suggestions for obiedence when passing other dogs on a walk

I have a similar problem with my puppy.  He's ten months old.  We've done a lot of training.  He is in dog shows but for some reason there he never barks or reacts.  But if we are out and there's only one dog, he usually hackles and starts barking and pulling.  He's very leash reactive.

I just took him for a walk to work on this.  The weather is nice so I figured there would be plenty of other dogs out.  But before we walked, we stopped at a church and I did some ball drive training and fetch on their lawn.  On the walk he passed several dogs and did nothing.  I could not believe it!! From now on I'm running him down first so he is taken down a notch (or five) and gets used to passing other dogs and earning lots of praise.  This is the only thing that has worked.  Turning the other way and/or using food rewards has worked but only to an extent (it takes several tries, and then we start over with every new dog we pass).

i have heard that food distractions to keep them moving is something to try, but sometimes i forget to bring food with me! (and it needs to be something different then just regular treats, something that will really get her attention)

unfortunately i live in a condo complex so there is really no where i can let her just run around before our walks, unless we take a drive to the dog park but thats only a couple nights a week.  she does get walked 5 times a day for atelast 10 minutes, so its not like she is all built up with energy from not getting walked.

I have never done shows or agility or anything with her, but in our training class shes not like that at all, she just keeps to us and isn't really concerned with the other dogs. its just on our walks when aproaching or coming up on another dog walking.

There are often places, like a school yard, a playground, a ball park, in most every neighborhood that are enclosed and that no one will mind you using so long as you've got your poop bags with you.  We found a lovely track once and had the dogs out on it, when a fellow stopped by and started giving DH a hard time about us being there....the sign said no dogs on the track GRASS, and we kept them on the actual track.....but about the time the fellow was saying we had to leave, someone pooped and I scooped it before it even hit the ground all the way.I didn't even know the guy was there!  The fellow was so surprised that he gave us permission to use the track anytime we wanted.  So, there are options......

One thing I always do is keep my eyes wide open and be sure that I am the one who sees the other dog first.  Much easier to avoid the issue than to stop it once it's started.

You don't necessarily need to let her run off lead.  Nikon was on lead the entire time.  We did some training we're working on and his reward is fetch, but I either bring along a 25" line or just drop the leash but leave it on him.  For him, it really took the edge off.  It might not work for every dog or your dog, but just sharing what is the only thing so far that works for us.  I didn't have to have food or toys to distract him or turn around and go the other way b/c he just didn't care about the other dogs anymore.  He is a very high energy, high drive dog and gets really frustrated being on a leash b/c at home we have a big run and he's not really ever on lead so when he sees a dog and can't go anywhere he throws a fit.  But he is the type of dog that walks means nothing to him as far as dealing with his hyperness, walks are more for me getting out and him getting socialized, they are simply no way enough exercise even if we walk for hours.

Liesje

He is a very high energy, high drive dog and gets really frustrated being on a leash b/c at home we have a big run and he's not really ever on lead so when he sees a dog and can't go anywhere he throws a fit.  But he is the type of dog that walks means nothing to him as far as dealing with his hyperness, walks are more for me getting out and him getting socialized, they are simply no way enough exercise even if we walk for hours.

Maybe you can use a couple leash corrections to let him know that bevavior it's not allowed. My dog was bred to go on for days but it's all in the way you walk your dog which makes the difference. I walk my dog every day 30-45 minutes and at the end he is ready to relax at home. The mental control he has to use by ignoring other dogs, bunnies, trees, etc. is what helps him to burn energy. Just like clicker training exercises a dog's brain also mental control during walks can wear off a dog.

It's actually no longer an issue, the fits and reactivity.  He works a little bit and plays fetch before his walk, and he is fine, ignores the other dogs.  Keep in mind my dog is trained NOT to ignore prey objects, so I'm not going to constantly correct him if he gets a little keyed up by a deer running by or a rabbit jumping out at us or something like that.  I'd rather just walk a somewhat tired dog than correct the drive out of him, since his work/training are far more important to us than going on walks.  He doesn't really need walks for mental or physical stimulation, they are more for me because I like it and it's safer for me to walk with a dog (or two or three).  I use leash corrections for plenty of things but in this case it's a win-win to simple take the dog on a walk while he's already more complacent.  Just becase your dog is tired after a 30 minute walk does not mean that is anywhere near sufficient for every other dog.  And as I said, our walks are not a mental exercise like yours are.  Nothing wrong with that, but I personally don't use a walk to train or mentally stimulate my dogs.

I'm glad is not an issue anymore. Just a quick note, not because i correct his prey drive while on walks that means i have corrected the drive out of him. Actually he was able to hunt a wild bunny on the backyard the other day and i keep his prey drive going by using a flirt pole. He knows he needs to leave his prey drive at home during our walks, once we return we can encourage it once again.

I suppose it's just a personal difference then.  As long as I can control my dogs I don't really care if they perk up at a rabbit or deer.  I often use them to flush animals out of the yard or off fields and I think it's kind of funny and exciting and even praise them when they alert to a squirrel or something.  For us walks are really about just getting out and seeing people, dogs, and things.  No real training or socializing going on.  I expect loose leashes at all times and attention when I ask but beyond that they are free to look about.