Lead Aggression

As hard as it is you have to be totally relaxed and pretend that the other dogs arent there and in a reasuring voice talk to your dog about anything and everything, becuase he is acting like this you will be getting tense even though you may appear on the outside to be confident etc. when we are nervous or worried we let off a chemical smell which a dog picks up straight away, which turns into a vicious circle The other way is to make him sit and do the same until the other dog has passed, face him the other way if necessary and reward his good behaviour, with plenty of treats, or even keep walking with a treat in your hand and make sure he knows its there, and talk to him, once passed the other dog give him the treat and praise him. It is for some reason an insecurity and he feels threatened because he is on a lead. Has he ever been attacked when on his lead by a dog?

hes protecting you gem.
with him being on the lead he can't run anywhere so to him he has to stand and fight so to speak,plus he thinks he has you to back him up.
the last thing you need to do is cross the road as it wont stop this behaviour,try standing still and let the other dog pass,if he is good praise him,so he learns its ok for dogs to past on the lead.
its his way of saying dont come near us to strange dogs,alot of dogs can be different on the lead to off because they feel they have to protect.
you need to stay calm or like stonedagen has said he will pick it up from you.keep the lead relaxed but be ready to stop him if you need to.

Thanks both for the advice, trouble is he doesnt listen to me, once he sees a dog coming he is tense, he goes stiff and stands his ground, if they pass, i try to talk to him, but he is soo focussed, i cant seem to get his attension away from looking at the approaching dog


When he was a pup i was walking him in our local park,(on lead) when 2 big male gsd's came flying over, they werent being aggressive just playful, but they were leaping all over him, i dropped the lead, and he ran off towards the road, i found him hiding in a little bush near the road, since then he has HATED gsd's and maybe thats why he has the aggression on lead??

Originally Posted by Gems

When he was a pup i was walking him in our local park,(on lead) when 2 big male gsd's came flying over, they werent being aggressive just playful, but they were leaping all over him, i dropped the lead, and he ran off towards the road, i found him hiding in a little bush near the road, since then he has HATED gsd's and maybe thats why he has the aggression on lead??

Could well be especially if he was a pup when it happened !

Have you tried getting some people together with dogs that he knows and walking towards you and away from you in a non confrontational controlled area?

GOOD IDEA it may take time but when he understands they wont hurt him,he will be able to calm down more on the lead.
or let them off the lead first to say hello,then test him on it with the same dogs.
let us know how you get on.

Star can be a bit lead aggressive to other strange dogs if we are out walking with my youngest son Cant make up my mind whether its the lead or her trying to protect my son. All other times she is fine with other dogs.

Leo your advice above works as I have tried that with Star before.

I've not been confronted with this problem but I could try to help, ignore me if you think it is rubbish!...

My pup is over friendly and pulls on the lead to greet every dog that walks by. She loves other dogs and just wants to say 'hi' then she will walk nicely again. It suprises me because when she was new to walks she didn't like other dogs at all, they all scared her to where if we even saw one on the horizon she would want to be picked up and she would try to run away and yelp if they came near her...I know that isn't your particular problem, but it was definitly one we had to overcome because it made walks difficult and anxious.

I think you have to combat this problem similar to how you have to combat a problem like I had. Each time a dog on or off lead came near us and Keena would react, I would try to ignore her reaction, I never reasured her so that I didn't somehow reinforce her behaviour in this situation. I just would talk calmly to her as the dog approched, ignore her reaction if it was negative and I would say 'hello' to the other dog and if it was close enough I would pet it and talk to the owner, explaining that my dog was shy and so we had to say 'Hi' to show her it was ok. It was always difficult because Keena would be pulling away and trying to jump up at me and yelping but I would carry on being sociable for a few minuets, the other person would talk to her a little and she soon realised that meeting other dogs was a good thing. Within two weeks she had made a complete turn around.

You might think that putting your dog in situations where he is close to other dogs while he is on the lead is best avoided but doing that will never combat the problem...so long as you know he isn't really going to try and snap or bite then I would just keep trying to calmly walk by other people and their dogs until he gets used to it, keep him under control but try to ignore his behaviour at the same time. I don't think it would be good to scold him verbally or reassure him either, just let him know that you arn't phased by the situation and that you are going to keep walking past other dogs regardless, if it is embarrassing because you might think the other owner thinks he is aggressive you can always pause to explain his problem because most other owners will understand and it will show him that you are being social to these people and their dog and may help him get over it and take on board how you are acting. Then if he bahaved very well when you move on give him lots of love and praise and a treat....

I think it would be alot like socializing your dog for the first few times except he needs a little extra work in this particular area of socialization to show him it really is ok to be around other dogs whilst on the lead. He just needs to know that nothing bad is going to happen. I think it would be good too if you could perhaps get people you know with a dog to meet you on walks and have them walk past him while on the lead to practise. Also whichever side they are passing on have him on the otherside of you with you inbetween so that he has space from the other dog otherwise if he is on the same side as the oncomming dog that would be to much in his face.

Like someone else also said it could help to have a treat and let him know you have it and as the other dog approaches try to focus him on getting the treat instead of worrying about the other dog. I do this when Keena needs to refocus her attention on me if she is starting to ignore me for whatever reason.

Like with any problem I think the more he is exposed to these situations he will find it easier to get over them. Make it repetative and rewarding and they soon get used to it.

Do you tend to be sociable with other people walking their dogs? Like when we are out on a walk especially when Keena was an even younger pup we stopped and talked to almost everyone and we got to know most all people out walking and our dogs get to play. If you know people like that then you can get all the practise you need because one day your dog may get to play with another in the park or where ever and then another day you may bump into each other in the street while the dogs are on lead, then you could walk together to the park and let them off to have fun, helping to show him that being on the lead is a normal part of meeting other dogs and if he spots his playmates and is looking forward to getting to play in the park he would learn to greet them while he is on the lead and then maybe go on to greet dogs he doesn't know in the same way, or at least tolerate them!

I probably don't know what I am talking about...lol...but those are the things I would try.

Your advice is very helpful myschievous and stonedagen, I will give the ideas a try!

Thanks again

No problem Gems, I hope Scrumpman gets better on his lead soon, With your help I bet he will get over it in time.