How to distract her from other dogs?

[Sahara91]

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could advise. Xhena has always loved other dogs, she's never nasty with them (she's 13mths old and I've yet to even hear her growl), but she always HAS to say "hi" to every dog she sees, and is very in-your-face with them. She forgets all about me, sets herself against me, and pulls with all her might to reach every dog, and she doesn't stop until she gets there. It gets tiresome fighting with her all the way round the park, and I have to avoid the park when it's wet as when my grip is taken away, she pulls me over no problem. I would love to give her the chance to go off-lead, but I can't as she launches herself at every dog which often upsets the dog or the owner.

So, does anyone have any ideas of how I can distract her or train her out of this behaviour? Any kind of toy has no effect at all on her, and even her all-time favourite treat (cheese) is forgotten when a dog comes into view. Any opinions appreciated!

[jacqui]

do you work with Xhena when you are at home? how does she do with no distractions?
I'm thinking if you practice alot at home maybe she will pay more attention to you when she does see another dog.
could you make her sit when she sees the other dog and try to reward her for sitting.
I know how hard it is to work with stubborn Chows who turn a deaf ear to us because my 20 month old boy Kai was listening great until he turn 1 year old.now its back to square one with the training.I work with him everyday.I do it while we go for walks and in the house.I guess trying to be consistant is what I'm hoping will help.
maybe some of the others here will have some good advice.good luck

[summer_rose03]

Try clicker training. Start by doing basic commands, when she listens click and give her a treat. She'll begin to associate the clicker with treats. When other dogs around, keep clicking and treating to keep her attention on you. Give it a name like "leave them be" when you do it. She should eventually learn what that means. Chows are smart!

[Jeff&Peks]

I had that problem with Onyx except she didn't want to say hi she wanted to chase and kill, before I knew how bad she was she chased a yapper that came to her caught it in her mouth and started the shake to kill cat trick, luckily I got her to let go. It doesn't take clikers or dog book Training all I did was make her sit and say no and mean it, I purposely walked her around dogs with out leashes and made her sit and watch them, after about two weeks of hearing No, knock that crap off (Pekoe Training) and making her sit and watch she never paid attention to other dogs again after that if a dog came to her she wagged her tail and ran around. With Chows its all in the voice and how you say it, no baby cutsy stuff, no means no, wait means wait and knock the crap off means what it means. Pekoe is and Onyx was allowed to do anything they want they have/had no rules and are basicly on a free for all, killing and walking out in the street are the only 2 things not allowed and they even get to walk out the door first and get to eat and sleep with out me bothering them.

Pekoe and Onyx both learned quick they never step off a Curb untill I say its ok even when a cats waiting on the other side but they both knew I would chase the cat with them so they waited for me at the curb.

[Sahara91]

Thanks for the replies. She is generally quite good when there are no distractions around, but i guess while she was a pup I let some things slip that I shouldn't have done. I've really started to crack down on her behaviour, and it does seem to be improving - we'll see what happens next time we see a dog. I love her to bits, but sometimes I wish I had a dog that was a little less stubborn

[sweetpea]

We've had a lot of problems with Princess when it comes to other dogs and horses. My husband bascially started doing like Jeff said. He'd make Princess sit and watch as the horse went by or the other dog cross by. We still haven't totally mastered the other dog thing, but now when we walk past a horse or a horse walks by, Princess just whines as we walk by.