After hours of looking online...

I think I might actually have came up with a plan that will help my boy enjoy more the walks and have more freedom of the lead.

Some of you might know that I've had a few incidents with Dragon where he has bite other dogs, he doesn't seem to like other dogs at all. I got some people saying that some dogs just don't like other dogs and there's nothing you can do about it, at first I didn't understand what they meant by that... I thought there would be no way I could let Dragon of the lead with dogs around him. Well after me spending all night awake doing a lot of research on how to train a dog with aggression problems I've came up with a pretty good plan to make him at least ''ignore'' the other dogs, therefor he'll be able to be of the lead more often and just do his own thing really.

So here's what I was thinking, please do tell me if this is a bad idea.

Dragon knows a few commands BUT he doesn't really listen that often, for example he knows how to sit, but if I randomly just say ''Dragon sit'' he will not sit, I have to go close to him and put my hand up and say it for him to sit, this would not be good if I wanted him to sit when he's out and about and not near me.

So what I'm going to do, since I have pretty much all day, everyday free is start to actually teach him the 3 basic commands without gestures. This will not be done in a day or two I know that but since I have a lot of free time this is a thing I could do.

The most important command will be ''Come'', how will I use this out and about when he sees another dog? Well I can't just train him without any dogs and then go out with him and expect him to come back when there's a dog. So what I was thinking is with an extendable lead (after he learns the command ''Come'') take him out where there's dog and let him walk around, once I see that he's seen another dog and he seems not to like it I'll say ''Come'', if he does come then that's perfect and after a while I can easily trust him to be off the extendable lead and I'll know he's going to come back. If he doesn't come I'll grab the lead and kinda pull it a bit and say the command again till he comes.

Once he understands he has to come no matter what, I don't think I'll need to worry again, because even if we go out and another dog is of the lead and Dragon doesn't like him I can always tell him to come to me and just keep on walking. He'll have more freedom and hopefully understand that dogs are not his enemies.

If the other dog does come towards us, I'll just call Dragon put him on the lead and let the other owner know that there could be a chance of my boy ending up biting, so the owner would put his dog on the lead and when they're gone I can let Dragon of again.

After that, socializing him shouldn't be to hard. I'll get a friend of mine who has a very calm dog to meet us and we'll take both of them on a walk of the lead, let them do their own thing, if Dragon does decide to try bite the other dog I'll call him back to me etc wait for him to calm down a bit and let him go again with the other dog, with some time I think Dragon will end up picking up that dogs are friendly and there's no need to attack.

Sorry if this is to long, but I'm really excited about starting all this (but the weather has been sh!t) so we'll have to practice the commands inside the house first and then once he knows it, take him out

I'll probably start this today or tomorrow, I have had no sleep tonight so I'll probably be way to tired to do all this today, but hopefully tomorrow I'll start teaching him to come when called.

Sounds like you've been doing a lot of thinking joe and you have the basics. For good control especially if you have the worry that Dragon will have a go then "watch me" is very good to know , for distraction and also whilst passing other dogs on the lead as well , and you might also like to think of a strong "Down" so you can drop Dragon in any situation like he's running off after another dog , you see someone coming and he's a distance away , slipped collar by the road etc.
Have to say I'm talking theory here with stuff I haven't mastered myself yet though . Tilly and Tommy are good with "watch me"

It is a great idea, and that's how I worked on Loki's recall when he was younger; I had the extendable lead and when I saw people or dogs, I'd call him to me and he'd come running back. So it's a good idea...but...I do want to stress that it may not work when dogs are actually around or when he's off the lead. Loki would come back every time I called him on the extendable lead when there were dogs around, but off the lead? NO CHANCE. They're not stupid, they know when they're on a lead . I mean, try it, but just be aware of it. It's not that big a deal though, I used to have a Boxer named Zac, and he was dog aggressive ever since we got him (he was a rescue, never been socialised and then got attacked). We'd have him off the lead all the time when he was out in the park, and if we saw a dog, we'd call him back while the dog was at a safe distance, and put him on the lead until they passed. Maybe try to find Dragon's 'safe distance,' how far a dog has to be for him to not care, because then if you see a dog, you can call him back to you before it bothers him. But that's just me being cautious, that's my opinion anyway

At first I have to admit I didn't get why you'd need them basic commands but after actually looking online for ages and seeing dog trainers train some dogs or puppies etc, I've started to think these commands would come in handy with the aggressive behavior.

I actually think in about a week or so Dragon will have a perfect recall, not only because I have a lot of time to spend everyday training him but also because he's very cleaver.

I might do a little video in a few weeks when his recall is perfect-ish at the park, to show you guys how he's doing.

Also the ''Watch me'' command sounds good too, since it does get a bit hard for me to walk past a dog with Dragon, because he'll pull towards the other dog, with some correction he ends up stopping but it kinda looks bad when you go past someone and your dog is basically strangling himself on the collar because he's pulling that much.

We'll see how this goes, if it goes well I'll post a video of him out in the park with other dogs


Also thank you Tara for your comment, when we do the of lead recall I'm going to practice it with a very calm down, just in case Dragon ends up not listening, the owner is amazing and if Dragon ends up biting the other dog I know I won't get shouted at or that the owner will call the police or whatever, although I don't want him to bite the other dog it can always happen. I'll only start doing the recall of the lead when he listens to me every time while on the extendable lead.

I've seen some dog trainers in a space of 2-3 weeks change a dog worse than Dragon to an amazing dog that listens every time, I know I'm not a professional but if they can do it, I'm sure I'll be able to do it as well might take a bit longer but Dragon will get there. I just needed an idea to make me trust him and know that he would not attack other dogs all the time, and I think this idea is what I've been looking for, I don't know how I never thought of this

Good luck and keep us posted on your updates , hope you see some progress, but don't despair if things don't work out in the timescales you think , you just need to be calm and lots of patience , stupid dog talk (encouragement ) and most important high value treats

The treats don't work that great with Dragon, for some reason he gets bored of the treats after like 3 times I was thinking of using his favorite toy a ball. So when he comes when called I'll give him the ball to play with for a while.

This might sound impossible but within 5 minutes I got him to come to me inside the house every time I said ''Come''. First few times I had to kinda bend over to show him I head a treat (I used a bit of bread ) after 3-4 times he knew that he was getting rewarded for coming to me when I said come.

I've now taken a little break because he was mostly doing it because he knew he was going to get rewarded, if I said ''Come'' out of no where he wouldn't come. So I want to give him a little break and in a little bit I'm going to say ''Come'' just randomly and wait for him to come, when he comes he'll get rewarded.

After he comes back every time inside the house when I say ''Dragon come'' just randomly we'll start doing it at the park when no dogs are around.

I did say Dragon was very clever, he also stays when I tell him to now. He's so clever

As hard as it might be to believe within a few minutes I've taught him to ''Come'' when called (doesn't do it 100% yet but nearly nearly there) and told him ''Go'' to go to the couch so then I can say come (again still doesn't do 100% but nearly there). This was all within just a few minutes not even half an hour I don't think.
He's very clever, if I have enough time I'll do a video today of how good he's recall is by the end of the day if it wasn't raining I'd take him out to the park and practice a bit there too as well, this weather ruins everything

Joe you are the proud owner of a very intelligent breed of dog, the big heads are not just hard as rock but also filled with a brain, i only spend 10 mins a day teaching Cassie things, sometimes treat sometimes not but she has learnt. Cassie is so eager to please because i am the treat i have party hands for a well behaved Cassie dog, lots of praise and patience is the way

They are clever. Loki learns new tricks in 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately, this does not apply for behavioural things like not jumping on the kitchen counter, the couch, people, biting, etc. He learns not to, he just chooses to ignore it glad it's going so well, keep up with it, and well done to you and Dragon

Hi joe, think you have done brill reasearch, I have been working on tykes recall on my own as he tends to listen to my OH more as he has a stronger voice. I have got tykes recall distance down to a tee, i tend to spot a dog a mile off before he has and I always put him on the lead regardless, this is to make sure he is safe and the others are aswell. I use the stop word, i know people may not agree as a training method but this i found works for me, to save me running to him and looking like a loony if he is in front all i say is 'tyke stop' and then 'come'. i would deff reccomend the lead extensions this may work best for you. But please do not get dishearted with regards to the DA in him, this may take time i would just advise not to put him in stress full situations or 'force' anything on to him. try act as normal as poss and as i have been advised keep your self calm when other dogs are about as he will sense this if your a little nervous and this may add to him been nervous.

your doing a brill job so far joe, please keep ups updated vids would be brill and lots of pics of your cheeky chappy!!

Good luck

Basic training is essential for dogs. Good luck.

Thank you all
Yes this is the first staffy I've ever had, and by far the most clever dog. I've had a Labrador Husky, Boxer and a few other breeds as I was growing up, and I never had a dog that would learn so quick, he just amuses me when he learns things so quickly.

Yes Rebecca, I'll be taking things slowly. Don't want to put him in front of another dog just like that first he has to earn my trust to be able to be of the lead again with another dog again, he has to show me that he deserves it by working hard and learning some commands. But the way things are going I don't think it will take long till I start doing the recall at the park when no dogs are around and from there we'll move into meeting a calm down and testing the recall. I'll just get the owner to tell his dog to lay down while Dragon plays next to him. If I see Dragon is trying to go to the other dog to attack it, then I'll call him back until he calms down and then keep on playing with him.

His recall at home is almost perfect, he went upstairs and I called him from downstairs and within seconds I could hear him coming down the stairs , it's even more impressing when I get his ball out .

I'll make a video later hopefully, the weather seems good so I might ask my girlfriend to record us. You'll probably be shocked how quickly he picked up his recall, first time I ever did this command with him.

Hayley wrote:Basic training is essential for dogs. Good luck.

Yea now I understand, I feel so silly for never thinking those commands could come in handy.
He use to be able to stay and sit and lay down (sometimes ) but only when there were no dogs and with a lot of gestures.

Now I'm removing all the gestures and teaching him to listen to me rather than staring at my hands moving to tell him what to do, because at the park if he's running towards another dogs he wont see the gestures so that wouldn't work, he has to be able to do the commands only by listening to the word.

Well done Joe. I do the same think as Rebecca. I have to have Debo under control,because he's everyone friend-dogs,kids,adults. So I've tought him to stop,then he has to sit and new addition is heal ( he has to come to my left leg,passing me on my right side and sit). The trick is to spot the dog before him,if I've got his attention quick enough then even he spot the dog after I ask him to stop,he will complete the command ( in 90%). If I leave it to long he's lost and I have to do the run.Thing he's learn that he knows when I say stop there must be a dog somewhere because he looks up for it ,they to cleaver for me.

Yes, Good luck and well done Dragon. When you've sorted your boy, you can come and train Kenny