Help required re. young lurcher

Hi, Just joined the forum, have rescued a young (12 - 18 months old) lurcher (probably some collie in him.

He is very lively, appears to have had no basic training whatsover, I can teach him the basic sit, stay etc, but he is a nightmare on a lead, jumping everywhere and up everyone who passes. He also wants to get to any dog he can see however far away that dog is. We will not be able to let him off his lead until we can get him walking sensibly and wonder if any one has any ideas for making our walks together much less stressful

I would be really grateful if any one else has had this problem and can help us solve it as I think he will be a really lovely pet if we can get him a bit calmer.

Julia

I have 2 lurchers and a greyhound plus 2 other dogs and they are a bit of a nightmare when we're approched by other dogs too. They can see so far away that they see dogs before I do. I keep them on a short lead and have trained them with the word "No"! whilst pulling them back towards me. If they behave then I give them a treat.
Also try keeping the focus on you eg with treats ech time you walk past a dog. Lots of praise etc.
If your dog is that bad then obedience classes would probably be a good idea.
I really feel for you....I can only let my lurcher bitch off the lead out of the 3 of them. The other 2 are really tired when we come home so I'm not too worried.
It's a lovely sight to see them run at full pelt though so classes are your best bet. Best of luck to you xx

Hi sounds like you could benefit from obediance classes and this will help with socialisation with other dogs.

Try using a halter instead of a lead. I have a lurcher and she is better controlled with a halter.

Good luck

I think that your dog's behaviour goes a lot further than "being a nightmare" on the lead. You've just taken on this dog from a rescue ~ do you know any of it's history? It is possible that he has not had the best starts in life & has maybe missed out on vital socialisation, on getting used to interacting with people & other dogs. At the moment the whole wide world is a mystery to him, partly exciting, partly frightening & never knowing what's going to happen to him next. He probably feels totally out of control of his own behaviour & being able to influence anything that happens to him. In these situations, it can be very difficult for a young dog to control his emotions, let alone his behaviour!

I would suggest that you find some good basic training classes, preferably taken by someone with APDT or APBC qualifications. Talk to them first about your dog's behaviour & see what they suggest. If it were me I would go to the training classes without my dog, so that I could learn how to teach him appropriate behaviour, but then I would use that knowledge to do the teaching in an environment without any other distractions, i.e. in a quiet room at home or in the garden. If you take your dog to the training classes, the chances are that he will be so hyped up that he will not be capable of learning anything, & you will be so stressed out trying to control him, that you won't be able to take in anything the trainer has to say.

Your dog is just starting out on a whole new life with you & has an awful lot to take in. At the moment he doesn't know if this is where he's going to stay for the rest of his life, he doesn't know that he'll never have to worry about where his next meal is going to come from, he doesn't know when he'll be able to meet other dogs etc etc. And these are things we can't teach them ~ they just gradually learn to realise this over time. Sometime less is more, so maybe take everything slowly with him at first, allow him time to settle down & learn that certain things such as warmth, safety & companionship are constants. Then he'll be able to relax more, get some proper sleep & only then will he capable of learning what it is you want to teach him.

Agree totally.
You must remember he wont be like this forever and not let his reaction effect you...try and stay calm !!!