unable to let her off the lead

Hi we have had Maddie since 6 weeks (too early we know) she has always been socialised since being young and taken to dog parks and hung out with my mums dog (welsh terrier). She has been to dog parks and only really become vocal with other staffys or staffy crosses. My partner has had one incident in a dog park where a female staffy cross went for her and gave her a blood mouth. After that a few weeks later she came into her first season. Since then she has been out of control when other dogs are around. She will become very vocal and has pinned dogs down that she has previously played with nicely. She is currently 11 months old, 22kg and only eats raw food.

Tonight we took her to the beach and kept her on the lead for most of the time. We let her off and she was happy splashing around in the water until another dog came close to her and she began vocalising and jumping up at it (looked like a golden retriever). The other dog did this back and the owner kicked Maddie twice in the ribs. I don't want her to become aggressive and get hurt by other owners and will keep her at home all the time if need be. It's just too stressful to take her out off the lead now. I take her out every morning before work for a run and she has a huge backyard to play in.

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to make her more social?

Hello. I would stop taking her to dog parks firstly - they're a recipe for disaster. Lots of off lead dogs of different ages, personalities, socialization levels and temperaments all shoved together in a high arousal place. There are bound to be tiffs.

I would go back to basics with calm, sociable dogs - walking her on lead an parallel for the time being without any interaction until she is showing calm and positive body langauge. A yard is never a replacement for a walk. If you're walking her on a lead, and another dog approaches, politely ask the owner to call them away as your dog is in training. She shouldn't be allowed to practise these negative reactions as this will become default when meeting other dogs.

I second Rach's advice avoid dog parks they are just disasters waiting to happen

But we were at the beach when this happened NOT a dog park. I have not taken her to a dog park since she came into season 2/3 months ago.

Might just have to muzzle her.

Okay, so is the beach usually heavily populated with dogs/are there many off lead dogs that are likely to approach? Is there anywhere quieter that you can go? You can muzzle if you feel the need to, but it won't resolve the problem. Dogs can do lots of damage with claws and things too, and if she were to get into a fight she couldn't defend herself. At this age, I would be working more towards rehabilitation rather than just management, if possible. It will be hard work and take time, but worth it for both yours and her quality of life. I rescued my girl when she was too far gone with her fear aggression and we are restricted as to where we can go now, she can cope with more than she originally could, but will never be sociable.

Best thing would be is to leave her off the lead but when you come up to other owners just keep walking dont stop and occupy her with a toy or stick, this works with our staff after shes been attacked by numerous other dogs plus she has a phantom pregnancy with our newest member our 7 and half month old staff rubh

Keeping her on the lead will only make her worse, just keep distracting her and changing direction if someome else comes along, and I wouldnt muzzle her because that can make a dog more aggresive especially if she is then attack whilst she has the muzzle on, hope ive helped.

As much as I can see where you're coming from "Hannah&Michael" to let a dog that is known to have an issue with other dogs off lead with random unknown dogs would be very irresponsible.

The way I work with my dogs is to clip them on when another dog approaches and ask the owner of the other dog to do the same - I like the 'because he's in training' approach. Although my dog is on a lead, I always strive to keep the lead loose. It's there as a backup, a safety net, not as the main means of control. The moment you have tension on the lead you are inviting the dog to pull against you, and in this case towards the other dog.

I then keep 'working' with my dog, asking for attention towards me and giving praise for good, calm responses. If my dog starts to focus on the other, I immediately will ask for a 'watch me' or even take a couple of steps back and call my dog to me. With a very reactive dog we had until recently, I'd maybe even ask him for a sit, or for him to turn round me, or something that he knew how to do with confidence. This sets the situation up to be something the dog can do and can be praised for. It turns the meeting with a dog into something positive which gives you both confidence, and importantly also show the other owner that you have a well behaved dog that they don't need to worry about either. With no one else worrying, the dogs often don't feel the need to either and everyone ends up happy!