Background: 3 small terrier mixes. 2 are 6 months, other is about a year. Generally well behaved. Well, as well behaved as terriers can be.
Socialization: All have taken positive training "puppy kindergarten" course. Regularly go to supervised doggy daycare. They go everywhere with us and are taken for walks in every type of situation - off leash in country, in busy city sidewalks, on trails. We see bikers, and joggers, and skateboarders, strollers, noisy trucks, men with hoodies and glasses and umbrellas...
Problem: When we go for walks with 3 dogs and my friend who also has 2 dogs..they go absolutely berserk when we meet other dogs. Lunging and high pitched barking - absolutely crazy. When I see someone coming with a dog, I pull off to the side of the trail, get them to sit and treat them like crazy until the dog has passed. My timing has to be absolutely perfect for this to work. If they get into the "frenzy" they are NOT interested in treats.
I thought at first the older dog was the problem, but when the puppies were out of commission due to their spay/neuter I walked her by herself and didn't have any problems. So I have narrowed it down to the young female.
She tends to be a fear barker. She barks at the vacuum, the broom and the mop. She barks at leaves. I have discovered that if I can get to her first -I can often prevent a total barking frenzy.
Ideally I would walk her alone, but I hate to leave other dogs home in crates and just walk her.
I just don't understand why my dogs go crazy like that. It is not like they have never been around strange dogs before. Is it "peer pressure"? A pack mentality? There have been other occasions, like the other week when 2 Griffon Pointers saw us walking by and broke their electronic fence to come and see us. After a couple of barks the trio was completely fine with meeting them.
So does anyone have any advice?
On another note, i am completely flabbergasted by the number of people that want to stop and chat or let their dog meet my Mini Cerberus when it is in its full bore crazy mode. We are considering having Tshirts made that say "Dogs in Training - Keep on Walking!!".
