Agressive German Shepard

[Dukie Walker]

I walk and care for four dogs, one of which is a seven year old rescue German Shepherd female with "fear of other dogs aggression problems" rooted in very low inter-doggie social skills as evidenced by her minimal interaction with the other three dogs at home and her general submissiveness when at-home.

My basic problem is that once an outside dog is sighted while on "walkies", the German Shepherd focuses completely on the supposed intruder, even if the outside dog is 50 yards away, and while loudly barking and aggressively lunging is oblivious to all commands, most pulls of the leash, and physical touch. She immediately "red lines" and remains in such an aggitated state for several minutes after the other dog disappears.

I can very much control the shepard and limit these displays through the use of sharp short tugs on the leash - if the other outside dog remains at a distance, as the tugs appear to disrupt her concentration. But, if a another dog comes very close, say appears suddenly on a mountain trail, she must be physically restrained by hand, something very difficult if one has three other dogs also in hand.

Speaking of the other dogs, this problem is exacrebated by the fact that the four dogs are almost always walked together either two dogs at a time or all four dogs at a time. This reduces the walker's ability to concentrate on controlling and training the shepard as there is always another dog to care about.

I have suggestion from a professional dog trainer that the shepard should be turned on her back while holding her throat (a great similification here) when she becomes aggressive, something I am willing to do, but as some of the shepherd's "walkies" are on mountain trails with three other dogs, it also something that is not very appropriate as to location.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

This is my first posting on this board, and probably not my last as I have three other dogs to write about, so please forgive any error on my part.