Help with my new adopted dog!

[indiandreaming]

Hello all, I hope you can help me. I've recently taken on my brother's dog since May due to his ill health. He has had Bindi since she was a puppy, but she is happier around me. She currently lives with me and my partner. I struggle walking with her as she is reactive towards other dogs (not always), but most of the time. She doesn't bark at them, but she will often bow down aggressively. She also dictates our route and won't move along when I tell her to. She stops, and it's hard to get her to start walking again. She won't walk without me, and while my partner shows her more love and affection than I do, she won't walk with him. Other than that she is perfectly house trained and is lovely towards other humans. She barks at animals on tv so we can't watch any dog training programmes in her presence. She is 9 years old. She loves car rides and we rarely leave her alone as I work from home full time.

Don’t walk her for a month or so.

Play with her, engage her with training games, using her nose to seek out scents, get her to figure out food puzzles, do free work with her. Do lots of shaping work with her to increase her confidence. Basically, however she interacts with an object (such as a box) is ‘correct’ and earns her a reward.
Do short training heel work in the garden on her lead, to encourage her to listen to you without the pressure of being away from the house.
This will reduce her stress and increase her confidence and bond with you.

Then try short walks, away from strange dogs as much as possible.

Bowing down is usually an invitation to play rather than aggression - are you sure she isn't just trying to engage with the other dog? I actually think if a dog is reactive to other dogs it is best not to drag them away (as long as they are not within reach of other dog). They need to get used to the fact that other dogs will be passing by and it is not important. So, if she sees one across the road and starts to pull and growl/bark, I would stop walking, try to remain calm (as your feelings of anxiety will transmit to the dog and make her worse), make sure you have a good hold of the lead but don't pull it - just stand your ground, talk in a low, calm voice to the dog until the other dog has passed. Praise her if she stops barking and reward her with a treat if she does so. I used to pass two unsocialised cockapoo-type dogs with a couple, who were lockdown first time owners, in my local forest. Every time their dogs saw other dogs, they would bark continuously and pull towards them. I noticed that the owners would tense up and start hauling in the leads as soon as they saw a dog come into view (even a long way off), whereupon the dogs would react by looking around to see what the problem was. Enormous stress all round with dogs and owner and neither party enjoyed their walks. One day, I met them on a wide path (so we were out of reach of each other) and suggested they just stop opposite me and my (calm) dog and that we just ignore their dogs barking and carry on our conversation normally. After 2 or 3 minutes, both their dogs stopped barking and sat quietly looking at me and my dog. The owners were really surprised. You would need to keep this up for a while but I am pretty sure you would start to get an improvement. One other thing - my current (and my previous dog) has decided opinions about which route we will take for our walks and will mutiny if I elect to go down the "wrong" road. I have met other dogowners who have the same problem! I can insist with my dog if I need to but it does take a few goes of saying "No, we have to go this way" before she gives in and demands a treat for the concession she is making.

"Per PP, the bowing down is referred to as a "play bow". Are you sure you're not misinterpreting it?