Barking and Stranger must mean danger
Archer is 10 months old and has had a trainer since the beginning of March. They come twice a week and take him out in highly pup populated areas to work on his reactivity with other dogs. He is not aggressive but barks constantly at other dogs. If I let him say hello he stops immediately and lays down to play and introduce himself. I am doing everything the trainer says and still can't break him of this. He is perfect with the trainer, he is calm and still when other dogs are around him during their sessions, just not with me. We are going back to the basics to establish that I am the alpha and at home its perfect, public... not so much. Any tips?
Also, I am a single woman, Archer has only met one guy I dated and was fine with him. Now on walks hes stiffens up and goes into a protective stance when a male is in the area. He will not let them near me and if I have my children with me he herds them away. I don't necessarily mind him not letting male strangers come around us, kind of the point of a "scary dog" but do not want to promote this as the correct action for all situations. He does not bark at them but at the same time nobody has attempted to come closer when he does this. You can most definitely tell he's saying "close enough". Also when he does this I am not able to get his focus back on me, he is locked in on them. I have tried treats, toys, petting, talking and moving in the opposite direction. So far all have failed. His trainer is helping but both but when the trainer is around, he does non of this. Advice on this would be helpful also.