I need advice

[dogfail]

Hi please be kind I'm feeling very anxious.

We have a 3 year old lab he's a big dog and we are pretty sure there's some German shepherd in him too.

We have had dogs before and were very dedicated to training him . I did puppy classes and trained at home but found him hard to train. We hired a dog trainer who didn't have much success. When he was around 18 months we hired a well known dog behaviourist, she did help a lot and things improved (plus probably getting older)

In terms of walking him he mostly obedient. I walk on lead unless in remote areas. He will walk by me on lead unless he sees a cat or a German shepherd dog. Then he will pull and bark. He looks aggressive but actually just wants to play/chase.

I have been having back issues lately and have struggled to control him if he pulls so I have been wearing a brace. I am also struggling with fatigue (iron deficiency /possible peri) .

Three days ago we were walking and he saw a man with a German shepherd and started barking jumping. Normally I stand still holding him until they pass , but they were quite far away and we were walking away from them so I tried to keep walking. His pulling bent my finger back and I dropped the lead.

Dog bounded over started jumping and barking in front of them. (Never touched them but obviously scary) the man had a baby on his chest. He is very mad and starts kicking my dog. Which is making my dog run round . I catch my dog the man gets in my face shouting and swearing at me. Very aggressive. Im scared and run off. Get home discover the dog has broken my finger.

I'm now terrified to walk the dog. Dh has done last couple days but works away Monday- Wednesday so those days I have no choice. We already have a dog walker twice a week and can't really afford any more.

We use a gentle leader collar which after trial and error I have found best.

Any advice on how I can manage this better?

Hopefully not in a public place

@drivinmecrazy my dog used to be reactive to certain dogs on lead but he was perfectly well behaved offlead

I'm sorry but if you have a big dog that has shown any reactivity of any kind you just should not take that chance.
I think there's a lot the OP can work on as it's not seemingly an aggressive dog.

But if that dog were to approach mine would my dog be expected to know he just wanted to play?

It's kind of akin to saying 'it's fine, my dog just wants to play'.
My dog might not interpret that behaviour as friendly.

Then whose dog is responsible for what may follow?
Mine because yours came bounding up to mine, or yours because you knew they were reactive, on or off the lead.

I did apologise of course. Whilst trying to grab my dog. As soon as dog was restrained the man got in my face and was shouting and threatening me. That's why I ran.

As soon as I had got hold of my dog he started behaving

I have a big dog who is reactive to motorbikes, certain other dogs (big intact males) and to cats. It is definitely fear in his case but he reckons going on the offensive is the best defence and will lunge and bark in a very threatening manner. He was a rescue and I did not know what I was getting into but he's my dog and I'm committed to do my best with him.

He once broke my finger and yes I dropped the lead. I defy anyone not to it was extremely painful and I am afraid my finger has never been the same either. He then ran into traffic which fortunately was stationary and queuing (motorbike came up the line of traffic) It was awful, extremely embarrassing and very dangerous for everyone and I regret the whole episode bitterly but I did not know at that point that he would do that.

I relate this just to say that sometimes bad shit happens despite best intentions and without anyone necessarily being negligent.

I have tried and tried to train him out of it and I know all the theory about staying at a distance from triggers, giving treats and not allowing them to practice the behaviour but cats and motorbikes are hard to avoid and tend to close the distance themselves very quickly. Short of only ever hiring secure fields which is very boring (he won't chase a ball) and expensive I can't see a way to avoid it entirely so I take my chances and try to minimise situations where he might react (I never walk him near any main roads but thanks to Deliveroo motorbikes can be anywhere)

My only advice is to get a sturdy harness with a handle for emergencies (we have a Ruffwear Webmaster). The handle allows you to grab them and hold them back much more easily and reliably if all else fails than having them jumping around on the end of a lead.

@Mrsttcno1

Thank you great advice.

Yes we leave near some huge fields so I can find a remote spot, he never runs off when off lead so we just stay out the way.

This happened walking back from the field.

Thank you ❤️

@dogfail whereabouts are you located? If you are within an hour of Winchester, I'll give you some time for free. I am a dog trainer.

That's really kind but sadly you are about 4 hours away.

@dogfail No further advice, but sympathy re your broken finger - many years ago our then 14ish week old black lab broke my little one. My fault, we were walking into a puppy training class indoors, I probably wasn't paying full attention, she was very excited and lunged forward, the lead caught round my finger which turned black and blue almost immediately!

I hope yours heals quickly, and straight!

Good luck with the training too.