How do I desensitize my dog to other people?

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. Once you’ve mastered that, you can start going out and about – but stick to quiet places where you can avoid other dogs until you and your dog are experts at this. 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. Always use high value treats to reward them for paying attention to you and not the other dog. Practice is key Remember that patience is very important when training any dog and you shouldn’t expect instant results. If your dog has been barking at other dogs or being reactive for a long time, it will take time, patience, and consistency to break the habit or change the behaviour. It is about being consistent and training each step very slowly and practising a lot. 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. Make sure your dog still gets a chance to play and interact with their chosen doggie friends, set up play dates or dog walks with a chance for off-lead play regularly with your dog’s best friends.

Give treats as soon as strangers approach, have stranger retreat and stop treats. I've been following the advice from this article. My dog is scared of strangers, no matter where they are. If I put treats on the stranger's hands, he will snatch them as quickly as he can and then retreat. He is able to walk past them on the sidewalk outside, but if they are inside a building or pay any attention to him, he starts barking and backs away.

To train your dog to act appropriately and be calm when he encounters strangers you should never punish reactive behavior, do not yell or pull back on a lead, which creates more excitement and anxiety and makes the behavior worse. You want your dog to be mentally relaxed when he encounters a stranger. Although he may be happy, and excited, or bark to let you know someone is there, there would be a confident, balanced, relaxed posture, and his behavior should be controlled and calm. The best way to create calm behavior around strangers is to socialize your dog early by exposing him to lots of different people and situations. During the training period you will want to keep your dog from being exposed to strangers except during scheduled training sessions, where you can modify your dog's behavior. Do not punish or force your dog to accept handling from a stranger during training, you will need to exercise patience and move at your dog's pace. Enlist friends who are not afraid of dogs, and who your dog is unfamiliar with, to assist you in training. Have lots of treats available to positively reinforce appropriate behavior. The use of a crate as a safe place can be used to help desensitize your dog to the presence of strangers.