Hi everyone, We are just looking for some training advice for my 9 month old pup. We have noticed recently whilst walking him on the lead any dog that runs past him (that is off lead) he is trying to jump to and pulls to and at times whines to get to them. We try to give him space if we see them coming and try to distract him with a treat or make him ‘watch’ which does sometimes work however most of the dogs that are off lead always run up to him with the owners not recalling them which makes him completely loose focus on me and been a heavy 9 month old isn’t always the easiest to control when jumping. Any advice on what I do in this situation where a dog runs up to him? I knows it’s partly their fault because they are allowing their dog to come up to mine but the look some owners give me when they see him jumping can get to me sometimes. Thanks in advance!
Welcome to the forum! This is a really common issue with young pups, because seeing other dogs on walks is so exciting. It sounds like you are on the right track with what you are doing, but being foiled by other people's dogs is very frustrating. To resolve it you could do the same thing, but refrain from public walks for a while and use some stooge dogs instead. If you have a fair size back yard begin there and get some friends to walk back and forth with dogs with good recall or who are on long lines, so that they can't reward him by running up. Then find a spot that isn't popular with other dog walkers, and do the same, before moving on to the more popular areas. But keeping the strangers' dogs at the greatest distance possible to reduce the chances of them bouncing up and saying hi. Using some really high value rewards could help too. I'd also recommend working on your leash work in general, and you can find advice for that here. Let us know how you get along
This is a very common behaviour we see in almost all young puppies that aren't naturally sedate and calm. Think about these scenarios: In puppy class, all the puppies are straining on their leashes, trying to get to each other and barking from frustration when they can't. Waiting in a vet clinic to be seen, dogs are again straining on leashes and trying to reach each other, barking. Walking down the road with your dog on leash, another dog passes on the other side of the road in the opposite direction - your dog barks and strains on leash. So: This is a frequent scenario which, if you don't train for or focus on, can lead to big problems with frustration-based reactivity (noise) on leash. You need to teach your dog that the presence or passing of another dog, is an opportunity for almost constant treats from you. That doesn't mean 'distracting him' with 'one' treat, it means constantly, as fast as you can, doling out treats to him - without asking for any behaviours at all (like watch). If you do this consistently enough, your dog will turn to you at the sight of another dog - instead of lunging and attempting to reach them. An off-leash dog should never run up to an on-leash dog. There are many reasons a dog may be on leash, from being injured, being in heat if female, being elderly and arthritic, being reactive and needing space - and so on. It is very impolite of another dog owner to allow their dog to run up to yours and moreover, they should not be walking their dog off leash if they don't have a reliable recall - that is against the law, since the dog is out of control. So - two big wrongs on their part. Frankly, I'd be well peed off and would yell and give them a piece of my mind, whilst walking rapidly away in the opposite direction and giving my own dog treats as fast as I can. I would deliberately head towards the edge of the park whilst doing this and gain some satisfaction if I end up taking the dog even further away from their owner - who might at some point decide they need to train their dog to recall for safety's sake... No, it's not 'partly' their fault - it is entirely their fault. Your dog could have a contagious skin disease, could be very reactive and kept on leash to prevent incidents - and so on. Allowing their dog to run up to a leashed dog, is awful and impolite behaviour. To top that off by somehow implying it's your dog's fault for then jumping on theirs, and I'm not sure where I'd begin. I'd probably be repeating over and over again 'please recall your dog - and if you can't, he shouldn't be off leash' - without replying to anything they say or entering into a conversation....
This is the problem we had a few weeks ago and our pup was charged down and jumped all over and he is now spooked by other dogs if he doesn't know them. Following advice from @jolaurens we have been trying to walk in quieter areas but yesterday we had it again with a German Shepherd which was muzzled but off lead. Elderly lady was with it when it charged our way and even though we saw it coming and diverted quickly to the car the damn thing pounced and pinned Hero to the ground. The lady made no attempt at recall and kept walking. OH had to physically get it off Hero so I could get him to safety in the car. He only handled it because it was muzzled and had to literally drag it back to her unfortunately where he told her exactly what he thought of her. There are too many uncontrolled dogs about. We actually considered this dog to be a danger if children were about so reported the owner. Maybe shouldn't have gone that far but was absolutely fuming.
I know it can be impossible to ALWAYS avoid out of control dogs, @mummyp85 - and in an ideal world they wouldn't exist - and this is not an attempt to make you responsible (because you're not)... but for your dog, still being a puppy, to have experienced so many encounters like this, would suggest to me that you are not choosing your walking locations or times of day in such a way as to give yourself the best chance of avoiding them. I live in a very built-up area, and it's an island which is 9 miles by 5 - so I simply can't drive further away to avoid other dogs (the sea restricts this somewhat!) yet my almost 6yo female Lab has NEVER had a bad experience with another dog. Not once, in 6 years of living here. This is achieved by choosing our locations extremely carefully, avoiding the beaches unless at a very unpopular time of day - since dogs see each other and make a beeline for each other - and taking maximum evasive action at the distant SIGHT of another dog. Even if that hugely inconveniences us and our chosen exercise route. Prior to moving here, we lived in central Brighton - and we would drive out to the downs every day. We would not walk in the first off-leash area we came across, we would drive further - to locations where we knew we would not be harassed. I can't say we never had any sort of bad encounter in the 15 years we were there, but certainly not so bad as dogs being pinned to the ground. Young dogs are at a formative time of their lives. Experiences like this can and frequently will have a lasting effect on them. You may not immediately see the effects - they can be latent and pop up towards the end of adolescence. You may not make the connection with these experiences. Lastly, you were totally right to report the owner. I would always want to go further - I don't know, take the dog to the police station - I always feel that driving off with a dog, or putting it on the lead and taking it AWAY from the owner - communicates fully to the owner that they really are not in control of their dog.... But if you were very shaken up or just wanted out of there, you might not have been up for that.
