Dog Obsessed Puppy - Help!

[ILikeToClean]

Puppy is now nearly 5 months so I know I should not expect too much, but he really is perfect - indoors! When we go for walks he is great - until we see another dog and then he is just completely obsessed with them. He literally stops and waits for them to approach, I cannot move him or if they are ahead of us will literally pull my arm out of its socket to try and get to them. He already weighs 13kg so you can imagine I need to sort out the pulling!

Of course we do greet other dogs and he is pretty calm and up for a play if they are (he is learning "etiquette") but the problem is he will not want to stop. Other dogs come up, say hello and then go about their business but he will try to pull me over to follow them and nothing I do works. We have to wait until they are out of sight before moving on and he is then panting and almost choking on his lead by this stage. He has even retched!

Have tried to make myself the most exciting thing ever, done the "look at me" thing, tried all sorts of treats that we just give him on walks, like chicken, liver, cheese etc, but he is not interested, he literally kind of "waves" me away from him, yet any other time he is very treat orientated and is a dream to train at home.

It's getting to the stage where I dread seeing people with dogs. He is just over friendly is all and I know he is still young, but not sure what else to do. Will he simply grow out of it?!

Please advise: should I get a harness to stop the pulling at least? If so, what sort? I don't like the idea of a halti over his nose but will try it if it works. I can't let him off the lead in case he sees another dog because he would be off! I have an extendible lead that I was using for when we go to the park for more freedom but he kind of pings on it which I hate so have stopped using it. Should I get a long line that I can kind of give him his freedom but "reel him in" a bit easier?

We tried a puppy class but was pointless as the trainer allowed the pups to be off lead and play first, so of course he didn't want to then do anything else and was just obsessed, leading her to call him a difficult dog!! I was so upset as he really isn't, he is the most chilled out dog at home.

We have signed up to do a different course in July which sounds a lot more focussed and formal, but in the meantime do you recommend a harness for walks around the block and a long line for park walks and any other suggestions as to what I can do? The last 2 days I have got really frustrated and ended up shouting at him and yanking him - not at all what I want to do to my lovely boy!

HELP!

halti collars are great. They dont hurt the dog, they just snnoy it and it means if they pull it just pulls their nose round like a rider pulling a horse so therefore they stop pulling.

Could you put in some extra, more controlled socialisation by taking him for a walk somewhere quiet to wear him out a little, then finding a bench where dogs regularly pass by and settling down for a good long stretch.

Click/reward every single time he looks away from other dogs and stay there long enough that he sees so many dogs that it eventually starts to get boring? If you do this enough times he should start to get the message that he doesn't get to play every single time he sees another dog and hopefully when he starts to get bored he may be more willing to focus on you and the treats so you can do some attention training - thus continuing to make it more rewarding to look at you than to prance around trying to get to other dogs.

The first time will probably be quite tough, but if you keep doing it really regularly the penny will drop. The other dogs are more interesting than you because he can see you anytime, whereas he can only see them in his window of opportunity during walks, the more he sees them, the less interesting they will be come.

I would say you need to continue your work with him at home and in quiet areas, on recall and attention/focus - but also take him to places where there will be lots of dogs until it no longer holds the same level of excitement for him.

How is his "wait" command , this is one we have worked hard on and has really helped in greeting dogs - we trained it for his food, for walking through any door, when we open the tailgate.... But has been really useful for meeting other dogs.
Also have taught him "slowly" which we use in approaching other dogs.... But then giant puppy is 10 1/2 months - so we are abit further along.
5 months is still very young.... Your puppy will get there, but maybe you need to find a "leader" so halti/collar/harness, that means that you don't feel so battered.

Moosemama - actually this does work as last weekend we took him to a park and walked through the woods where it was quieter, met some dogs and he did his usual, but got tired and then DDs wanted to play in the park area so DH and I sat outside the park on a bench. He was so tired and at first stood up for every dog that went past ( it was a sunny day and v busy) but soon just lay down watching everyone and was so good for about an hour whilst DDs played. So yes that is the way to do it and I will do it more. I did think at the time how many 5 month old pups would just lay quietly like that and think that is a glimpse of the sort of dog he will be, as he is like that at home. Definitely worth doing the longer weekend days out like that.

Mrslaughan - wait is pretty good but again at home! He waits for food etc and is very patient at home but outside it's like I don't exist when other dogs are around! Although DH walked him tonight and said he seemed slightly less obsessed and responded better to treats, so who knows, maybe he's slightly turning a corner or maybe it was just a good day! At home everything is great, and we do train with dds trying to distract him with toys, toy dogs (!) etc and he still does fine, but obviously a real situation outside is still too tempting! weird thing is, when he was v small and could not go on floor etc outside and we took him to lots of places for socialisation, he was totally not bothered about other dogs and didn't get excited at all! Will keep working on it, thank you for your advice.

Update: we went to PAH yesterday and got a harness. It immediately made a difference! DH took him for a walk last night and said he felt much more in control, only thing was he didn't encounter any dogs so that will be the test!