If your dog has been involved in some incident in the neighbourhood, which you have worked to correct, it is important that your neighbours come to know that your dog is now trustworthy.
The first few weeks.
Try to keep the dog out of the public eye as much as possible to give people time to forget the incident. Use this time to give the dog many short training sessions in basic obedience, especially walking calmly at heel when on the leash and sitting automatically when you stop. When the dog is picture perfect, take short walks along the street, giving the dog many chances to show off his training by frequently coming to a halt, turning right or left and changing the speed of walking. Make these walks short so the dog does not lose interest and misbehave. Seeing a dog obviously well trained and obedient is a great way to restore the neighbourhood's confidence.
During this time you will also be working on the specific problem, which is usually aggression towards children, adults, other dogs or extreme territorial aggression.
Later.
As your walks get longer, start with the dog at heel and then, as you get further from home, let it use the full extent of the leash. You will be taking the dog to areas in which you can encounter situations which caused aggression in the past, so you can train the dog to accept them. During this time you will want to keep children or dogs from coming into close contact with your dog. It is of the greatest importance that you choose your words carefully. Never say "Please keep your child/dog away as my dog may bite" but tell the truth "Please walk straight past as I am training my dog". If you say your dog may bite that label will stick with it for the rest of its life.
Until the dog's behaviour is completely trustworthy I suggest you walk the dog in a Halti or similar device. When the leash is slack, as it will be with the dog at heel, the dog can open its mouth to pant or yawn but if it makes a dash towards some object, the dog's head is pulled round to face you and its chin is tucked in. This breaks its focus on the object of its aggression, makes it look back at you as you give the command to heel and makes it impossible to bite so long as you maintain pressure on the leash. It also has the great advantage of allowing you to stop the dog's rush with very little effort and this is such a pleasure with large, vigorous dogs that you will probably wish to continue to use it long after the problem is solved.
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