dog park behavior vs. walking on a leash behavior

[Dijon04]

okay so mikey d and i went to the dog park again...there was only one other dog there and they sniffed butts and pretty much ignored each other. but the owner tried to pet mikey and he just backed away and hid behind my legs (didnt snap at her or try to bite her or anything)

but when we go walking on leash around my apartment and he sees someone he barks and snarls and practically drags me towards the person?

he cant be off leash at the complex...too many parking lot drivers and i THINK its against the law.

so how can i get him to see that people are nice? or at least that he doesnt have to practically strangle himself to get to them?

[Courtney]

This is a very common problem!! I recommend the book "Fiesty Fido" by Patricia McConnell. It is available on amazon.com for less than $10. The basic idea is to redirect his attention when you see another person - teach him the look command, ask him to sit, etc. this will take lots of work and you will have to work far away from other people at first and as he gets better you can try going closer to strangers and "proofing" it. So eventually, he will learn that when he sees a strange person or thing, he should look to you first and that means good things for him. The book does a much better job of explaining it. I wish it was an easy fix. My dogs have this problem too!

[Pokeys Mom]

Courtney said it all! It's a great booklet. I just wanted to say that we had to deal with this before as well. To me it seems that Brave Sir Pokey is a bit protective of me when he is on a leash. "Fiesty Fido" indeed!

[Patt]

Good suggestions from Courtney. Also may I suggest you exercise him for a minimum of 30 mins before you enter the dog park.