new here, have a ??

Hi, welcome to idog.
 
When walking a dog like this, you have to be the most fascinating thing on the planet, and you have to keep your eyes peeled for likely problems.  When you see a person or dog approaching, cross the street, turn around and go the other way, do something OTHER than continueing to approach.  People likely think I'm a nutcase, but I am ALWAYS talking with my dogs as we walk.  Praise, whatever, sometimes as silly as "look at the pretty flowers" but always something to keep their attention on ME.  And having tasty treats handy doesn't hurt a darned thing either.  If you need to turn around at a block away, work up to a little LESS than a block before you turn, then a little less distance every time, but go slowly.
 
If you truely fear he might bite, I'd put a basket muzzle on him for walks.

Thank you for your suggestions. I will try that tonight. He does do ok when the person/s are across the street, but a lady came out of her garage and we didnt see her right away and he went crazy. Same thing with dogs barking through the fence at us. I know it will take time, but it doesn't make walk times very fun.

Is your dog having the opportunity to interact with other dogs and people in a safe environment?  Maybe if they weren't such a novelty, he wouldn't go crazy when he saw them?  If he does, and it is just an on leash while on walks thing, I would say that I agree with Glenda - the solution will be to keep your pup focused on you while on walks... 
 
If your dog knows a "watch me," you can try sitting and doing that for a treat whenever you see a potential problem coming...  But even better would be to get to the point where your dog is not really paying too much attention elsewhere, because he is totally focused on you - where you are going next, whether you are going to tell him to do something next, whether you have a treat in your hand coming his way...
 
We are working on getting our dog to pay complete attention to us when walking in total distraction zones right now...  This is how our trainer has shown us to go about this:
 
We started in low distraction zones with a lot of treats right in our hand - we put Wesley in position on our left (for consistency's sake), treated him, then walked a few steps, making sure it was little enough that he stayed in position - treated immediately, turn suddenly, he would try to get right back where he was treat again, tell him sit - treat, say let's go and walk, treat after a few steps, tell him down - treat, etc. etc.  short sessions,  on leash with him walking, stopping, turning with us, sitting, down - constant treats but he was always looking at us - he was like whoa - what is this...  best ever all these treats...  Gradually decrease treats...  so walk further, only treat when he stays right with you on the turn, or when he drops into his down immediately - but enough that he is still constantly watching you for the treats.  We slowly built up the distractions, quiet streets, then busier streets, then right in front of the dog park (well, our trainer worked with Wesley right in front of the park, I am up next, we will see how that next step goes)...  But, I do have to say, he is now watching me a lot better.  Good luck!!
 

Welcome!
 

schleide,
 
Thank you so much for the suggestions. I weaned Levi (dog) off treats a while ago, but have noticed that his attention is not what it used to be. So I will start that up again. He can be so darn stubborn, but I agree that he is not as focused on what I am doing as he should be. I am just going to enroll him in obdience again and try to expose him to as many situations as possible.  Basically he is still a puppy and I know its going to take a lot of work. He loooves people, but he is still a little leary sometimes.  Thanks again!!!

A couple of things that you can teach your dog that might help - "watch" or "leave it."  "Watch" basically gets the dog to look at you - so when you get it down in non distracting areas (like your kitchen), start progressing to other more distracting arenas.  The microsecond your dog sees a person or other dog, tell him "watch," give him a treat, and he'll realize, if you're consistent, that good things happen when he sees a dog/human.  "Leave it" is pretty self-explanatory. 
 
Also, I've discovered that dogs also don't generalize well and will perform great in your kitchen, but lose it the second you go outside, so progress really slowly.
 
Check out Patricia McConnell's "Feisty Fido" book - it talks about some of these techniques, plus more, and was very helpful with our leash aggressive dog.

Welcome to the board! I can't wait to see some pictures of him.

Thanks everyone!! How helpful. We are starting some more obediance next week!! Hopefully this will get him used to more dogs and people while still trying to concentrate on what he should be doing. Here are some pictures of Levi...with my husband. 

Wow - Levi is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Levi is such a gorgeous guy!

Sequoyah said thanks for the pin up!!!
 
Aussies are supposed to alert their humans to strangers or danger.  The original Australian Shepherd is a dog with "strong herding and guarding instinct" according to the ASCA breed standard.  His behavior is normal!  That said, you can alter his perception that everyone he encounters on his walks is a potential threat.  Attention is your best friend!  When he hears his name, he should be turning and asking "What can I do for you?"
"Leave it" and "Come" are your best friends when you own an Aussie.

Hello...and Welcome!

At least your first post is a relatively fixable problem. I stumbled onto this site when my puppy was at the EV! Anyway, everyone has given you great advice. The only other advice I can add is when it is happening--stay calm! The dog will listen to you if you are calm. Also, don't "give up" and just let him do it! I always say "relax" and give him a little tug toward me as soon as I see Marley's ears go up into alert mode...usually his ears will go back down right away. But it took some practice! That's another thing...learn to read your dog! I can tell when he has to go to the restroom and my husband is always amazed! Good Luck! Keep us posted on those obedience classes![]

Thanks everyone. Well, we went for a walk down by the River yesterday where people are pretty much all around. The first 10 minutes of the walk were miserable. Levi was trying to jump on people walking by and he barked terribly at a little girl. I tried to calm him down and tell him quiet, but he just ignored and kept right on barking.  After a while, though he settled down. When ever I could see people coming I made him sit right by me and showed him a treat while the person walked by. He didn't bark at all. Infact he pretty much ignored them and was so focused on the treat that he didn't care what they were doing. This seems to be working so far. I hope that the obediance classes help him. After that I would like to have him try some kind of agility since he is sooo hyper. We are expecting a baby in the fall, so hopefully we can get him settled down a little bit by then. Thanks again for all the posts!!

I have a somewhat reactive girl and when we're going to walk in town I tire her out first with a good game of fetch.  That eliminates the crazies the first few minutes of the walk.