[yorkietalkjilly]

Now is the time for you to forget what happened to him in the past if you are going to rehabilitate him. He's living in the now. He's just a high-energy little terrier with a determination to keep himself safe by striking out. If you take charge in a firm but not mean or angry way, let him know that kind of behavior is no longer acceptable, that you expect better of him now and give him something more important for him to focus on as another dog passes him by, over time, one dog at a time, he'll begin to see that having other dogs around is no reason to go ballistic.

He can learn impulse control with regard to other dogs if you have his brain under your control. If you have their brain, you have the dog's body. Obedience training and having him trained to obey your every command is a good way to start to reshape his behavior and get him used to obeying you, not his impulses.

I would start out by taking out a few chunks of warm, boiled chicken - nothing else and no kibble, liver or milk bone treats. You've got to use meat for this training. Feed him a lighter than normal dinner the night before and skip his breakfast that morning so he's good and hungry - very food-oriented and willing to do anything to get his food. Take him out on the lead, keep him walking even with you - heeling - and when another dog approaches, cross the street to the other side and haul out the wonderful smelling piece of chicken, held right in front of his little nose in your closed fist so he can't get to it. He'll be VERY focused on that food. Keep that fist of chicken right in front of his nose as you walk him in a tight, very fast circle as the dog passes by on the other side of the street. You want the smell of that meat to that very hungry dog and that fast walking to totally keep his mind and nose busy working on things you are doing and nothing else.

If he starts to focus on the dog, turn and go the other way in the fast circle, say "look - chicken treat!" and bend down and touch him on the flank or shoulder with your chicken-filled fist to make him turn his head from looking at the dog and get his attention back on it and immediately move your open your fist slightly so he can see part of the chicken to the front of his muzzle and allow him to almost get it. If he's really hungry, he'll be far more interested in that piece of chicken than he will be in that dog. And if you have him walking fast enough in that circle at the same time, he'll be so busy trying to keep up with you and trying to get that meat, he'll forget the dog. It's not easy to walk a dog in a fast circle while holding chicken down against their nose but I promise you, if he's really hungry and that chicken is warm and fresh, he'll focus on that and trying not to fall over his own feet as he is walked in that fast circle. Once the dog has walked on past and he hasn't barked or growled, give him that meat as a reward and praise him.

Repeating that exercise will slowly desensitize him over the next days and weeks to what other dogs are doing and teach him to focus on what you two are doing - walking fast in circles and trying to get his meat and in the mean time, he'll begin to see that dogs passing him by are not such a big, bad thing and besides, he'll begin to associate seeing dogs approach with something good to eat. That kind of rehabilitation over and over until he's desensitized to other dogs being nearby can reshape a dog's reactions to other dogs as long as you take charge, keep him focused on walking and sniffing/eating that chicken and don't allow him time to focus on anything else.

Once he's staying quiet and accepting dogs walking past, you can begin to change up your routine to allow him to look at them as long as he doesn't get aggressive and then, if he remains calm, give him the meat reward and praise him.

That's how I'd start my dog out in rehab training if he were dog-aggressive outside. The other dog will be on the lead so he can't come get your dog's training chicken so don't worry about that and always take him in your arms and go inside if you see a dog off leash coming your way.