AGGRESSION TOWARDS OTHER DOGS WHILE ON LEASH

[Bear2010]

Hi everyone, its me again w/ another issue I could use help on. My 9 month old male german shepherd goes uncontrolably wild when he sees another dog. It dosent matter the size of the dog, age, male or female, he is out of control! Jumping up, front paws off of the ground, barking, growling, pulling, thrashing his head, fur raised, tail up, hes a mess! We are using the martingale prong collar, w/ a traffic lead & reg. leash. Its like he dosent even have it on. He has no reaction to us pulling up on it. He dosent even hear us when we are trying to correct him. This is when he is on lead & so is the other dog. When we are walking on lead & the other dog is behind a fence or tied out in their yard w/ no human there he is more calm. No barking, & maybe a little bit of a pull, but his feet (all 4) are on the ground & he seems to be more controlable. His fur is slightly raised & tail up, but nothing like the other scenario. It took me a long while to get him to this last point, of being more calm in this kind of situation. In some cases he will walk by these dogs that are fenced in & just keep walking straight ahead nicely. Now get this, when he is w/ other dogs off leash, all the dogs are off leash, he is great! I had to bring my husband w/ me the other day to this newly started neighborhood doggie playdate. About 6 dogs, all big, male & female, off leash running & playing ball. He didnt believe me that our dog was well behaved in this scenario. He saw it for himself. Our boy had so much fun. We have done this 3 times know, & from the first time w/ strange dogs he was great. He even is showing some fear sometimes, fur standing, tail between the legs, running away. Then at times hes a little assertive trying to initiate play, (i think?) We are trying to figure this one out, is it all fear based? Like a "if i bark loud & look tough you'll leave me alone" type of thing? He is only like this when he is on lead & the other dog is on lead. In some cases the other people were brave enough to let the dogs meet while mine was acting like a beast, & when they actually got together, up close, he would check them out, smell them & he would calm right down. Is this a frustration thing, that he wants to get to them, but I wont let him? Hes like two different dogs! Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks everyone!

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Sounds like he has a lot of mixed feelings. The hair standing up on his back means he feels threatened. Could be a mixture of "im going to get you before you get me and frustration from being on the leash and not being able to control his environment. Also, keep in mind that most dogs automatically are one notch more defensive when restrained to a leash - loosh leash walking when he gets better does help him feel less vulnerable. Ultimately the more positive experiences he has the better with other dogs, but just be sure to pick the play dates carefully - since he can have a bad experience at the dog park too which can set him back. Be sure to watch the dogs in the park play first and scan for bullies before letting him in and be cautious of new arrivals once in the park. The prong collar is usually going to not work well in those lunging situations. The prong collar will either snug up on his neck and not be so bad or, if you jerk it, it will cause a sharp correction that may actually throw gasoline into the fire (since it mimics a bite). They are good for gently showing him positions while teaching heel and other commands, but not good for high distractions. A halti-type collar may be better if you first practice the heeling to at least the phase 2 level in low distractions and then try around distractions from a distance first. If he does well - shower on the treats or love to start counter conditioning him to what passing another dog can mean (good things!)

[ddpowell]

I have a similar reaction with our 6month old female GSD. It doesn't seem to be quite so bad but she barks, lunges, sometimes heckles up (on leash only). But if she gets a chance to actually reach the dog on the leash, she just wants to lick and jump on them. She'll do it to people too but only eyeball them, no bark but then lunge and jump if they come near. I wasn't sure whether with dogs i should be standing still, going the other way or just pressing on (which usually looks like i'm dragging her!)