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In my humble opinion...if you've only had your new dog in your care since the 7th of this month, I'd think the best advice would be to tell you to take your time and get to know your new family member. Try to remember that it's taken this dog 12 months to become the dog he is today, any changes he makes probably won't take place over night.. He needs patience, kindness and understanding right now, not new training collars and leashes, those things can come later if needed. :o) If he was attacked by a cougar, he'll also need a bit of time to get over that as well, luckily, you shouldn't be running into many cougars on your walks in the city! With rescue dogs, it’s very easy to blame current behavior on past treatment, I know alllllll about that.. I’m the QUEEN OF IT! However, I’ve realized that it's important to understand that dogs are smart, and they can learn, they CAN change, if given time, they can adapt to new things and they want to please us, they just need a few simple things - structure, understanding, strong leadership and a sense of humour doesn't hurt either! Regardless of your dogs past, you must let him know that as of TODAY, this is how things are, and this is how they will be every day from today on. Once you've established that, and your dog respects your leadership, it will be much easier to train him to walk correctly etc.. The last thing I'd really ask you to think about is that not all dogs are meant to aid us physically, for a variety of reasons. All dogs began being bred to work for humans, but not all breeds were meant to provide aid/assistance, or protections, some were breed to swim, catch ducks, hunt etc...A dog that was bred to swim and catch ducks wouldn't necessarily be a good candidate for training on how to herd sheep, just as a sheep herding breed may not take to being trained how to rescue people in the snow.. Taking this into consideration, along with the knowledge that a dog is of mixed breed, you can begin to see how not all dogs are capable of aiding humans with the same things, but that doesn't make them all worthy of our understanding and unconditional love! I LOVE MY DOG! Even though all he can “help” me with is making sure the bed doesn’t fly outta the room when I’m not home…haha

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Thank you for the reply. Since I posted, I've started to use different walk lights, and it has made a huge difference. He is obeying every command without the use of cookies, and half the time I have to check and see if he is still there because he is heeling so perfectly. We actually discovered that he has the qualitities of an assistance dog when I fell and he walked up to me and started handing me his paw. I suffer from a hereditary condition where I store copper. It is essentially heavy metal poisoning, and while awaiting treatment, I fall/faint/get dizzy a lot. He likes to be close to me so if I am dizzy he can help me walk straight; I have fallen on a road and he has pushed me off of it. He seems to enjoy being my helper. Since I figured out the walk light thing, he is barking less and behaving much better, to the point where he can visit the neighbours (who have no front fence) and lie down and be calm while people walk by (he is on leash, of course). Whether we breed him or not is several years away, and in the meantime we may change our minds. But we have decided not to neuter him for now. My husband does have problems with Da Vinci on walks but is training him very well and Da Vinci is submitting without harsh treatment, although today he required safe but physical restraining because his play was too rough. Because Da Vinci is afraid of many things, he likes to play rough in the back yard. I am considering taking Schutzhund classes with him; I think they would be very beneficial for his temperment as well as providing a necessary outlet for his playfulness. The other benefit to not neutering him is that if he excels at Schutzhund, he can compete. Wren and Clan

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omg..my dog had that same problem, were he would always want to jump on some random stranger.........ok one good way to handle it is have a treat with u so when he sees the stranger hold it out in front of u.....trust me it works because i bet ur dog would rather have a treat then say hi or jump on someone.....=)

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When I had Dobie which was part wolf and part doby, he used to sniff the hands that walked by him on the left side. So what I did is change sides. Not with him, but while walking passed people. That kept him away from the people and the people very happy. He always freaked them out before he filed down his fangs. Don't let rush ahead of you or even behind you, but if you feel him pushing you away from someone coming towards you, that means that person isn't such a nice person. I did a little training myself because I was taught by a retired rcmp k nine officer. I have no ticket either, but yet complimented on a job well done on a shephard and doberman.