I am in need of help, urgently! (Sorry this will be long)

I haven't been on the forum for some-time, forgot to add it to favourites, but done it now .
Anyway we have a German Shepherd, who will be 2 yrs old 8th August. We have a major problem with him chasing other dogs when we're out on walks. I have taken him to training classes etc, and even sent him away for a week to be trained. I have contacted the trainers (who are also Gsd breeders/exhibitors etc) and this is what she has said....

Really feel for you, but I am going to be very straight. I have every doubt that it is now going to work for you with Zeus. Zeus needs the firm hand of a working person... you are a kind and loving home that he is abusing.
As you see and saw, when with *** he is a different dog. He is obviously only prepared to bully you into letting him have his own way.
When he saw the lady pulling a suitcase he should NEVER have run off after it. He didnt think it was a dog, that is your interpretation to save his socks. He would have smelled whether it was a dog from a long long way away. He was bullying again. This is of course VERY serious, as you will end up getting sued if he carrys on. A dog doesnt have to bite, - if he frightens the wrong person and they see the pound signs, you will get sued for damages to their health - people are like that.
As for at his age not heeding your call when other dogs are around, its just loutish behaviour that he knows he can get away with. the important point here is that he should not want to get away with it, he should want to please you if he appreciated you.
why are you struggling with an ignorant boy that doesnt care? Sam, I know this is hard, but you are too nice to have this for the next 10 or 12 years, and I know there is very little that we can change, Zeus will behave if we take him in hand, but he has decided that you are not his boss I`m afraid.

Its awful to say, as she knows Zeus very well, she is right, and I just don't know what to do! I have tried most training methods, but I just can't get him interested in me when there's other dogs around!
Would be great if there's anyone that can give me any valuable advice as we are rapidly running out of idea's....We are looking at re-homing him to the police at the moment, but I really want this to be the last resort!
Sorry to go on. Thanks for reading this. x

Attached Images

Zeus 17 06 2008 014.jpg (43.0 KB, 7 views)

Hi, did you go with him to the training i hope you dont mind me asking, we have two GSDS that dont like other dogs at all, and not that keen on people in the street either, but we keep them on a short half check collar and make them sit and watch people pass, they to have had training but with us with them as i have been told sometimes they will only work for the trainer while away, and resort to doing the same things when home, they are not biters just want to over greet people , they are also not allowed off lead as their recall is not always good, does he like something like treats or a ball that you could carry to get his interest more in you than whats going on around him , and maybe sit somewhere with him having him close to you just to socialise him more, sorry im not much help but someone will soon help im sure , we have never given up on our dogs and through help on here things are starting to fall into place now, after a year of hard work with two the same age, good luck .

Is that a copy of the exact letter you received? If it is....go to another trainer, one who specializes in Working dogs. You must be prepared to be as firm as he/she tells you, no fooling around...no means no type stuff. It may seem harsh, but necessary. He can, and will respect and love you for it.

Hiya No he went away for the week. Your completely correct, he was the exactly the same as he was when he left, as when he got back! I don't want to give up on him, he's too precious too us, but at the moment, things are getting real hard. I have tried the ball/stick thing, Zeus has a thing for sticks, lol, but he's still not interested in me.....However he is OK with people out on the streets etc, he's terrible at home, when people walk by the gate, he goes mad! With the other dog thing, I think I'm going to continue with the long line, with abit of luck that may work, I just hope we haven't left it too late.

Yeah thats the email we got from the trainer...Copied and pasted, just took there names out....Trouble is we travelled to Derby to go to them, as there's none in our local area (that are any good anyway, that sounds awful but have tried them) and from there, there's no trainers within travelling distance for us..Thanks for your replies.

Hi, we got to the point where i rang the breeder and she offered to take one back , it was really hard and still is quite hard now, but we decided not to let her have him back cause we love them to bits , to be honest i have never heard a trainer say your to soft to keep the dog, did they not give you instructions as how to carry on when you got him home, he must be a little confused as to who he should do what for , do you make him work for anything you give him even if its only a paw shake, have you tried a bottle with pebbles in when out and soon as he starts to pull after someone shake it hard to distract him and a very firm no, , we find this works but this is only how we have managed to get ours to want us more than whats going on around them , just a personal opinion trying to help .

Hiya...

They did give us a DVD to take on board, its a hard one, we actually sent him due too agressiveness, he's very territorial of his property, I know most dogs are, but he was getting too the stage of biting some-one! Anyway the work that was done with him, was heel-work....we expected him to be worked around other dogs etc (due to the chasing etc) but no! I was slightly annoyed, we paid £200 for a week, and for him to come back exactly as he was when he left was a little disappointing!
I use to watch Dog Borstal infact and I know they used a bottle with stones/pasta etc in, to get the dogs attention, I want to use this, but I don't want too look an idiot whilst I'm out, but if this is the way forward, I couldn't care less what people around here think, lol.

Hi, well it dosent matter what other people think we dont bother it works for ours and thats all that matters so you wouldnt look like an idiot at all, that was a lot of money to pay, i would have thought they had started to socialise him with other dogs, i think some of these training centres are a rip off, cause he needs to learn you are his boss and that cant happen if a stranger is training him, try to be more firm with him we treated ours like our kids , that made them worse , so we decided to make them work for there treats and they only get toys when we want them to have them , thats play time, but never punish him by shutting him another room as they dont know why its been done, unless its just a couple of mins to calm him down, i dont know much about training but have learned a lot from on here and trying things out , please keep trying im sure you will win in the end, i sat with mine in a hospital grounds every day for a long while lol, to socialise them as much as possible, but they still hate other dogs, we just hold them by the collar close to us till we have passed any dogs , and they do try to get to them i now have musles i never knew i had and im only 8 1/2 stone and they are 8 each, hope you manage to try a couple of things im sure lots will give you good advice , i have bought dvds and found they much to hard to follow looks easy but hard to the average person

I treated Zeus as one of the kids, speaking too him like he was a baby! That's where the problem lies....Its my own fault.....I'm only 8 1/2 stone, and boy do I struggle with him! I sometimes have to resort to the Halti! Think I am going to have to come out as a different person! So if I am walking towards another dog with Zeus, and I have a rattle bottle, do I use it when he see's the other dog, or when we are passing the other dog?

We use ours soon as we feel the pull towards the other dog then hold collar and a sharp no and keep walking holding by collar so they have to be right beside us, after we pass we praise them , every time, i know they rip your arms off but it will be worth it in the end im sure, im holding two 8 stone dogs lol, and im not young either, The haltie would give you lots more control over him , mine wont have them on but if he will i would use it every time.