Quote Originally Posted by frankykeno
Tank (and Gunnar to a less extent) go into a sort of alert squared up body posture, stop and stare at the person across the street and give big loud WOOFS that sound like "hey you! what are you doing! go away from us!" That sort of thing - just an automatic response. Does that make sense? No attempt to bite or chase...just this automatic alert thing. Both dogs also bark to alert me if they hear noises near the house or when the downstairs neighbours come home (we live in a upstairs big duplex).
My pitties are the same way. I really don't walk them as much as I should, but I used to. I would actually bring along some soft chewy treats and when we would approach someone walking another dog I would tell them to sit. Then give the treat. (This however doesn't work with "loose" dogs, which I increasingly began to encounter...and is also the reason why we don't go for walks as much as we should )

They would also act the same as Tank when approaching other people. I would calmly tell them, "it's ok" or "be nice" before they actually went into alert mode. That actually seemed to work.

Hope this helps!