Hi everyone, 2 months ago I took on a beautiful 6 month old male lab cross from a family who said they didn't have time to exercise him enough ( I suspect what they meant was they couldn't cope with his boisterous behaviour around their young children). From the outset he has always hated being walked on a lead ( his previous owners used a choke chain and chain lead which can't have helped) and initially it was virtually impossible to put a lead on him - he would just attack the lead and my sleeves and arms (tape measures, apron strings and anything lead-like got the same response). Swapping the collar for a harness and using lots of treats and short indoor walks I have now got him to tolerate the lead reasonably well most of the time, however every now and then he has a complete temper tantrum usually when I put him back on the lead after he's been running free for a while. He bites my arms, hands and clothes in an extremely aggressive way ( not nipping but clamping down hard) leaving me badly bruised. Today I thought he was going to put me in hospital but as we were walking in a field of sheep ( which he showed no interest in) I had no choice but to carry on til I reached the gate of the field where I could tether him and at this point he calmed down. So far I have learnt that overexercising him seems to make this behaviour more likely to happen so I am walking him little and often. I am lucky to live somewhere with lots of off lead walking opportunities and very few other people and dogs but I obviously need to be able to have him on a lead at times. I'm very concerned that he his going to hurt me or someone else badly at some point. My vet was not too concerned but I think she thought I was talking about general boisterous behaviour and mouthiness rather than this more frightening forceful biting. Reading through this forum it seems other people have had similar problems with dogs who bite when overaroused ( not necessarily lead related) and I'd love to hear from anyone who can reassure me this is a phase that will pass eventually. Sorry for lengthy post!
Hi @Ruth Buckley , welcome to the Forum. I have Cassie who is 21 months, and last spring I had similar issues with her. One suggestion I can make is to try the on lead/off lead thing, that is put the lead on for short spells during the walk and the release him again, so that he doesn't always associate the lead going on as the end of his fun. Poor boy though, if he's had choke chain used on him. I wonder if he's been teased, or worse, with a lead or rope. I made a thread about Cassie's behaviour, it might help if you want to read it. I think as ever that every dog is different, but it might help you. I can't do links (must learn!) It's called "Cassie's stop mugging me log".
I agree with @selina27 - very regularly throughout a walk put the lead on, give him a treat and then take the lead off again immediately. Once you've done this twenty or so times, start adding some duration of a couple of seconds. Don't rush it and do this a LOT so he gets a huge amount of reinforcement that lead = treat. It doesn't need to be a time that he needs to go on lead; in fact, it's better if it's not, so you can let him off again immediately. It's very easy for a dog to get an association that lead = end of fun, so you need to break that with lots of positive reinforcement
I have been doing that but his recall isn't great (another work in progress) and I don't want him to think coming back to me will involve going back on the lead every time. Once we are outside his interest in treats is minimal unfortunately.
Hi and welcome! Don't despair, you'll get past this. Your poor pup has obviously not had a great start to life. I do understand that collies can be different to labs, my mother's border collie was an absolute nightmare as a puppy, used to run away at any opportunity, and hated being on the lead. She's a dream dog now... Up the value of your treats. Think warm roast chicken, for instance! Find whatever it is that your dog really likes - retrieving, playing tug games, searching for toys or treats - and play these games with him, at home and on walks. Generally make yourself the most interesting thing in his life. As you say, it is great that you can let him off lead safely, but of course you need to be able to recall him too. Maybe try walking him before he eats, so he is hungry and more likely to come back to your delicious roast chicken treats...
This DVD is really good for relationship games - they call it "free" but you have to pay postage of a few pounds - it gives you a few fun games to play when you let your dog off lead which actually help keep your dog close, build relationship between you, want to be with you etc etc https://game.absolute-dogs.com/leashoffgameonn You get a digital copy as soon as you pay, too, so if you don't want the physical DVD you can pass it along to someone else who might like it.
Do you have the book Totall Recall? It's by Pippa and well worth getting if you don't have it already. Gives you exercises to work through and has sections for all dogs with a variety of issues.
Thanks everyone. I've been thinking about getting Total Recall and I will definitely get the dvd mentioned too. We also start obedience classes next week which I'm a bit apprehensive about in case he has a big public tantrum! To be fair to him he's not yet had a tantrum when we've been out in places where there's been lots of people and dogs - my anxiety about poor behaviour on lead plus poor recall has put me off risking it - but when we have gone to the beach or pets at home he's behaved like a normal boisterous puppy making me wonder if he actually doesn't find our lovely walks in the woods that exciting and that's why he goes crazy.
You have to remember too that there is a good chance he hasn't been socialized properly. I think obedience classes will be great for him - but if that is the case, and he is not used to being around other dogs and people all that much, then he might act up a little at first. It will be worth persevering though!
I echo what Karen says. I know it's hard, but try not to worry about what other people might think. They probably won't be thinking anything like the things you are imagining if he does play up! They're more likely to be thinking sympathetic thoughts than judgemental ones. Just concentrate on your dog, sit out exercises if you need to and don't ask him to do any behaviours if he's not unable to take any food from you or look you in the eye. There's no point asking for a sit if he's not engaged, so your first task is getting some calmness and focus, even if that means sitting at the far end of the room with him, in the corridor or even outside!
Remember, if your dog was perfect, you wouldn't be at obedience classes. Everyone is there because they need help with something. Good luck, relax and enjoy it.
Well I've had a much better day today so feeling much more optimistic. Kept the walks short so he didn't get too hyper and had him with me on lead while I did all my outdoor jobs and chatted to my neighbours - he was far from brilliantly behaved but there was no biting so I'm very happy. Thanks for all the advice about classes. I think he's very trainable when he's in the right frame of mind but I've no idea how he'll cope with the distractions in a classroom situation.
If his Lab side comes to the fore, he'll probably go bonkers. That's OK, just take it step by step, breathe deeply and then go home and drink gin
This is a snippet from a log I kept when we first got Coco - we'd had him nearly 2 months at this stage, he was 17 months old and very strong: "appalling night at Dog Training. It was my go tonight - Coco was wild & uncontrollable. We clipped an extra lead on & Andy (trainer) held on to pull him back, then OH held on. Then we were placed on 2 chairs in the middle of the room while the class went on around us, desperately trying to ignore the other dogs. Then Andy walked Coco round while the others stood still. Bloody nightmare!"
Coco is much better, but by no means perfect. He will still lunge about 50% of the time when out if we pass another dog, we rarely do though. He tends to be Star Pupil at school now , but you can't let your guard down for a second. It's been a long journey.
I normally give up booze from the first day of the year until the last day of the ski season. Last year I had a new Labrador puppy. I needed my alcohol.
