How to walk my aggressive male shepherd

Question
Hi,

I'm the Australian owner of a BIG, three-year old male shepherd who, until recently, has been living on a large country property. Now that we've downsized,I've been trying to take him for walks but quickly discovered he attacks everything and everyone who crosses our path, with me hanging grimly onto the end of the lead trying to prevent a bloodbath!  It's gotten to the stage where I've had to put both a head halter and lead on him in an effort to retain some control.  It worked for a while, until this morning, when he unexpectedly lunged at another dog and pulled me off my feet, dragging me  within inches of the poor pooch until I managed to pull him back! (swearing and cursing).

I'd really appreciate some advice on what to do.  Is there some special harness, etc, which would give me more control?  I can't afford personalised training and, at this stage, I'm hesistant to take him to a group session.

Thanks

Jenny

Answer
The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts.  Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/  For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

Taking over as top dog will not be a quick, easy task.  It will be a while to undo 3 years of bad habits.  As you do, walking should go better.  As far as I know, the head collars work as well as anything.