Q: I have three dogs that are starting to get better on leads, but I still have problems when my Great Pyrenees Angus sees another dog he wines and freaks out and flops around because he wants to go see them.  And then my Pug Babs gets Napoleon sydrome and thinks she is this tough dog when we walk by fences with dogs that fence fight. My Husky X Delia is pretty good she pulls a little on the lead but that is my fault I raised her off lead.  The other problem I have is when they see a dog they go crazy (besides my Husky X Delia) and turn on each other and growl and pick on Delia (who is very submissive)they don\’t attack to were they hurt or draw blood they just get rowdy mainly babs (Pug) and Angus (Great Pyrenees).  There is no aggression in my house over anything be it food, toys, bones and they get along with all dogs but they get stupid when on a lead.  How do I get them to focus on me and get them to \”leave it\”.  I have tried treats, with as food motivated as they are. But they go into this zone and do not even notice.  They are pretty good otherwise when on a walk besides when we get around other dogs and it is only when we walk around the neighborhoods their comfort zones.  When I bring them to events they are on their best behavior.  What can I do?

Thank You

Sara

Reno, NV

A: Hello Sara!

It sounds like what you are describing is something we call “leash frustration”. Dogs with this problem want to get to something and feel frustrated they are being restrained so problems can arise. This kind of frustration can lead to displaced aggression.  Which means because they cannot get to what they want and feel frustrated you’ll see the behaviors you described: whining, lunging and even turning on each other to “displace” the frustration into aggression.  Did you know that some trainers who do protection training and actually want to create aggression do so by having a tight collar and leash to bring out the frustration that leads to aggression? Your dog may be lunging at the end of a tight collar and leash wanting to get to something.  So, knowing this, it is EXTREMELY important that your dogs walk with a loose collar and leash.  This is one reason I highly recommend using head collars like the gentle leader and halti because this solves the problem of the tight neck collar.  These head collars are even thought to calm the dog by stimulating certain pressure points on the dog’s head.

Also, when your dogs behave that way they signal something to other dogs that they are threatening which can also escalate the problem.  So, we need to encourage behavior in our dogs that other dogs will not feel threatened by. For example, our dog should learn to approach other dogs slowly and look away which will tell other dogs it is not a threat. One way for us to do this is to have them turn their back to an oncoming dog or drop treats off to the side of the road, which will encourage the dog to look away.

Teach your dog to calm down in stressful situations. If you are out on a walk and your dog is approaching something that is their trigger and may lead to aggression teach your dog to follow you and turn away from the object. Have a treat ready and put the treat near your dogs nose and when they begin to follow the treat make a turn so that you will be turning away from the object you want to avoid. Use your let’s go command at the same time. Give your dog the treat lure after they have completed the turn. So here you will be getting your dog to avoid the object by following you and turning themselves in the opposite direction. Then you may choose to continue walking in the opposite direction or you may put them in a down stay for example with the threat behind them so they are not focused on it. Continue this for several minutes until you see your dog’s body begin to relax. This also teaches a dog they can learn control near stressful situations.

You can teach a “Find it” command where essentially you are training your dog to look away from the object that may lead to aggression (in this case, another dog). Drop a treat on the ground and tell your dog to “find it”! After they eat the treat and come back over to you, give them another treat. The goal is to have your dog looking down for the treat and then focusing on you so that your dog’s focus would not be on the distraction you are trying to avoid. Do this several times until the dog is very focused on you then throw the treat down, say “find it”, and then walk away. Do this several times until the dog is quickly running back to get to you then add a command like, “let’s go”. Keep this up so that your goal is to have your dog either focused on the treat or you and then walking with you on leash. It is very important that your dog does not feel tightness on the collar so keep the leash loose. Practice this command a lot before you will actually need it in a real life situation.

-The aim of these exercises are to teach your dog to turn their attention off of oncoming dogs which in turn signals the other dog that your dog is not a threat.

-You as the leader should feel relaxed and calm when your dog is approaching another dog and your dog’s leash should be loose so they do not feel pressure on their neck.

Some forms of leash frustration aggression can be neutralized with some of these techniques, good obedience and a dog learning its proper role in the family, etc. and some forms of aggression need special attention. If your dog has ever bitten anyone or you or others fear your dog then it may be time to seek a specialist’s help, who has a lot of experience with this.

Fence fighting should be approached in the same way.  When you walk with your dog and you notice them focusing on the fence they normally fight at, use the same steps described above with the treats and turning their attention off of the dogs on the other side. 

To be successful you need to plan ahead and change their focus way BEFORE they get too escalated.   So, initially you will want to practice all of this from quite a distance away from the distraction and then eventually work closer to the distraction.

Over time you can be successful with this I know it!

Good luck!

Let us know how it goes!

Julie