I have an 8 month old male aussie. He's extremely smart and laid back around the house. He knows sit, down, shake, high five, roll over, play dead, stay, and is very obedient in our home. He sleeps more than we do if he could! I take him on walks every day and have been practicing frisbee with him (which he's getting very good at it!). Ive been socializing him as much as I can by taking him to Petco, Petsmart, local dog parks, etc. My problem is that when he goes to these places, he will lose 100 percent focus on me and turn it onto other dogs. He won't look at me once while the dog is around, even if i call his name, ask him to obey a command, even throw a frisbee or ball. He could care less about his frisbee (which he looooves) when another dog is around. When we are walking, he normally walks ok (we've been working on any pulling by stopping in our tracks and waiting until he looks back at us with slack in his leash); when he passes another dog, he pulls as hard as he can and starts this awfully annoying high pitched whine (a very frustrated whine). Ive been trying to squeel to get his attention, once he looks at me I tell him sit and stay. If he obeys i wait a few secs then tell him "ok" and we start to go to the other dog but this causes him to nearly pull my arm off as he begins to pull again. He has a very obsessive manner about him. I know he's a herding dog... but if he can act correctly in one setting, how can i make him have manners in a public setting? Its so very frustrating for me. The other day in Petco, as i was paying.. a dog walked by, my dog Boomer darted after him, pulling my arm causing me to fling my entire change purse! My money was everywhere! Is this because he's 8 months? Ive seen 8 month old dogs with better manners so this makes me think he can be trained. Ive tried treats... doesn't seem to work around other dogs so much. He also occasionaly attempts to mount (but this isnt very often). Ive seen neutered dogs do this pretty commonly. Im wondering if he's acting this way because of his horomones (going through puberty). I am not neutering him until he is around the age of 18 months (because of recent studies in dogs that develope joint/bone issues due to early neutering). When he gets to see the dogs, for the most part he just wants to sniff, play, slap at them, and chase them around. Any tips, dog training advice would be very appreciated. Thanks!
