My dog barks at every dog we meet - help!

I have a 3 year old Lurcher dog called Jasper. (Fox Hound X Greyhound)

He is a rescue dog and I have had him for 6 months now.

At some point he has been well trained in the usual sit, down, stay commands – being a Lurcher recall commands are a different matter!

He is extremely laid back and well behaved normally but I noticed right from the start, when we first collected him from the RSPCA that he ALWAYS became agitated, pulling on his lead, jumping and barking when other dogs walk by.

I don’t know what has happened to him before I took him on of course, but it doesn’t seem to be aggression - more a mixture of fear and the desire to play that drives him into a frenzy.

At first when I walked him around the village, he would be expecting trouble all the time, ears up and continually glancing around. (o.k. - new kid on the block – normal anxiety) If a dog came in sight he would go bananas and still does. Such a contrast to his usual friendly, easygoing, playful nature.

I have persevered, reassuring him and frequently asking him to sit or perform some task or other to take his mind off whatever it is that’s worrying him. He has made a few pals around the village when understanding owners have allowed him to be introduced to their dogs despite his initial barking and leaping about.

Generally what happens is that if he sees a dog being walked down the road towards us he is immediately on his toes and his ears are up and this builds and builds as we get closer until eventually he is barking, growling and jumping to the extent of his lead.

I have two options now – either we retreat back the way we came and wait at a distance until the dog has passed. (He is still turning to look back and very agitated) or I try to pass the other dog.

Option 1 I think is a cop out because I think he needs to learn how to pass another dog without making a fuss.

Option 2 has involved me continually trying to stop him looking at the other dog by directing his head away with the lead and telling him to “Leave it – leave it”

Of course this doesn’t work and turns into a tugging match. I think I may have aggravated the problem by accidentally conditioning him to react badly. I think my command “Leave it!” triggers him to think “Hello – time to start pulling and barking again!”

I have really worked on this problem because it means of course that I am unable to walk him where there may be lots of other dogs – the beach etc because we have the same fiasco time after time. I have tried everything I can think of – treats, toys, games anything to distract him but he will still jump about and bark at other dogs.

I have very recently started clicker training him with very good results – walk to heel, eye contact when I say his name etc. He thinks its great fun and it gives him something to think about rather than scanning for potential trouble. I would very much appreciate some advice please about how to best use clicker training or any other method to overcome this problem of over excitement when trying to pass other dogs.

I think first of all you need to try and figure out why he is behaving this way and then you may be able to find a method of training which suits him better.

If for instance he was attacked in his past and is fearful, forcing him to walk past the other dog will only make matters worse (I have a dog like this myself and have learnt some things through experience in trying with her).

He could have been very badly socialised as a pup, he could have never been allowed to interact properly with other dogs, lots of things really.

If it were me i'd do as much reading as you can on understanding your dogs body language and maybe see a behaviourist to try and find out why he is behaving in such a way as there are a lot of ways you could combat this but if you choose the wrong one for his needs you may make it worse before it gets better and end up taking a lot of steps back before you go forward.

What is his tail doing when he does this? How does he stand? Do his hackles go up? You say his ears are erect which is generally not an indication of fear but it's hard to say without seeing him.

JMO, best of luck. x

My dog sitter's greyhound does this because he wants to play. He barks and wags his tail at the same time. It seems to be leash frustration as he can't get to the other dog as he is on the lead. She found the Spray commander spray collar worked well.

my border terrrier pup is a nightmare barking at other dogs but i think its to say hello as today i went out with the other 3 and my daughter had her she saw us and just barked she knew it was us so i think its a ply thing

Hi,

Option 1 certainly isn't a cop out he does need to learn to pass other dogs but at his own pace. He should have a certain distance (which may vary depending on which dog he sees) at which he can remain calm and cope with the situation. If you need to, retreat to this position and reward for the calm before continuing.

It sounds like it's excitement and because of that you have a perfect reward already there - no amount of treats, toys or play are going to be as good as allowing the dog to say hi to the dog he sees. Obviously this depends on the owner of the other dog, the nature of the other dog and whether it's appropriate at that moment.

I'd suggest taking it at his pace, you could even ask another dog owner to help, start with him as far away as needed to allow him to be comfortable and reward for calm, gradually step it up but setting your dog up to win all the way, if he doesn't cope with a situation you've gone too fast and just need to take a step back.

As this isn't always possible, keep an eye out for dogs and try not to be stressed about it. As soon as you see a dog, watch him and wait for him to clock eyes on it. The moment he does click! and reward, then turn around and go the other way. He'll begin to associate other dogs with getting a reward from you and so will look to you when he sees another dog.

As you manage to get closer to the other dogs, and he begins to look to you when he sees them - you can allow him to interact as a reward for the right behaviour.

Also - try and find a toy or treat (depending on what he loves most) that he NEVER gets and reserve it only for walks. I don't mean kibble or a bonio, I mean baked liver, chicken or cream cheese. Something REALLY special or if he enjoys tug, a particularly good tug toy, or squeaky toy etc.
If it's reserved only for when you need to distract him, and he doesn't get access to it at other times, he'll be more likely to pay attention to it instead of the other dog.

If all else fails, you will usually find that running backwards (little steps, don't trip yourself up!) with a treat held in front of you, calling him to the 'come' position not only makes you look really silly, but usually gets your dog out of a bad situation!

Thanks for your input - I think Heidi1 may be right about it being leash frustration which causes him to bark at other dogs.

He is basically a very good natured and fun loving dog who loves to play with other dogs when allowed.

When we see another dog it seems to go as follows:-
"Ooh Look! Another dog! - playtime"
(Ears up and alert)
"We are going to play arn't we?"
(Bouncing and pulling - tail wagging)
Dogs goes past us
"Oy! Why the hell don't you want to play with me then??)
(Frantic jumping, pulling and barking - tail still wagging)

Now I know that his intentions are good but the poor target dog doesn't!

He has a VERY LOUD bark and makes choking noises as he tries to bark and pull at the same time all of which is very off putting to the poor dog and dog owner passing by. This is unfortunate because 9 times out of 10 I don't get the chance to try to get them to meet because they have scarpered quick from the "ferocious dog"

He gets on fine with dogs he has been introduced to.

I will certainly try Lotties suggestion of trying to associate seeing other dogs with getting a reward.

And looking to you for instruction. As he gets a bit calmer, make sure you only reward him if he's paying attention to you.

Good luck - keep us updated!

Hi

Have been clicker training Jasper for a couple of weeks now with remarkable results.

We can pass or greet other dogs without too much fuss - he is calm on his walks and gives me plenty of eye contact, even turning to look at me as we approach areas where he has been "ambushed" in the past instead of getting all het up as he did before.

The eye contact is great because in the past it always felt as though we were going on two seperate walks with him scanning for trouble all the time and ignoring me. Now we can enjoy the walk together.

Many thanks for your advice