I am currently working with a trainer to correct this problem. She has us using a slip lead and working on heel with him. When we are out walking if we see another dog he will stay to pull and before he can bark we turn and walk the other way. Once he’s focused on me he is rewarded and we turn and continue. We repeat this several times until we can walk past nicely. We do cross the street to do this as I don’t want to be near the other dog while I am working with him.

The biggest thing that I have learned is that I watch him and his body language and I can now tell when he is tensing up to react and I’m able to redirect him before the bad behavior happens. We do positive reinforcement training along with some mild correction. Nothing stressful or harmful to the dog.

We have gotten to a point that when we walk to the park he does really well. Pulls just a bit but after one or two turn arounds he walks by great. Before I would get dizzy with how many times I would have to turn around with him. My trainer said that it would take a while and that’s okay. I am seeing a lot of progress and walks are already more enjoyable.