Barking and whinging

Hi
I have a rescue staffy ( well I consider her a rescue she has been used for breeding by her previous owner) and needless to say she has never been socialized with other dogs.
Jess is a wonderful dog she is between 3 to 5 years old, good with humans and children and when at home she is a typical staffy very loving and is learning how to play.
It is when I take her out the problems begin. Whenever she sees another dog she goes into whinging and barking mode, pulling on the lead and is generally hard to control. I cannot allow her off the lead and muzzle her in case she is approached by other dogs.
I have read up and have tried several methods to distract her etc, etc, but it seems to have little effect.
I would love to be able to take her for a walk and occasionally let her off the lead so she can have a good run around,or just even walk by other dogs with out howling at them.
Have any other staffy owners encountered a similar sort of problem and have they been able to come up with a solution ?

Hi & welcome to the forum.

Does she pull & bark aggressively, or just in over excitement?

Hi and thanks,
No shes not aggressive it could be over excitement. Even when we are in the car and she sees other dogs she goes absolutely mad.

Do you know any experienced handlers with a well socialized dog? If so she if they will walk their dog with you to get yours used to being around and interacting with other dogs

when we got Lottie we took her to see a behaviourist because she was scared and unsocialised with both humans and dogs. well i say unsocialised she was scared of humans. walking her at first wasnt nice. we were told to watch her body language and when she became fixated to stop and destract her and when she looked away from them take a couple of steps back and then praise not treats just praise. if the fixation was so bad them turn around and walk in the oposite direction and once she had calmed down praise. we found this a slow process so implimented (how to put it not punishment ) corrections. when she fixated we would grab her attention by either touch or sound and make her sit to heel untill they had gone by. sometimes she would pull but we kept her lead short and it really does work when the collar is high up on the neck. the thing is to get her to know the flight option is there she doesnt have to go into fight mode but she is eventualy learning to ignore other people and dogs. it has taken us 4 months to get to the ignore stage so it isnt a quick fix but its working.

also for the barking try to teach the dog SHUSH and SPEAK. get the dog to bark when you say speak and if she does give her a treat. then when she has this try shush or quiet and again when she does be quiet count to 5 and if she's still quiet give a treat. she will eventualy get the message and stop barking and whinging when you say quiet. it helps to keep a few treats in your pocket