime, I recommend that you stay away from other dogs as
much as possible. Handling these encounters in the wrong way will
just make it that much harder to get your dog to eventually behave
properly. In fact, you're probably *reinforcing* your dog's actions
right now, but until someone takes a good look at the relationship
you have with your dog, your manner, etc., it's hard to say.

I wouldn't expect that you're going to get what you want using only
positive reinforcement, either at least not in your lifetime. So
pass by those trainers who claim to use only positive reinforcement
if you want to get past this "problem" sooner rather than later.

Your vet can sometimes help you find such a trainer. Or maybe the
rescue agency can aim you in the right direction, after you've
explained your "problem" to them.

He is at dog training classes and spends most of the lesson trying to
attack other dogs, the trainer has worked hard with him but with no
sucess as yet. The dog was neutured at the late age of 14 months when

Handsome Jack Morrison...

That's an illustration of why you're probably making it worse right
now.

I'd ditch this class and find myself a good professional trainer. It
will start out as one-on-one training, which your dog probably needs
right now.

And thanks for rescuing this dog, Gus!

I got him.

As I say, I've got him into a wonderful happy dog, perfect in everyway
but for the attacking dogs, he with walk close pass many many sheep
with no trouble at all now, that took a lot of training but he's come
through at last, it's just the dogs issue and I see no light at the
end of the tunnel. Any thoughts would be helpful as I'm at a loss on
what to try next.