Hi there, I live in Australia had have a 5.5 month old Australian Shepherd named Lola. She is a beautiful girl but lunges and barks at children in prams, people in wheelchairs, scooters (esp with little people on board), skateboards, bicycles and occasionally motor bikes. This is highly embarrassing (esp the first 2) - not to mention scary for the victims. Any assistance/tips would be greatly appreciated. Cheers
Hello and welcome to the forum Aussie's have a very strong instinct to chase and round up anything that moves, but they're not born with much natural impulse control, or any knowledge of which things are acceptable to chase and round up, and which things are inappropriate targets. This article on our Labrador Site is all about teaching a dog to walk on a loose leash. It's aimed at Labs, but the same principles apply to all dogs. You need to start somewhere without distractions, and build up to doing it round other pedestrians, cyclists etc. The idea is that by having another task to focus on doing correctly and getting rewards for, she'll be less likely to lunge away from you. You could also look for dog sports clubs in your area which run puppy classes, such as agility, obedience, or even herding classes. These will give her an appropriate outlet for her natural instincts Good luck!
