I took koda for a 45 minute walk today around a local park and she was pretty well on leash and obedient for the first 40 minutes... the last 5 minutes not so much. She got excited when a dog walked by and while calming down another dog walked by and koda went into a full out zoomie. She turned on me and ran figure eights while trying to bite me on her passes. Needless to say this horrified others at the park and was embarrassing. She is 8 months old and 65lbs so it can be tough to manage her. I can extend my arm as far away as possible from my body and she will jump and be able to reach me half he times. She has no interest in toys and very rarely treats when she gets in this mood. The only way to get her to stop is to some how usually by the collar get a hold of her and force her to sit and hold her until she is calm. She doesn’t do it every walk and there isn’t a set trigger that I have observed far. I don’t believe it’s aggression because she is a pretty sweet dog, but now it has me second guessing everything and those playful jumps and nips at my brothers might be aggressive and I didn’t even realize. I don’t really know anymore. It’s getting to the point where I won’t let her walk with my family members because I can’t trust her to behave. I’m also getting discouraged and and losing trust in her because I can’t figure out why she does it and how to stop her from doing it. So any advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh and she doesn’t do this in the house or anywhere else... its only on walks
Does she get any off lead walks? It could be that she thought it was playtime because of the other dogs? Do you ever do 'look at that' to distract her? Do you play with her on walks?
I think @selina27 might have some advice for you, having gone through this, and come out the other side, with Cassie. Have a look at her threads: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/fighting-lead-and-grabbing-arm.19775/ https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/cassies-stop-mugging-me-log.19783/ Also - 40 out of 45 minutes were good? Try to focus on that I think you're in the US and so off-lead opportunities may be limited, but try to find some ways that she can burn off some energy; maybe think about dog sports, or if there are any private fields for rent? Walking on lead for extended periods can be incredibly tedious for dogs.
Hi @AJ Take heart, she's young, and will move on out of this. I know that when Cass was in that mode the only thing do do was to stick it out, either by standing as suggested by @Jojo83, or standing on lead so that she couldn't do it. It was no good at all trying to get her to do any other behaviour when she was over threshold, made everything worse. If as snowbunny suggests you read my logs it's all in there. I hated doing that as it gave my lovely dog such a bad press, but I'm pleased I did as the support I got was invaluable, and I hope it will help others, such as yourself.
And just to reassure you - it’s definitely not aggression. Just a heady burst of energy and excitement and maybe a bit of frustration (at not being able to get to the dog she sees).
Also, I forgot to say, it might be worth looking at her food, the behaviourist I spoke to suggested this, I didn't do it straightaway, but I have now. Try to rule out additives that may contain e numbers.
No it didn’t @selina27 - we know how lovely Cassie is - by doing what you did you sorted out a difficulty you were having and we all have them at different times in different ways .
It’s true, though. Hell, I told stories of my two wanting to rip the throats out of small children (ok, no more than barking and lunging, but st the time that’s how it felt). So completely at odds with the loving dogs I know. Even now, they can be a struggle because of their anxiety. It gets better, but it’s easy to feel like you’re doing your amazing dogs a disservice when you talk about the less desirable parts of their personalities or behaviours. I revel in my dogs’ successes, but they’re also a long way from perfect (as those at the Severnside walkies will attest to when I ended up on my bum because of an over-enthusiastic Squidge). But just because I have things we’re working on, some of which may be very difficult, it doesn’t mean they’re not the absolute best dogs in the whole wide world, ever. Because they are. Who wants a robot, anyway?
Oh, 8 months old? I guess I shouldn't feel bad that my 4 month old still goes bonkers and becomes totally unruly on the leash when anyone walks by. Not that this helps you. But my trainer did say it just takes time. Puppies are excitable because everything is new and interesting. They will eventually get to the point of feeling "been there, done that" and they won't give a darn about a jogger passing by anymore.
A 45 minute lead walk, in an exciting place i.e. a park, is a tough ask for an excitable 8 month old Labrador. Being on lead requires them to control a lot of natural impulses - to move faster, to go say hi to dogs, to run and sniff, and so on. If you put an excitable young dog in an exciting environment and ask for long periods of control, then I'd be surprised if you didn't get zoomies, biting, jumping etc. Lots of dogs are calm things, I'm always a bit surprised by them to be honest, but there are seemingly lots of them about. Both of my dogs have been absolute hooligans while young - my younger one much better but I suspect that's because I knew a bit more what I was doing. I'd ask an excitable 8 month old Labrador for 40 minutes of loose lead/heelwork in an exciting place only after they had a good run and burned off all their excess energy - if you have a calm dog, then maybe they can do this, but a dog with an excitable temperament will struggle. I'd ask an excitable 2 year old dog to walk at heel straight out of the car for 40 minutes, but not an 8 month old pup.
I agree with Julie T. My Guide Dog pups are bred for calm unflappability, but I wouldn't ask them for such concentration in a difficult place. Shopping centres etc, yes - those are easy places. But in a park I wouldn't ask for more than 10 minutes good lead work at that age.
Celebrate the 40 minutes of calm on lead walking and look at methods to cope with the sudden eruption of energy, probably the easiest of which is to stand on the lead to prevent jumping up and tuck hands and arms in to prevent bites and turn the body slightly away (no more than 90 degrees) and ignore your dog until calmed. Gave to say that I would never expect, or ask, for a 40 minute lead walk unless jt is broken up with many 'go sniff' opportunities for the dog. On lead/heel walking is boring so small doses interspersed with fun opportunities (sniffing, greeting other dogs) is far preferable
