First a little background in case anyone new is reading this, and if you're familiar with my story you can skip ahead to my latest update.
The history:
It's been about 1 1/2 years since Murphy came to our home at 8 months old, and a little over a year since I started working with his reactivity. I was pretty much a nightmare owner, watching Victoria's show and "the other one", giving my dog mixed messages all the while. I clicker-trained him on basic obedience commands but on a regular basis I would intimidate him with my posture and tone of voice if he didn't do what I wanted, because I thought I needed to show him that I was boss. I started out not knowing what to do about his leash-pulling and put a prong collar on him on the advice of a free obedience class that was held at the mecca of distractions, our local park. He was underexercised because even though I walked him twice a day for an hour each time, he wasn't walking normally - he would pull so hard he looked like he was doing military crawls on the sidewalk. He would run laps around our apartment and we would yell at him and lock ourselves in the bathroom until he calmed down. He was afraid of countless things: the sound of cars going by, wind rustling the trees, traffic cones on the road, trash cans, cats, humans, store awnings, anything that he came across that was positioned over his head...you name it, he was scared of it. The "whale-eyed look" was a regular part of his repertoire. In October of last year, we were walking and I had put a backpack on him and put small tuna cans in it because I'd heard it would help him get more tired. He saw something ahead and gave the whale-eyed look, which I of course ignored (nightmare owner, remember) and tried to yank him along. An older man turned the corner toward us unexpectedly and Murphy went after him, bit him but thankfully only got his jacket and not any skin. I alpha-rolled him just to show the old man I was aware of how inappropriate my dog was. I hurried all the way home cursing at Murphy, and once we got to the front of our house, I alpha-rolled him again for good measure. I got inside, told my partner what had happened and cried, realizing that I was heading downhill and was taking my dog with me.
There was much more going on at the time as well. We'd gotten a bike attachment and rode to the park every day (2 miles each way for him running). He was a regular at the dog park but got attacked by a ball-guarding dog one day and had started becoming defensive toward other dogs and gotten in a few skirmishes. Because he was always exhausted from the park, I stopped taking him on regular walks around the neighborhood, thus reducing his exposure to "the world" to practically zero. I think this - along with his age, 14-16 months old and in his teenage prime - partly contributed to his developing a fear of things on our walks, particularly people.
At this point I'd been coming to this forum for a couple of months but mostly lurked, asking only a couple of questions related to dog-park incidents, etc. I buried myself in research, read all the topics that related to my issues, checked the sticky threads on how to clicker train and teach loose leash walking, etc. I read books by Patricia McConnell, picked up Karen Pryor's clicker training books and Ali Brown's "Scaredy Dog!" I wasn't going to fail this guy; he had so many great qualities and I wasn't going to ruin my relationship with him by continuing to use harmful and inconsistent training on him.
The game plan:
Soon after the biting incident I started working on his reactivity toward people. Using methods I learned not only in Ali Brown's "Scaredy Dog!" but also here, in many posts by several users including Mattie, Emmabeth, Nettle, and others - using "watch me" and high-value treats, making sure I was reading his body language (again, learned that here with sources around the 'net given here), learning when something or someone was outside his threshold where the training would be beneficial or when someone had gotten too close for his comfort and I had to remove him. Within probably 3-4 months, and with lots of hotdogs, chicken, beef baby food, and other high value treats, he'd gotten comfortable enough that he mostly ignored people on walks, going about his business, sniffing or walking, etc. When he came across anyone that made him uncomfortable, his first instinct became to look up at me for a cue or reassurance - the first time he did that I nearly cried on the spot.
After his reactivity and stress levels had gone down some, I decided it was time to REALLY start work on his leash manners. Along with the program I'd put together to work on his reactivity, I started by implementing Mattie's loose leash walking method found here: http://www.victoriastilwell.com/phpBB2/ ... .php?t=858
As Mattie said in her post, I used no treats, used the cue "close", and turned as soon as his nose went past my knee, and within minutes he was watching me while walking, trying to figure out where I was going! In days he was walking reliably up and down my block, as long as we were going down the middle of the street and not the sidewalks where there were more distractions. In weeks I had been able to increase the distance to many streets in my neighborhood. In a few months I was able to walk just about anywhere, on the sidewalks, around cars, around trees, etc.
Until recently I had stopped clicker-training for several months simply because I'd gotten lazy or bored or uninspired, any one of those dumb reasons. I decided to start again, not because I wanted him to learn tricks, but because clicker-training, no matter what you're teaching your dog, does several things: 1) strengthens your bond, 2) increases your dog's confidence, and many other positive effects. Murphy has always loved clicker training because he loves food. If he knows you have tiny pieces of hotdogs in that little bag, he'll do just about anything to get you to give him one. These days I clicker train at least once a day, twice most days. With the aid of videos that Horace's Mum put online I have taught Murphy how to high-five and jump through my arms like a hoop. Just this week I've started teaching him to close my refridgerator door! I started out wanting him to use his nose, but he seems to be more comfortable pushing the door with his paw.
My friends think I have too much time on my hands, but they don't realize it only takes five-minute sessions a couple of times a day. Many people think tricks are silly - I sure did! - and they don't realize that when your dog is learning and mentally stimulated, he's happier, more tired, and more confident. The update:
In the last couple of months, after all the work I've been putting in, I noticed a few things. Murphy still gets spooked by sudden noises. However, he doesn't even notice when we're walking under a store awning. He can walk two whole miles from the park to our home in the wind and barely be phased by the noise of the trees rustling. He can still be spooked by people, particularly men with beards and big clothes, and hoodies, but he can ignore just about anyone else. He is able to stop and allow strangers to greet him...as long as I've given people clear isntructions to let him sniff them first and to back off if he doesn't let them touch him. He will still growl and bark at cats, but his threshold is much higher these days. He can tolerate seeing them from a fair distance and can do "watch me" without losing his mind, whereas a few months ago all he needed was a glimpse of a cat and he was "gone", lunging and snarling and going crazy until the cat was completely out of sight. This morning he started snarling at something ahead, possibly a cat, and by my increasing our distance from it, he was able to calm down and focus on me and do a few seconds of "watch me" before we moved on.
Last week I decided he'd made enough progress that I could put him on a long line at the park. I put a 15-foot light line on him, it had a clip on both ends, so one went on his harness and the other end went on his leash. So he had about 20 feet of freedom, and I had the leash in my hand the whole time. He sniffed around but paid attention to where I was. He came - running! and smiling! - every time I called him, and we had a dance party and hotdog jackpot every time he came to me. This morning we went to a smaller playground and I put the long line on him attached to his leash again. I let him sniff around and started to play "follow me", which until now we'd only done at home with the clicker. I used the "close" command and he ran straightaway to my left side. I let him sniff some more and called him to me and he came running! (Insert dance party/hotdog jackpot here.) I dropped the leash but kept my foot on it just in case. I made a circle with my arms and called out "Hoop!" and he jumped right through, just like at home! I couldn't believe it, but I had proofed it enough at home that he was able to do it outside, at a playground with picnic tables and a ton of new smells, no less! I can barely remember what he was like 12, 14, 16 months ago. And it's mostly thanks to the wonderful folks here.
Murphy still has to be behind a baby gate when we have guests over. It still takes several minutes for him to calm down before we can let him out to greet guests. This issue is what needs the most work currently and we just don't have enough "guests" come over for the training. This is changing soon. He still gets overexcited at the dog park and I need to keep a close eye on him and assess every dog that comes in to be sure he's comfortable. He still barks at the doorbell. But he is nowhere near as "bad" as he used to be. Thank you everyone. Emmabeth, you have the patience of a saint. Every single reply you write to people is detailed and thorough and non-confrontational. Nettle, you are kind of scary because you are so straightforward, but you have such humor in your posts and you are so knowledgeable I really look up to you. And of course Mattie, the Pixie with Attitude, you tell it like it is and most people can't handle it, but not being able to handle hearing unpleasant truths is a common human flaw. I've learned a TON from you and hope you can feel comfortable enough to come back soon. Horace's Mum, you are one of the most inspiring here with how far you've come with your boy. And the list goes on and on.
I've written a totally self-indulgent post here, but no one I know in real life really can understand that the process of turning my dog around has made a huge impact in my life, so I turn to this forum to be able to talk about this. This place the best, THE BEST place online for a dog owner to be part of a community and support system.
If you're new to this forum and you are having issues with your dog, stick with the people here. It is totally worth it.
Thanks for reading this far. Click/treat!
Karen
"Noobs"
The little gentleman.
Hey, Mattie, can I buy you a drink?
He's not smiling because he's helping me carry his food home from the pet store. He's smiling because they gave me a handful of freeze-dried lamb lung and it was his jackpot treat for the walk home!
It is so nice to hear back from people, so many people come and go and we never here the end of the story. You have done so well to learn and help you boy learn, it reminds me a lot of my own journey, and by writing it down like that I hope it helps you realise just how far you have come and how much you have learnt. I know when I was battling along I felt so alone at times, and like I was the only one who had such a horrendous dog, but then when I came onto this forum and another i found friends who did understand, some of them had been there before, others knew how to help me, and some simply wanted help themselves and so we could support each other. It is lovely to know that I have helped you, in turn I am sure that someone will read your post and be inspired, and so the world goes on. 
and well done!
And it has gone to rat droppings more times than I care to say, but the journey for me and hopefully for Murphy is continuing to be a happy one. He's a better dog and I definitely am a better person.