I wrote this out to educate some friends elsewhere, thought it might be of interest here, it's an overview (by no means covering all the bases) of how I trained Earnest to be ready for the dog park and other group off lead situations.
At first it was a matter of teaching him to focus on me by having him sit anytime I saw him “alert” (ears up, intense stare, squared off stance) preferably BEFORE his butt got started wagging. I’d hold a treat enclosed in my fist, and wave it under his nose whenever he got distracted. He’d get the treat when the other dog was out of his “excitement zone” (far enough away he wasn’t interested). That went for roller bladers, babies in strollers, skateboarders, squealing children etc. It made him look to me anytime ANYTHING exciting happened. Including his first deer jumping out of the bushes. Timing is the key, if you redirect when the dog's attention first goes to a distraction, you can build in the habit of "look at mom" before things get exciting enough for them to forget.
Once I got him able to pay attention around other dogs passing (like in the on-leash parks), I took him to the dog park and stayed ON LEAD outside the fence. Worked at a distance keeping his attention, then closer, until he could visit through the fence without being an idiot. (he's half Lab, when he was young he got VERY excited). We also worked on recall on the flexi lead in the on leash park, then back to outside the fence at the dog park. I let him visit through the fence at a distance, then called him back, with the flexi to enforce it. Of course, treats and praise when he complied. Once I didn’t have to enforce it, we went inside.
Some dogs are fence aggressive, things can get nasty at the fence. That’s ok, too, you can see how your dog reacts and train accordingly, so you are ALWAYS in control. Earnest knows to head back to me immediately if another dog gets argumentative. A fearful dog might need to learn confidence, so it doesn't get bullied, etc...
We did NOT do "socialization" at the dog park, when he was really little we visited other friend's dogs, if I hadn't had them I probably would have gone to puppy class.
