How do I stop my dog from running over to other dogs?

You need to convince him that you control all of the resources he wants, including access to other dogs. Start by keeping him on a long line, as every time he runs off to other dogs and gets away with it, you are reinforcing the behaviour, and the fact that the command 'come' or whatever you are using is meaningless. It means 'come when you feel like it'. So, dog is on the long line. As he is wondering about, sniffing etc, wait for a moment when he is looking at you, and call him to you. Be REALLY enthusiatic, and when he gets to you, give him a tasty treat and then carry on walking. You are teaching him three things, one, that coming to you means tasty treats, two, that the walk doesn't continue unless he comes to you, and three, that coming means the walk continues. Then you need to find a kind person with some other dogs, 'Accidentally' meet them while walking your dog on his line, get close enough so your dog can see them but he can't get access to them, call him to you, he won't want to come at first, but be patient. When he comes, give him a treat and allow him access to the other dogs, keep him on the longline. After a while of playing, call him to you again, and get your friend to take their dogs out of his reach, give him another treat, and allow him access to the other dogs again.

If your dog does not obey you at 2 yards from you it will not obey you at 200 yards. You see your dog do that ‘freeze and goooooo’. Get walking. Get running if you want. But TOWARDS your dog NOT away!!! You are saying nothing, you are asking nothing, you are commanding nothing so you ARE NOT CHASING THE DOG OR GIVING IN TO HIM. However what you ARE doing is showing the person being run up to that you are coming to take control of the situation. As you close the gap you give yourself the chance to communicate with that person be it an apology or simply a ‘stand still’ or a ‘please don’t pat him when he jumps up at you, PLEASE!!’. Also you have about 100% more chance that your dog, because its MUCH more familiar will comply with your command at 20 yards than 200. Get to a ‘safe distance’ and that could be 5 yards…. might be further if your dog is not usually a culprit to do this…. wait for a moments respite in the play or whatever… and squeak that ball and use that voice. You will shock the pants off your dog because in his red mist he was thinking you were 150 yards up the track and suddenly ‘here you are!!’. Suddenly you are Harry Potter to Fido. Rustle that treat bag, use the ‘whats this, whats THIS????’ type thing to get him back and as he turns and COMES….. THEN throw in a ‘come!! Gooooooooood come Fido… woooo! Come!!!’ Then hand on the collar…. VERY important. Secure the ‘package’ ….

Teach them a Watch Me Do this randomly throughout the day. Start where there are no distractions, and your dog isn’t doing something else. Say their name enthusiastically and when they look at you reward them with a high value treat. Once they can do this reliably, practise this everywhere – always rewarding them. Avoid places with many dogs Start training your dog the Watch Me exercise in a quiet place indoors where it’s just the two of you. Once you can do this at home, you can progress to the garden where there are more distractions from sights, sounds, and smells. Distract them when meeting other dogs Once you know how to get your dog to start responding to their name by giving you their attention, you can start using this technique in the presence of other dogs. Start off a long distance from them – beyond the point where your dog would usually react. All you want your dog to do is look at you, and you will reward this. Slowly build this up to being able to do it at closer proximity but never too close that your dog feels that they need to react to the other dog. Practice is key Remember that patience is very important when training any dog and you shouldn’t expect instant results. It is about being consistent and training each step very slowly and practising a lot. It is also about avoiding situations where you know your dog will be reactive – and that might be avoiding other dogs by turning round and going in the opposite direction rather than having an encounter that will sabotage all your good training. Use a long leash and avoid pulling on it While you are training, you can use a comfortable harness with a long leash. This will allow your dog to have more freedom and practise your distraction training safely at a longer distance – and if you need to, gently guide your dog back to you.

When your dog listens to your commands and does as told, then it's perfectly fine to ask the other dog's owner if it's OK to approach, and let the dogs meet in a safe way. The secret to training is to make the reward for obeying, outweigh the reward to the dog of doing their own thing. One way round this is to reward the dog for a successful recall and then allow him to approach the other dog in a controlled way. Thus, he gets to have his cake and eat it too. Start basic training in a distraction-free place, such as the home or yard. As your dog gets more responsive, then train in different locations to emphasize that he's expected to obey no matter where you are. Train every day for 10 - 15 minutes, to keep everything fresh and focused in the dog's mind. Making yourself fun to the dog, rewarding good behavior in a way that makes him keen to obey is part of retraining.