Leash Aggression

[HeatherY]

In the past year or Dubu has started getting leash aggression. Whenever he is on a leash he gets so aggressive towards other people and dogs. He's fine with neighborhood cats, but not people or dogs. When he is off the leash he's is his normal friendly sweet little guy. I'm just trying to figure out what was the trigger and how to get him back to his lovable self. Any advice?

[Wonka & Nilla]

Leash aggression is a pretty common issue. Leashes interfere with a dog's normal social approach behavior, plus, when we humans get nervous we tend to tighten up the leash and that can be a trigger for some dogs - they think "something bad is about to happen! I'd better be on the offensive!"

Here is an article that might help you understand the causes and work toward some solutions:
https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/be...friendly-dogs/

If you already have a dog trainer you like, you might want to see if they'd be willing to help you with some one-on-one approaches while on leash. Otherwise, see about involving a friend who can repeatedly approach your dog (in a friendly and non-threatening way). Ask the person to ignore the dog, while you ask your dog to sit, praise/treat him if he's being great and not reacting. Do NOT reward reactive behavior, just back up or move away until he stops reacting. You will need to find the "threshold" that he is calm at and not push him over that too quickly. If he can get within 10 feet, 5 feet, 2 feet of a person and not react then work with that and slowly get closer. It will take baby steps! After you've got Dubu acting like a good boy when humans approach, then you can move on to a human + dog approaching. For some dogs this will be easier and for some it will be twice as hard. Just take things slowly and remember to praise/reward often when he's being good.

[GordonBrunoPugMom]

She said it perfectly!


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[HeatherY]

Wonka & Nilla Wonka & Nilla

This is awesome advice. I'm going to give this a try. Hopefully, I can get a friend ish to help. Most of our close friends already are close with my Stanley/Dubu so he's all lovie with them.