This has started to be a real problem. My Dog is 14 months old now and is a big boy (Northern inuit). He's a wonderful, friendly dog, and is terrific off the lead... Until another dog steps into his vision. It's as if an alarm goes off and that's it, he's gone, dust in his wake, straight over to the other dog.

His behaviour towards other dogs, when in his younger puphood was pure play, now he exhibits dominant behaviour, such as resting his head on top of the dogs shoulder, tail up over his back (however inuits often carry their tail in this manner) and humping. Dogs who will have none of this behaviour effectively tell him to 'F' off, in their own dogggy way, only for him to leap out of range and then spring back and reattempt this behaviour. Catching him is a nightmare as he proceeds to play a catch me if you can game when i attempt to step in and save the riled dogs, where he leaps both out of mine and the other dogs range, (brilliant fun i assume), so usually i ignore it and walk off, to which he will eventually come belting after me for fear of being left behind.

interestingly with older dogs or dogs who are simply not interested in the slightest and ignore him he will come away almost instantly, as if he can sense the energy they give off and realise their is no fun to be had.

If he's on the lead and i try to pull him past dogs, (i ignore both dog and owner in hopes he will follow my lead, excuse the pun) he will strain to get at them until we have passed but will then soon forget about them. However if on the lead and a dog comes up to him he will again exhibit this dominant behaviour, but is more likely to growl and exhibit more overbearing aggressive dominance when i attempt to pull him away from the other dog (sideways or backwards folks it makes little difference)

It's a tear your hair out experience as he is NOT a dominant dog at home. He is made to sit and wait for his dinner (once i forgot to tell him he was allowed to eat and i found him sitting waiting almost an hour later staring at his food!)
He is obediant and does not step out of line very often, however when he does he is immediately corrected and he does not question it. So what is this obsession with other dogs? We could be in the middle of a game which he is enjoying immensely and still, off he goes, belting over to harrass some poor canine...

any tips?

Is he neutered?

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Yep yep, i hear you!! I think mine is probably around the same size and does exactly the same thing!! You have to have eyes in the back of your head on walks right?! Speed of light reactions too....

Are you walking him on the lead? If not, it maybe worth keeping him on the lead and continue training until you can have recall at the drop of a hat, so whatever the situation your dog knows you are in charge outside.

Any friends with bomb proof dogs?! Maybe just down to not having the adequate skills to know how to react around dogs. If you can find another dog to walk with he may begin to learn some more dog boundaries.

You could consider further classes to continue socialisation and obediance?

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Indy - Old Tyme Bulldog x Bull Terrier, born 26th August 08

lol ... its like ur describing my northern inuit

Inuits are very outgoing characters, they love other dogs. I have the same "problem" with maya, she just takes off when she sees another dog but comes back when the dog is no fun. When she was younger she couldnt pass another dog without trying to get to it ....

U have to stay consistant and work on ur recall.... obviously the dogs are more fun and more interesting ... get something very very tasty and put him on a long line and just practise this with him where he is most likly to see other dogs....

he is 14 months old now (just like mine)...he is growing up and so he gets more confident with other dogs... both of mine are the same. He will be told off ... maya been told off by aggressive dogs before and she still tried to go back for more fun

I would really try him on a long line and when he tries to take off again u will be able to stop it and praise him when he comes back in this situation....

Oooh just read your post again - does your dog ever bite these other dogs? Or is it just playful?

I think if you yank the dog away from other dogs, you may be ingraining his reaction. If you know the other owner and dog, maybe worth if the other party is happy, letting them have a sniff of eachother, then carrying on?

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Indy - Old Tyme Bulldog x Bull Terrier, born 26th August 08

Our Chessie was just like this, we had him neutered, problem solved

thankyou for all your advice guys, especially Natik and r neupert - it's nice to have someone paddling in the same boat as myself . Yes mine gets told off too, only for him to be quite unfazed and go back for more. (Inuits evidently have great faith in their ability to escape angry jaws.)

In answer to several qustions, no he is not neutred, i have considered this, however he is not yet sexually mature until 18 months, and i was planning to see if i can halt this behaviour before then as it is in this time where any problems you are going to have with a dog appear. Plus it does not always work. a friend's dog went absolutely bonkers after having had the chop, it's different for all dogs so i don't want to have to do it unless it is absolutely necessary.

No he is not vicious, inuits are not vicious dogs and he never has the intention to hurt a dog.

He is in obediance classes, working better off the lead than on it, and settles well after his mad ten minutes of getting to know every other dog there, but it's just plain bad manners, i need him to be polite.

A 'bomb proof' dog is an excellent idea which i think he may learn well from, as well as a walking partner, however he has few friends in the dog world and i struggle to think of any that will put up with him; the teacher at our obedience classes has even humiliatingly dubbed him 'the hooligan'.

The long line technique has worked well but he's a smart devil and positions himself so that when he sees a dog he can dart off leaving me in a difficult position in regards to stepping on the lead to stop him. I've cottoned on to this and been more careful however i cant always walk him on the long line.

Tasty food is something he 'umms and ahhhs' about. A dog is far more exciting but he will take the treat and praise option if he knows he cannot get to the other dog.

Thanks again everyone, i will take everything on board you've said. fingers crossed eh? He's a West ham hooligan of the dog world

.... At least he's not Millwall