How to socialize a fear aggressive dog?

So after today, I realize my dog is getting fear aggressive. Hes been attacked many times in which I jumped in, the worst being last wednesday where I actually had to tackle the other dog to stop it.When a dog even so much as puts its paw in my dogs back, my dog snaps.. like a switch goes off and hes in protection mode. I'm reading online about things I can do but anyone have a legit answer/suggestion as to handle this?My dog is 18 months so if I can turn this around now before it gets worse, I'm better off and he can enjoy himself more as he grows up.Usually a fights over as quick as it begins.. like the other dog telling mine to fcuk off, or vise versa but last wednesday it just kept going, while I kept running after them as they kept moving away pretty quickly which is why I had to tackle the dog.

Try to find a 'neutral' dog, one that has no reaction to other dogs and use that dog to gain your dogs confidence back. Or find an older dog that is calm and wont want to 'attack' or play aggressively. My guess is the dogs he interacts with are hyper puppy-stage dogs that want to play and play hard or in a threating way towards your dog. I hope this helps!

You could try by introducing him to objects that other dogs use.That way he would be able to smell other dogs without the physical threatPreferably a small dog, that way after he is used to smelling that dogs scent on objects. You can introduce them (the fact that the other dog smells familiar and is physically smaller will help) on leads at opposite ends of the garden. Gradually get them closer.Hope for the best.Start with dogs that are small so they arent intimidating, and they arent likely to try to jump on his back if they are small.

First you start with avoiding the things that scare your dog, then work on a program of desensitization and counter conditioning.Some good references - Grisha Stewart's "Behavior Adjustment Training"Leslie McDevitt's - Control Unleashed.Here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FECNOS2wUWQ