A common problem among dog owners, and can be quite embarrassing when your dog lunges on leash at another dog or human.
Many owners say, what a big difference they have with their dogs off leash and on leash behaviour. This in itself offers a clue to the problem as well as the solution. Recognize that on leash aggression always involves unintentional signals from the owner which create a vicious cycle.
Here is a typical scenario of teaching on leash aggression:
I get a new puppy and am walking it down the street, everyone wants to say hello and allow the puppy to jump up on them. “She’s so cute” they all say and I agree, so continue to let it happen. I also allow the pup to pull me along where ever she wants to go. As the pup gets bigger and older I get frustrated and pull back on the leash and get mad, my voice and body get tense and I start to hold my breath so as not to lose my temper. Now my puppy is 18 weeks and we have met a number of dogs who seemed to be okay with my puppy jumping on them until a week ago. When the first dog growled at my puppy I let it happen and thought it was okay for my puppy to lie on its back and submit. The next time a dog did this I got scared and pulled my puppy out of harms way. Now when I see another dog I get tense and hold my breath hoping this dog doesn’t hurt my pup. I start to sense not many dogs like my puppy but she still wants to see them and is struggling to go say hello. I am still scared, but figure the puppy knows who will harm her, so allow her to go say hello.
Again she gets told off and I yank back on the leash and yell at the dog to get off my puppy. I then take my puppy and hold her close and ask her if she is “okay”. Then I tell her “it’s okay”, (I think she did well by not fighting back and rolling on her back). Now every time we go for a walk and I see another dog I pull back on the leash and hold my breath while crossing the street. My pup, who is now 6 months and getting quite big is barking wildly and pulling on the leash to see the other dogs. It doesn’t seem to be in a friendly way any more and this concerns me. The more often it happens the more I don’t want to walk my dog on a leash. Last night on a walk she looked like she wanted to say hi to a 12 week old puppy, her tail was wagging and she was pulling me towards it and wasn’t scared this time.
But once we got to the puppy she jumped on it and growled, I thought she was going to hurt it. So now when I take her out I avoid all dogs since I don’t know who she will go after, but I do take her to the dog park where she is wonderful off leash. I don’t know why this is but I am more relaxed in this environment. Now if I could just teach her to come…On leash aggression is taught unintentionally as this story showed.
I am very lucky and get an opportunity to teach puppy classes weekly, one of the first things that we discuss is: what is and how to avoid rude puppy behaviour. Setting boundaries, teaching self control and being consistent are all topics worked on to prevent on leash aggression. Teaching your puppy to sit first before greeting a human or another dog is one way to avoid putting your puppy in harms way and teaches self control. This gives you an opportunity to say hello to the other person and ask if their dog likes puppies, if you see tension in the other dog then encourage your puppy to follow you and avoid any conflict. Some people will tell you immediately that their dog doesn’t like puppies and any contact should be avoided. Distract your dog and get its attention somewhere else, show him a leaf on the side walk, skip and sing a song, get him to sit and look at you, then reward him calmly and walk away.
A good leader always stays calm when teaching its puppies and so should you. In any relationship trust and respect are gained through calm, clear and consistent communication.
Any pulling on the leash should be stopped before it becomes a habit, leash pulling increases the state of arousal and aggression in the pup/dog. One way of stopping the pulling is to stop walking if there is any tension on the leash, the pup needs to make a connection with you and by pulling you along, you can be assured there isn’t one. You can re-establish a connection by stopping and waiting for the puppy to look back at you then praise the pup and encourage him to come by your side then start to walk forward again.
We do not want the dog to be in a constant state of arousal or aggression therefore the sit command is so valuable. Don’t be harsh, loud or mean getting the dog to sit, it is not necessary. Be calm and have patience this will make it easier to accomplish your goals and gain respect and trust. Don’t forget to breathe while approaching another dog or human, say hello just like you would to someone you know.
Be alert to changes in your dogs body posture and change his emotional state, get that consistent sit and keep a loose leash.