Aussie socialization

Question
We have an austrailian shepherd that is six. My family is very familar with the breed because it is our second aussie, and our family friends own many aussies also. When our first aussie was 9 we got a Jack Russell Terrier. They were really good together mainly because our aussie let our jack do whatever she wanted. A few years after our first aussie died we got another. We made the huge mistake of not spaying either the jack or our 2nd aussie right away. Soon they had dominance problems. They got into many fights they are no longer together. My aussie is a sweet dog. She is not aggressive in any other situation, but she is having problems with socializting with other dogs. I want to get together with our family friends and their aussie, use cloth muzzels and have them meet on a nuetral territory. Is this a good idea? or what would be the best idea to get my aussie to be better with other dogs?  

Answer
Hi Kristen'
I have 2 australian shepherd mixes.
I have never experienced problems with them hgewtting used to other dogs.
I don't like muzzles of any kind.
I would think they might make them feel at risk, and further the socializing problems.
Maybe a fence between the dogs, so they could sniff and talk to each other, but couldn't fight.
If indoors, maybe you could rig up a screen of some sort.
Just keeping them on a leash would help too.
Anything so that they were under control and couldn't get to each other, but could be close enough to get used to each other.
Massage would help a lot.
I use the Tellington touch method of animal massage, and I have been aboe to work wonders stopping aggression, fear of thunderstorms, excessive barking, as well as pain relief from Arthritis and Hip dysplasia, and post surgery recovery.
Go to this site and read about the massage technique and what can be accomplished with it.
If you want a video to teach you how to do the massages, you can order a video there.
It is very easy to learn, and only takes a few minutes to do a massage.
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Charlotte