How to deal with unsocialised lurcher's reaction to other dogs?

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Lulabella

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Hi all

I have a lurcher who we rescued 10 months ago, he is 2 years old this year. Prior to us having him he had spent his life shut in a cellar, and it became obvious he has never experienced any normal social situations. We have had a fair few issues to overcome and he has come on really well in many ways but I am struggling to know what is the best action to take, to deal with how he reacts to other dogs.

When he meets new dogs on a walk, he will invariably bark a lot. When we first got him this was more in a over exuberant, boisterous manner, then occasionally he would crouch down as they approached and seem a bit more aggressive. These days this is what he is doing most frequently. I didn't want to make it an issue by dragging him out the way every time we saw another dog, so he wears a muzzle just to give me the confidence to try and let him interact. If I can, I will try and stop and talk to people with other dogs. He does tend to settle down quite quickly in this case, especially if their dog isn't interested in retaliating, and he will stand quietly. But then the next dog we see he will start again.
And it is making it more difficult for me to get the opportunity to stand long enough to give him chance to get used to them, as the worse he behaves, the more people step aside to avoid him.
It is worse if people are on the other side of the road, as I have to just try and keep walking while he is causing a scene on the end of the lead!
I have tried just completely ignoring him for ages but this doesn't seem to be working. I have tried to get his attention on to something else which is very difficult as he gets fixated on it.

We have another dog which he gets on fab with. He was like it to start off with my boyfriend's dog and friend's dogs, but we just persevered and kept walking them together and he quickly got used to them too.

I think a great deal of it is, he is actually unsure and thinks he should 'get in there first' before they have a chance to get him.

Thanks for reading, any tips on how we can overcome this would be appreciated!
 
I would take a high value treat with you and get his attention when there are no distractions,practice this and then ask for sit then treat... try the same when you see another dog in the distance and try and get his attention before he gets fixated and make him sit not facing the dog and concentrate on you. ,, may be worth finding a training class and a sensible instructor to help with socialising him.... im no expert but that is what I would try..good luck
 
My rescue dog was trained to fight other dogs, I took lots of tasty treats and took him in the garden and let him run around like normal, I would then call him over and give him a treat and as soon as he takes the treat I would say 'focus' and then I would say 'focus', once we looked at me I gave him a treat. Then on a walk I would say focus, he would look at me and then get a tasty treat. After months of practice we can now come across other dogs, I will say focus he will look at me and get some tasty treats, when he sees a dog he thinks 'yay food!' not 'I must attack them/I must play with them etc.' It's all about consistency, patience and making it fun. It took me months but I am so happy with how good he is now, not using punishment and trying to scare him into behaving, some people use sticks, smack them, electric collars etc. I think violence is wrong and should never be used to get what you want. Treats and fun will get the most success, its NOT a quick fix but it IS a permanent fix!
 
With a lurcher, there may also be a genuine need to stretch their legs and even to run something down and there might be quite a bit of frustration in his behaviour. If you can let him run to his heart's content with the dogs he knows on a regular basis it should help him be a bit less OTT with other dogs. If he is the type to chase a ball and retrieve it it would also give him an outlet for his chasing instinct. You may have to muzzle him even with dogs he gets on with though, just to avoid an accidental nick to the other dogs' skin and be prepared to stop the action if he gets too overstimulated. A young fit lurcher in chasing mode can be a bit daunting for other breeds of dog.

It would be best for an experienced person to see his reactions before devising a step-by-step socialisation programme. There is no 'one size fits all" and it usually involves stage-managed encounters with suitable dogs. Arthur B' s and S45' s advice is very good but if you want him to also be able to interact with strange dogs safely you need a behaviourist. Try and get references from somebody who has used the behaviourist before you spend money though, even the qualified ones are not uniformly good at their job!
 
Agree with comments above. You need to be able to get his attention and basically say 'well yes there is another dog, but it is none of your business as I have already decided that it is safe' (well, doggy/pack type version of this anyway).
Agree too that the best way to do this would be with the help of the trainer, as you would need to respond with different body language depending on his body language at the time, which can change rapidly, so very difficult to give written advice that would work under all circumstances. A good behaviourist will give you a plan to work to after observing the dog (i.e so you can work on the dog yourself between visits), so the cost of a few sessions should make a big difference in the long run.
 
He sounds like it is either frustration or fear. I agree with the other posters, you need a dog behaviourist ( not a trainer) to see what is going on. If you are in the south, these people are fab: http://www.dogcommunication.co.uk/home.php

In the meantime, give your dog distance from other dogs, reward ( really high value treat, not kibble etc) for calm behaviour at a distance, if he is reacting, then you are too close. Find a secure enclosed area where he can let off steam before asking him to try and be calm near other dogs.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone!
I should add, the situation I described was when I am walking him on the lead round the streets. If someone does stop and talk to us he settles down quite quickly, which is an improvement as he used to continue barking.
I agree that it is frustration as before we started using the muzzle, he used to bite his lead as well as bark etc. And if people cross the road or hurry past he is worse as I think this increases his frustration.
I should also add, he regularly gets let off his lead in the woods. If we do see another dog approaching, he is pretty good at waiting to go back on the lead. He also loves running off lead with my boyfriends dog, he was the same with him to begin with, and the first few off-lead walks together he had a few stern reminders that it wasn't acceptable to suddenly pounce on him and make lots of noise. He quickly seemed to realise there was more fun to be had when he plays nicely and they are now good friends.
Also, if we are walking and another dog suddenly appear round a corner, we get a much better reaction. It seems to be the build up to them approaching and initial meeting which causes the issue.
He is also much better when there are other distractions, for example I took him to walk a cross country course with me, there was lots going on and it was a new place for him. There was many other dogs there and the majority he completely ignored! The only ones he barked at were off the lead (dogs were meant to be on leads), and I was able to distract him much easier.
I think what has been said about getting him to 'focus' may be very useful as he is very switched on and quick to pick up commands.

Thanks for the help!

Edited To Add: When we go on a walk where he is to be let off lead, he wears a box muzzle. I am not able to feed him treats while he is wearing this which is a bit of a pain!!
 
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If you get him a plastic hound muzzle, you will be able to push treats through the holes (try ebay, lurcher charities sell them through the website).
 
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