Aggression towards other dogs

Question
Hi there!
We just rescued a 16 month old Jack Russell Terrier, and he was just neutered prior to us getting him. According to the rescue home, he has not had a good past, and had always been kept outdoors along with a Rhodesian Ridgeback that he shared a kennel with. When he was bought into the rescue home, he started showing aggression to the Rhodesian Ridgeback and was seperated. We have had him for 3 weeks now and he has settled in very well and seems a very happy boy overall.
The only problem with him is aggression when we are walking him. He dislikes other dogs that he sees, and begins to bark and lunge towards them. The keepers of the rescue home that he came from said he has bitten a few of the other dogs in the rescue home before (and has a tendency not to let go of the other dog!).
Even when we have walked past a dog and the other dog is out of sight, he continues to bark and lunge for a few minutes after and refuses to listen to us. So my question is how can we train him out of this behavior if it is possible? We would love for him to eventually get on with other dogs in the future.

Also he has recently started barking and trying to lunge at moving cars - this has only begun in the past few days and never used to do it before!

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I appreciate any help you can give me!

Kind Regards,

Maria

Answer
Thanks for your email, Maria. I'll try to give you some suggestions, but it sounds like you have a serious issue that will require personal, one-on-one attention from a professional trainer.

First, I would always walk this dog on a head halter so you can control him better. A Holt/Halti, a Comfort Trainer, or a Gentle Leader are all brand names that I can recommend.

There's a technique called Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT for short) that I would recommend for dealing with his leash reactivity. You can read more about it here:  www.functionalrewards.com. There's a lot of good information and videos on the website so you can get an idea of how to do this on your own. Ideally, you should look for a trainer in your area that has some experience with this.