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Markyboy
Interesting that they have a reputation, I'm living under a rock about that kind of stuff. He will bark at other dogs when he's on the lead but he plays well even with small dogs off the lead. Of course the play looks quite rough between the larger dogs but it's playful not aggressive. I usually get his attention when he's on the lead and he'll ignore any other animals and concentrate on me which stops him getting wound up.
When he moves he does look powerful and people can react to that but I've never seen any aggressive behaviour towards other animals aside from the barking on the lead which can be stopped with a more disciplined approach. Other dog walkers do react towards the size of him until they know him and you'll get taken into the fold in a park over a short period of time. He's got his friends in our local park although he does use the dog run, I think that's just a question of recall confidence and that's where Ruben is struggling due to a lack of discipline on his part!
He has a little French Bulldog girlfriend and they have no issues, she's very submissive but they still play happily. I've walked him with my 5 kilo Japanese Chin and they walk together without any issue.
He probably gets an half an hour minimum per day and normally 1 hour in 2 shifts with lots of extra time thrown in once a week. Really depends on the time of year too. He is left alone sometimes up to 6 hours, which we try to help with if Ruben lets us know, but he'll easily last a few hours on his own and he's happy to have people drop in and take him for a walk. So he's not a really difficult proposition, just needs someone who will give him more of an idea what to do.