Excitement

Question
Hello, Elizabeth.
My dog (an un-neutered 4 year old chocolate lab) gets very excited when he sees other dogs.  Usually he just whines if they are across the street or further, but if they are closer he sometimes tries to lunge.   He isn't very well socialized because we are worried about consequences if something went wrong.  How can we correct this behavior so that he is calm around other dogs?

Answer
Hi Kelly!
It seems to me you have a conundrum. The very activity that will eventually calm him down is the activity you are avoiding. He needs to be socialized and there are steps to doing this.
First you should reinforce the calm behavior. When you are out and he sees a dog across the street and whines stop the walk immediately and make him sit and stay there until he stops whining and then praise him and offer a treat. Then continue your walk.
When yyou run into another dog thats closer and he acts like he is getting excited and tries to lunge, jerk back on the lead and say "NO! BAD....STAY!" and then stop again and make him sit and stay in the same spot(I call this making a tree)until he is calm (no matter how much of a struggle he makes, be a tree until he is calm IGNORING BAD BEHAVIOR until his behavior is acceptable then praise the good behavior with words and treat.
The last suggestion that I have for you ,even though this is his only behavior problem, is to take him to class, any kind,  basic training, agility training, or if your area has it, playtime,  This will allow him to be socialized with other animals and he will see how they interact with each other and soon seeing another dog will be a "so what" instead of a "i gotta check them out" thing. And you never know, you may have as much fun as he does during class and its a great way to spend good time with your pet as well as let them know that you are their alpha dog not the other way around!
Good luck and and thanks for asking!         Beth