Everything is going well except when we encounter other dogs. If I have him sit while another dog passes, he behaves himself, but if I'm on the move when we meet another dog, he just explodes the moment they get close and starts lunging because he wants to play.
I can't always create distance or stop to let people pass, and treats don't work at that point. If I try to stand in front of him to block his view, he just manoeuvres around me. Any advice would be great, thanks!
I'm also doing impulse control training with him – I'll throw a treat and he has to stay still, or I'll get him really hyped up with his tug toy and tell him to 'drop it', then wave it around him without him moving or trying to grab it; he's perfectly fine with all that.
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Hello, I’m a vet student. Based on your description, it sounds more like high excitement and frustration about wanting to play rather than actual aggression, but it’s difficult to say for sure without observing your puppy. If he’s no longer accepting treats, it usually means the other dog is already too close and he has exceeded his excitement threshold: training becomes very difficult at that stage. Try working at a distance where he can still look at the dog and then look back at you, rewarding that focus immediately. You could also teach him, starting in a quiet place first, a "happy U-turn" or a "hand touch" so that you can lead him away without a confrontation when you’re out and about. For a while, try to avoid on-lead greetings if possible, as they can reinforce the idea that pulling or charging is the way to get to other dogs. Exercises with a tug toy help with impulse control, but they don’t automatically translate into staying calm around other dogs; be careful not to let his excitement levels get too high during play. Avoid lead jerks and punishments. A dog trainer using exclusively positive reinforcement methods could accompany you on a few real walks, which would be particularly useful with a young Dutch Shepherd.
The most telling part of your post is the phrase "treats don't work in those moments". When food stops being effective, it isn’t a motivation issue; it’s because the dog has gone over his threshold. Once he is over that threshold, he is no longer in a state to learn—he won’t take the treat, nor will he care about access to the other dog. This is exactly the limit of the Premack Principle mentioned above: it’s a brilliant method, but it only works while the dog is below his threshold.
In practice: find the distance at which he’ll still take a treat when another dog is moving nearby. It might be 15 metres, it might be 40. This is your working point—and it’s measurable, which is helpful. The day he takes food at 20 metres when he used to need 40, you’ve made progress.
On the difference between sitting and moving: when he’s sitting, he has an assigned behaviour and a clear set of criteria. When moving, he has nothing to do—and he fills that void himself. You correct this not with more control, but by giving him a specific behaviour to perform while walking: a "watch me" or a few metres of close heelwork, asked for *before* the encounter, not during it.
For the times when you can’t increase the distance, the U-turn is worth working on as a standalone exercise. Practise it in a calm environment with no dogs in sight until it’s fluid. An improvised, last-minute U-turn will fail; a rehearsed U-turn becomes a proper exit strategy.
Finally, your emotional management exercises are solid, but they are being done in a calm, familiar setting. Generalising this behaviour outdoors with other dogs is a separate step—it’s not that the work hasn’t "stuck", it just needs to be transferred. At five months old for a Dutch Shepherd, you’re well within the expected timeframe.
What reward does he get when he's being well-behaved around other dogs? If he’s really keen to go and see them, that would make a great reward for his self-control. You should try going on walks with other dog owners and doing exercises like "wait nicely and then you can go see your pals". Try to grab his attention while you're moving, and then let him go and play. I think it’s called the Premack Principle. Mind you, he’s only 5 months old, so he’s still got a long way to go! :)
